Top Telly Tips - May 2008

Onwards, ever onwards.

May, the month of the cup final, the first test, my brother's birthday (that I always forget) and, you know, other stuff.

1 May 2008:
Zoo Days - 6:30pm Five
Sickly and rather twee - albeit, visually arresting - documentary series about the goings on at Chester Zoo narrated by the thoroughly nauseating Jane Horrox who, frankly, needs a good hard slap in the face with a dead baby seal. Today there is dramatic news about the lion cubs. And Chester Zoo's baby pandas come out to play. Arrr...

The Invisibles -9:00pm BBC1
Comedy drama about a duo of The Persauders-style blaggers who come out of retirement after fifteen years in the Costa del Crime for one last Big Job. Or, is it more? Of course it is, it's a six-part series. A real nostalgia fest this – the cast includes three of the greats: Tony Head, Warren Clarke and Jenny Agutter. Throw in Denzil from Only Fools and Horses and Shakespeare from Doctor Who (not to mention Bobby Moore and The Beatles) and you've got a potential naughties classic on your hands. Looks rather warm, funny and gentle in a Auf Wiedersehen, Pet-series three kind-of-way. Looking forward to this one .

House – 9:00 Five
Tremendously funny episode tonight as House must contend with a documentary film crew following his every move as he treats a facially deformed teenager who has suffered a heart attack. Watch out for the bit at the end where they take all of the sarcastic things he's said on camera and present them seriously in the final film. Hugh, as ever, is totally brilliant.

2 May 2008:
According to the US series Angel there are only three reasons that mankind was able to raise himself above the animals: opposable thumbs, fire and television. And on that bombshell…

Peep Show – Channel 4 10:30
New series of the excellent Davey Mitchell/Robert Webb sitcom – BAFTA nominated and - so it is rumoured - soon to follow The Office into an American version. It’s not to all tastes, but I love the characters – particularly the frightful Sophie played by Hot Fuzz’s Olivia Coleman and the tricky point of view camerawork. Nice to have it back.

Saturday:
Britain’s Got Talent – 8:05 ITV
Yet more contestants line-up for an opportunity to make Amanda Holden cry. In fact, I’m now in the process of developing a spin-off show: "Make Amanda Holden Cry: Ten contestants with a collection of sorry tales of false limbs, dead dogs or parents with incurable diseases see which of them can make Amanda Holden cry the most. Since Amanda cries at virtually everything - she is encased in a huge metal tank. If any contestant can make her cry so much that she actually drowns, they win a special prize." I mean, I’d certainly watch it.

Sunday:
Flood – ITV 8:05
Impressive looking two-part drama (the second is on tomorrow) based to Richard Doyle’s novel about London facing environmental disaster. The cast looks incredible. Allow me to highlight but six – Robert Carlyle, Tom Courtney, Joanne Whalley (haven't seen her in anything for years), old Poirot himself David Suchet, Nigel Planer out of The Young Ones and Withnail and I's Ralph Brown. Of course, putting the second part on opposite Waking the Dead's a bit naughty but, whatever, it's nice to see ITV doing some quality drama AT ALL. It's been a good week for drama this - best Waking the Dead in a couple of years and the best Doctor Who of the season so far - one that I wasn't expecting much from, frankly.

5 May 2008:
Corrie – 7:30 ITV
With Haley in Africa (actually Julie Hesmondhough’s having a years sabbatical - the producers gave her the time off after the particularly strenuous story-lines the character had last year) I have to say the paring of Becky and Roy - two complete opposites who are rubbing each other’s backs up perfectly – is genius. Becky has a fiery temper, Roy has principles, Becky keeps trying to power-hug Roy - much to his discomfort. There's great comedy from the pair of them but also some moments of genuine and unexpected tenderness. They're both brilliant character actors who lift the scenes far above expectations. Also, Tony … has anyone else noticed his Big Eye? He’s the most unconvincing person on The Street and the eye just gets bigger and more sinister every day.

