Having played Queen Elizabeth on “The Crown,” Claire Foy plays a lesser royal — Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, an icy gold-digging socialite who snared the odious Ian Campbell, Duke of Argyll (Paul Bettany) in order to snare his estate. It all fell apart and was all over the British tabloids in the early 1960s. The story is retold in the three-part “A Very British Scandal” (Amazon Prime, streaming), replete with some very high production values.
The life of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, currently being dramatized in HBO’s entertaining “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty” is now recounted by the subject himself in the new four-part documentary series “They Call Me Magic” (Apple TV+, streaming) covering his childhood to his to his NBA career to his businesses successes.
Another basketball star gets a documentary series in “The Long Game: Bigger Than Basketball” (Apple TV+, streaming), about Makur Maker, who decided to play for Howard University instead of going straight to the NBA.
A number of environmental-minded specials take have Earth Day premieres. Chief among them, “Explorer: The Last Tepui” (Disney+, streaming) is a stunning National Geographic tale chronicling the effort of biologist Bruce Means to look for new species on the wall of a 1,000-foot jungle plateau in Guyana, using top climbers that include Alex Honnold, star of “Free Solo.” The result is part science, part adventure with striking cinematography throughout. Here’s an interview I did with the director.
Catherine Keener narrates “Polar Bear” (Disney+, streaming), the latest entry in the Disneynature series.
Other glimpses of nature creatures are found on “Wild Coasts” (Nat Geo Wild, 6 p.m.), and all four parts of “Secrets of the Whales” (National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, 7 p.m.).