TV preview: Touch | Death Row | The Reluctant Revolutionary

Anyone who followed that live-action comic book will tell you that, although it started strongly with a captivating first series, it tailed off sharply once it became apparent that the writers didn’t have a clue where to go with it. Whether Touch will suffer the same fate remains to be seen, although on the evidence of the pilot, it already feels like Heroes redux.

Jack Bauer – sorry, Kiefer Sutherland – stars as Martin Bohm (rhymes with Bauer), an airport baggage handler with an insular son who can’t bear physical contact. This mute mite’s obsession with numbers and mobile phones swiftly draws them into a mystery involving seemingly unconnected people and events around the world. That these characters will eventually group together for some great cause or other is, of course, inevitable.

Bookended by the kind of hokey, pseudo-profound narration that’s a hallmark of Kring’s writing, it’s rather good fun as far as it goes. Fans of 24 will be delighted to note that not only does Sutherland throw in a trademark “Dammit!” for old times sake, he also delivers exactly the same performance as witnessed in more than 100 hours of that august series. I do love the man, but with those permanently darting eyes and urgent, raspy whispers, he’s hardly the world’s most versatile actor. But if Touch continues to entertain, then who cares?

My only glaring problem with it so far is that Bohm’s wife died in 9/11, which strikes me as a crass, cynical attempt to imbue this supernatural adventure with more gravitas than it deserves. And that’s to say nothing of a preposterous scene involving an unwilling suicide bomber. Nevertheless, there may be something here. Or it could turn out to be a massive waste of time. Tread with caution, that’s all I’m saying.

Hey, does anyone fancy three hours of Werner Herzog chatting with convicted murderers? Of course you do. So don’t miss DEATH ROW, a grimly compelling new series in which the celebrated German filmmaker follows US prison inmates over what could be the last year of their lives.

Although Herzog states upfront that he’s opposed to the death penalty, these frank profiles aren’t intended as a raging polemic. Rather, they’re an attempt to understand what it’s actually like to live on death row and to be aware of the exact moment of your imminent extinction.

Each episode focuses on a different inmate, the first being Hank Skinner, who has been incarcerated for over a decade after being convicted of a triple homicide. Upon telling Skinner that this film shouldn’t be used as a forum for him to assert his innocence – and he still maintains he’s innocent – Herzog prods him directly on the strange and disturbing details of his existence.

Something of a shackled showman, Skinner is only too happy to spill his guts to the great director. Indeed, you get the impression that he’s rather flattered by the attention. He’s also charming, funny and articulate. You’ll probably find that you quite like him. After all, he seems too sane and personable to be a murderer. But the longer these claustrophobic interviews continue, and the more you learn about his case (Herzog conceals the details until the programme’s second half), the more disconcerting his quips and giggles become.

As well as asking blunt questions, Herzog, who remains off-camera throughout, also provides a rather ripe narration. This often comes across as inadvertently funny, especially when delivered in his – let’s face it – rather camp German accent. Or is the (gallows) humour intentional? It’s often hard to tell with this inherently eccentric filmmaker, but I wouldn’t put it past him. Either way, don’t miss this curious, disturbing and hypnotic programme.

The shadow of mortality also hangs over the Storyville documentary, THE RELUCTANT REVOLUTIONARY, which, like Death Row, manages to find unlikely moments of black humour amidst its savage subject matter.

It stars Kais, a luckless tour guide based in Yemen, which, as home to al-Qaeda, can hardly be regarded as a tourist hot-spot. And yet when intrepid – and often terrified – filmmaker Sean McAllister first meets him, Kais appears to be in deep denial, not only about his personal fortunes, but also about the need to revolt against Yemen’s corrupt government.

Cynical and world-weary, Kais wants no part of the simmering revolution. He seems more interested in chain smoking and chewing khat than taking to the streets. But as bitter unrest breaks out across the country, he gradually undergoes a dramatic change of heart, not least after the government starts to attack peaceful protests and kill its own people.

McAllister, who specialises in documentaries exploring the wider picture through the experiences of individuals, does an excellent job of chronicling the street-level energy of the Arab Spring, as well as the atrocities endured by people brave enough to challenge their oppressors. One chaotic scene in an overburdened hospital strewn with bodies is almost unbearable. Nevertheless, McAllister’s often shocking film is vital in exposing the brutal realities of this historic uprising. But what price freedom?

• TOUCH

Tuesday, Sky1, 8pm

• DEATH ROW

Thursday, Channel 4, 10pm

• THE RELUCTANT REVOLUTIONARY

Monday, BBC 4, 10pm