EastEnders – 8:00 BBC1
I, like most other people I reckon, have now got completely browned off with the “For the love of God, will it never end?” saga of Minty and Heather. Seemingly the producers have too, so the next sorry saga of unrequited love and angst in the Square appears to be a continuation of Satanic Sean and Raunchy Roxy's thoroughly disagreeable coupling. Now, there would be a marriage made in a very hot place indeed.

Ideal – 10:30 BBC3
We get a variant on that old sitcom standby tonight, the flashback episode, as Moz recalls the circumstances in which he first got his flat in the 1990s (there's an excellent bit where he's listening to The John Peel Show on the radio). Seventies comic Mick Miller as Johnny Vegas’s dad – that’s just truly inspired casting! Also, of course, watch out for a certain Alfredo Joseph in a top quality supporting role!

6 May 2008:
Emmerdale – 7:00
The blackmail subplot that’s gripped Beckindale for the past few weeks is careering towards a conclusion as Pollard and Val (the best two actors on the show Chris Chittell and Charley Harwicke) join forces and lay a trap for the devious Rosalind. There's gonna be some fuckers getting hit with hammers, hopefully.

Natural World – BBC2 8:00
Stephen Fry narrates this genuinely heart-warming film about the Peruvian spectacled bear (so called because of its distinctive facial fur), a secretive and elusive creature that was, apparently, the model for Michael Bond’s Paddington and which is the sole surviving South American bear. Ah, bless. Love this sort of thing.

Too Fat to Toddle – ITV 9:00
Statistics show that one in four primary school children are now clinically obese. This film looks at four such children – Fay Ripley narrates. Which is an odd choice, frankly, cos she's as thin as a sodding rake. As Roger Waters once said "Hey, leave them kids alone." They're not fat, anyway, they're big boned. Although it is just about possible that if they didn't go out every night drinking fifteen pints of lager and having two curries their bones might, you know, shrink a bit...

7 May 2008:
Child of Our Time – 8:00 BBC1
In 2001 the BBC started their own version of 7-Up fronted by Professor Robert Winston. Now, the babies featured in the first show are seven and eight and we get a look at how they’re growing and how they see the world. If last night's Too Fat to Toddle is anything to go by, it'll be through a fistful of pies...

The British Soap Awards – 8:00 ITV
Presented by Fern Brittain and Philip Schofield (sadly, minus Gordon the Gopher). Absolute crap, of course. You'd be better off having a frontal lobotomy than watch this sorry excuse full of back-slapping, arse-licking indulgence and crass platitudes. So, I expect it'll have an audience of ten million.

True Story: Al Capone & the Untouchables – 9:00 Five
Five's The True Story seems to be the latest “must see” series on British TV (a bit like Wonderland earlier in the year). Tonight, it’s the tale of gangsters and mayhem in old Chicago with Al Capone and the G-Men like Elliot Ness who fought him and his hoodlum gangs.

9 May 2008:
Friday:
As television is The Drug of the Nation according to the Disposable Heroes of Hiphopracy here’s yer weekend telly fix.

Have I Got News For You? – 9:00 BBC1
The only TV show that could get Boris Johnson elected. For that, and other crimes … Bill Bailey – one of my comedy heroes – is this week’s guest presenter.

Saturday:
Doctor Who – 6:45 BBC1
Red-letter week this week as we finally get to meet (after forty-odd years) the Doctor’s once-or-twice-alluded-to-but-never-previously-seen daughter – played by Georgia Moffett, in real life, the daughter of ex-Doctor Peter Davison. Also features the great Nigel Terry whose finest 52 minutes in TV came thirty nine years ago when he played a hippy painter in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

Sunday:
The South Bank Show – ITV 10:50
This week features a rare interview with author David Peace about his much admired novel The Damned United about Brian Clough's turbulent forty four day reign in charge of Leeds, soon to be made into a major film of course. And, lastly a quick cause of consdierable tears from the ladies – it’s the final Match of the Day of the season. So, that's the last time you'll be seeing Mr Lineker and Mr Hansen and Mr Shearer until, ooo, at least the 11th June.


13 May 2008:
Gordon’s Ramsey’s F Word – C4 9:00
New series as the vociferous chef returns to, hopefully, SHOW SOME ****ING PASSION; this week's (seemingly willing) victims include Corrie’s Wendi Peters and Janet Street Porter. Will they never learn.

What Happened Next? – BBC4 9:00
Series which finds out what happened to people who were featured in past TV documentaries. In 1973 the BBC made a film about The Global Village Trucking Co., a rock group living in a Norfolk hippie commune with their families and friends. Their aim was to be self-reliant and to make it “as big as the Beatles” without acquiring a record label with a major label. As they reunite for their first gig in 30 years, we find out what's become of the group's members. What a fascinating idea, can’t wait to see which documentary they dig up for the treatment next..

The World’s Tallest Woman and Me – C4 10:00
Mark Dolan immerses himself in the remarkable worlds of some incredible people in a series exploring what it means to be anything but average. Mark visits a society of tall citizens in Arizona, heads to Indianapolis to visit Sandy Allen, recognised as the world's tallest woman, and travels to China to meet another contender for the title. Sounds like a tall story to me. Small world, innit?

14 May 2008:
Amityville Horror: The True Story - 9:00pm Five
Another cracker from the True Story strand ... After six members of the same family were murdered in Suffolk County, New York, stories of haunting, demonic possession and poltergeist activity grabbed the attention of the world's media and led to a celebrated ((if pretty damn bad if truth be told) movie adaptation. Was there an element of truth behind the tales, or was the whole thing an elaborate hoax? (Of course it was ...)

The Apprentice – 9:00 BBC1
Now, personally I can’t stand The Apprentice and consider that everyone connected to it should suffer the same fate as the original inhabitants of the Amityville House, but look at how well it's been doing. And, do you know why? Cos it's watched by GLAKES, that's why... Anyway, after last week's boardroom blitz ("I'll fire the 'ole five of you if I have to!"), tonight the stress levels drop. But only a little. Surely after being seen in this show, any prospective candidate wouldn't get a job anywhere else?!

Desperate Housewives – 10:00 C4
Here’s one for lots of “ladies of a certain age”, perpare to get moist, girls as Richard Chamberlain turns up as a guest star playing Lynette’s “long lost stepfather.”

15 May 2008:
The Artful Codgers – C4 9:00
The outrageous story of an Octeganarian Lancashire couple and their Scallywag son who conned the art world with a series of forged paintings, sculptures and ancient artefacts knocked up in their garden shed in Bolton. After fooling the British Museum, Sotheby's and Christie's, the forgers were only rumbled by a spelling mistake on a faked stone tablet. Another absolute winner from the excellent Cutting Edge.

Midnight Man – ITV 9:00
Tough choice but I’m going for Midnight Man over The Invisibles this week. Max Raban finds himself the prime suspect for the murder of his own wife, but soon realises he's been set up by the death squad he's been investigating. Isn’t Jimmy Nesbitt good in this? And one can never have too much Peter Capaldi on TV.

Hidden Lives: Sweaty Betty - Midnight Five
Documentary following several women who suffer from hyperhidrosis – a medical condition which produces excessive perspiration. There is, definitely, need for these type of shows but it does beg the question what makes people go on them and indeed what sort of people watch them?

16 May 2008
Saturday:
It’s cup final day and Grandstand will be covering every moment of the build-up, but it’s much more serious these days than it used to be when we were kids. Where’s Cup Final It’s a Knockout gone? Or those great interviews with the players on the team bus where one of them would always do a Frank Spencer impression? Or having a celebrity commentator like ITV memorably did with Nookie Bear one year? Football - it takes itself too seriously, these days. And, of course, the big question is will either Portsmouth or Cardiff turn up in threads anywhere near as apocalyptically awful as the Liverpool 1995 "white suit" fiasco? It's a question worth asking. Every single year.

Doctor Who – BBC1 7:00
I’ll say one thing for Doctor Who, it’s becoming The Morecambe & Wise Show of its era in terms of the quality of guest star it can attract – this week’s TV Nostalgia Icon – Felicity Kendall. The story’s a big over-the-top murder mystery in which the Doctor and Donna meet the queen of the genre, Agatha Christie played by Fenella Woolger (so good in last years adaptation of Jekyll).

Sunday:
Seaside Rescue – BBC1 6:30
How a day spent sailing around the Isle of Wight became a race to save the leg of an injured crewman in the RAGING TORRENT OF DEATH that is the Solent. Is there any form a natural disaster that TV hasn't done a series on?

Meerkat Manor – BBC2 7:10
Gang warfare, dysfunctional families, heroism and babies – yes, it’s the return of the soap opera of the natural world, those loveable Meerkats of the Kalahari. The best thing about this, apart from the animals themselves is Bill Nighy’s wonderfully dry commentary. Followed, immediately, by episode two.

19 May 2008:
Corrie – 7:30 ITV
We mentioned last week about Kirk’s new girlfriend wanting to muscle in on looking after Ches. Now, to raise some money why don't they rent Schmeichel the dog out for rides? I’d love to see, for example, Amy - the Tracey Emin look-alike – or better yet, Fiz, having a go.

The Duchess in Hull – 9:00 ITV
Quite possibly the single most offensive show on TV this year as Sarah Ferguson - remember her? She used to be a big fat royal until Andrew binned her - moves into a council estate on Humberside ("errrrr, nerrrrr") to help (I say 'help') the Sargersons a family of overweight smokers. It’s not just the crassly smug nature of the pre-publicity blurb or the fact that the highlight (I say 'highlight') of the Duchess in question’s previous TV career was It’s a Royal Knockout, but rather a comment she made about her hosts: “Tonia [the mother] and I have identical views on certain issues, but we're not the same. I come from a privileged background and have been educated.” Because, of course, nobody from a council house ever progressed beyond finger painting, did they Fergie? Sorry, remind me again how many O Levels you and Diana managed to get between the two of you? It's 2008 - this used to be a free country. These days you can't even have a cigarette or a bacon sandwich without a former member of the royal family coming around your house and telling you to cut it out. But, what I really object to most is the fact that I spent five years of my life as a working man watching my taxes - and everybody elses, for that matter - being used to subsidise the Duchess of York's lifestyle between 1987 and 1992 (which seemed, at the time, to consist of her going on one skiing holiday after another) via the Civil List. Why anybody would want to watch this shocking abomination for either entertainment or information is completely beyond me but some of our listeners may like to give it a go. For novelty value if nothing else. If you do tune in then please let me know what it was like because I, myself, won't be watching. I'll be over on Channel 4 checking out tonight's Team Team Special at the same time - because I'm from a council estate, me, and as a consequence clearly as ignorant pig's shit - I might just learn something from it like my betters with their education and their privilege.

Edwyn Collins: Home Again – BBC2 11:20
Edwyn was the lead singer of Scottish band Orange Juice (their big hit was ‘Rip It Up’) then had a very interesting solo career ('Never Met a Girl Like You Before', you'll probably know). In 2005 he suffered from a brain haemorrhage that almost killed him and then, whilst in hospital, contracted MRSA which, again, almost killed him. This delightful documentary looks at his rehabilitation with his devoted wife helping him get back to something like normality and portrays a true survivor as he manages to complete the solo LP he’d started before his health problems. Heart-warming. And not a member of the royal family "helping" in sight.

20 May 2008:
Waking the Dead - 9:00 BBC1
I know Alfie’s been a big fan of this series over the last few weeks, it’s certainly been on a real run of form - well-written and beautifully acted. Trevor Eve and Sue Johnston are everybody of a certain age's perfect TV mum and dad! This is, sadly, the last of the current season but there'll be another early in the New Year. Pass the popcorn, there’ll be yet more murders!

The Supersizers Go … Wartime – BBC2 9:00
Giles Coren and Sue Perkins experience what it was like to live and eat on the home front during World War II – a time of rationing and shortage. They spend a week wearing clothes of the period and eating only what would have been available to a couple in 1940 – including Spam and dried egg. Is it wrong of me to find Sue Perkins dressed as Nora Baty's younger, slightly hotter sister vaguely erotic?

What Happened Next? – BBC4 9:00
In 1978 the BBC made a prototype Big Brother, Living in the Past, in which volunteers spent months in a mock Ice Age village complete with round houses, their own animals, atrocious weather and a total lack of privacy – it was brilliant telly and won all sorts of awards. Thirty years later, What Happened Next? catches up with some of those who took part to ask how it changed their lives. Worthy.

21 May 2008:
So, what you gonna do tonight – watch the European Cup Final between the two teams that you absolutely hate the mostest in all the world bar none, or find something else to watch instead?

RHS Flower Show – BBC2 8:00
For the horticulturally minded, here’s thirty minutes of what can only be described as floral pornography. Alan Titchmarsh, the thinking Octogenarian’s stud, presents.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl – 10:40 ITV
Ridiculed critically but a sizeable hit when it was shown on ITV2 last year, this raunchy eight-part drama starring Billie Piper about a high class London prostitute finally comes to terrestrial. It’s strong stuff, not for the faint-hearted (although, it's nowhere near as erotic as you may be imagining – and believe me, I watched it all several times just to make sure).

22 May 2008:
EastEnders – 7:30 BBC1
Satanic Sean plans his intricate and probably over-complicated revenge on Tanya having, seemingly forgotten what happened to the last bloke who tried something similar. He ended up in a coffin. Whilst he was still breathing. And Roxy and Ronnie get into a right barney over Roxy’s intentions to leave the Square for good. Bet she won’t.

Heroes – 9:00 BBC2
The cast are joined by the excellent Kristen Bell (who’s currently starring with Russell Brand in that Forgetting Sarah Marshall – she was also in an excellent US show called Veronica Mars that, sadly, never made of an impact over here). Anyway, she plays a very naughty character trying to track down Peter who is now thankfully away from "that part of Ireland where everybody talks in Irish accents completely unlike any Irish accent that you've ever actually heard in all yer life."

23 May 2008:
Friday:
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross – 10:35 BBC1
It’s 70s night on Jonny Woss as Neil Diamond and all nine of the Osmonds feature (can we name them all?). Get out yer Hai Karate Aftershave and clack yer Clackers with pride. Ray Winstone’s there to provide a bit of 90s hard-nut EastEnd barra-boy glamour. Awright?

Saturday:
Eurovision Song Contest – 8:00 BBC1
Live from Belgrade. Sometimes good, sometimes wretched, usually entertaining especially if Britain gets a suspiciously politically motivated hammering as it looks like this years entry (by ex-dustman Andy Abrahams) may. Back to the Refuge Department on Monday, Andy? Wogan’s on hand to crack lots of very unfunny jokes.

The Weakest Link – 5:50 BBC1
Tonite’s episode is a Special featuring psychic mediums – including notorious Most Haunted charlatan Derek Acorah. If his gifts really are genuine, surely he’ll know the question Anne Robinson is going to ask before she actually asks it and, therefore, give the answer first – just like The Two Ronnies’ Mastermind sketch. I’d PAY to watch that.

Sunday:
Ray Mears Goes Walkabout – 8:15 BBC2
The survival expert follows the Aboriginal example as he makes a series of expeditions through the natural habitats of Australia. Careful you don’t get eaten by a Koala, Ray.

26 May 2008:
A Taste of My Life – 6:30 BBC2
A bit different from the usual celebrity cookery shows this as Nigel Slater talks to well known faces about their formative culinary experiences and then cooks them a meal accordingly. Not so much "healthy eating" as, you know, lard on toast if that was what you grew up on. Tonight, pork chops in cider - very much an acquired taste, with Jane Horrocks - also very much an acquired taste - who also recalls being traumatised at an early age by tripe. Me too, except in my case it was called Newcastle United. This one’s all every night at the same time – good early evening stuff. Tim Spall's on later in the week, look out for that one.

Kiss of Death – 9:00 BBC1
If you’re missing your weekly Waking the Dead fix, here’s a one-crime off drama from Boyd and co’s creator Barbara Machin. Described as “gritty” – which usually means it’ll feature at least one working class character being stabbed with a bread knife – it’s a story told from several different viewpoints (a bit like the excellent Mobile last year or the occasional episode of CSI). Speaking of CSI, Louise Lombard stars along with the great Danny Dyer.

27 May 2008:
EastEnders - 7:30pm BBC1
Satanic Sean turns over a new leaf – yeah, we’ve all heard that one before. But, Roxy seemingly has other plans. Dot wonders if there's more to Jack and Tanya's relationship than meets the eye. Good old nosy Dot, it’s comforting that, in an ever changing world, some things never change. And Dot's one of them.

10 Years Younger - 8:00pm Channel 4
The makeover show returns for a new series. The luscious, pouting and "can drive a car really fast" Nicky Hambleton-Jones and her team of cosmetic consultants try to work the magic on members of the public who want to look younger. This week, they help mother-of-five and former navy officer Amanda to undo the effects years of smoking and tea-drinking have had on her skin, hair and teeth.

Storyville: The Biggest Chinese Restaurant in the World - 10:00 BBC4
Communism and commerce go hand-in-hand in this four-part series about China's largest restaurant, the West Lake in Chang Sha. Energetic owner, Qin Lin Zi, her highly capable general manager and large staff of waiters and chefs try to keep everything running smoothly as they handle up to 5,000 diners per day. If you love Chinese food – and let’s face it who doesn’t – you might be surprised that snake is on the menu rather than in the Saki. I thoroughly recommend both this, and Szechwan style King Prawn with baby mushrooms and soft noodles for tea tonight. See, this is public service broadcasting people.

28 May 2008:
Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story – 9:00 BBC2
In 1963 an unknown – mad as toast and perniciously dangerous - Midlands houewife, Mary Whitehouse, embarked on a thoroughly selfish one-woman mission to "clean up" British television. Her wholly self-appointed crusade led her into battle with the man she held reponsible for a tide of 'filth' - Sir Hugh Carleton-Greene, the best and most liberal-minded Director-General the BBC ever had. She tried to get Doctor Who, The Wednesday Play, Pinky and Perky (I'm not making this up) and, most famously the Beatles banned (the latter for including the word “knickers” in 'I Am the Walrus'. True story). She became the butt of numerous long-running jokes of Till Death Us Do Part as Carleton-Green encouraged those in his organisation who opposed censorship in all its forms to speak out against her. Sadly, by the 1970s, with a change of management within the BBC, and a corresponding jellifying of their collective backbone, some people in positions of power actually started to take this vile little woman's insane diatribes seriously. Thankfully, she's now dead and, as such, cannot be libelled. So, rot in Hell you horrible, evil woman. With Julie Walters starring as Whitehouse and Hugh Bonneville as her arch enemy. If you liked Fear of Fanny or the recent BBC4 series on comedy icons like the great Most Sincerely then you’ll love this.

River Cottage Spring - 9:00 Channel 4
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall – he of the daft name and the equally silly haircut - cooks and tastes his way through the crops on offer as spring reaches its peak. Hugh pits his mum's shepherd's pie to a taste test against Delia Smith's 'cheat' version. I’ll bet even if Delia’s taste better he’ll go for mum’s every time – never criticise yer mother’s cooking, you might be glad of it one day.

Six Degrees - 10:40 ITV
Series following the lives of six people who are connected to each other, but don't yet realise it. It’s a bit like Lost but not as good – which is why it only lasted thirteen episodes. Stars nobody you’ll have ever heard of but it rattles along at a tremendous pace. Just don’t think about the plot too much.

29 May 2008:
Springwatch - 8:00 BBC2
The latest reports from the marathon wildlife event. Has Simon King managed to find the elusive Scottish wildcat? How are Kate Humble's animal families doing at their new base in Norfolk? What’s that small fury creature in the bushes? Oh, it’s just that wretched little Communist Bill Oddie.

Gridlock and Road Rage – 9:00 Channel 4
Documentary series examining the misery of traffic jams, the drastic measures some take to avoid them, and the measures that are designed to prevent them. The Cutting Edge team follows long-suffering commuters and meets the teams trying to improve their lot with a rare glimpse behind the scenes at the Highways Agency.

Wayward Women - 10:40 ITV
A rather amusing looking six-part history of feisty, independent-minded Northern women featuring a mixture of historical fact, rumour and gossip.

30 May 2008:
Saturday:
Doctor Who - 7:00 BBC1
Something for the weekend, sir? The first new episode to be broadcast since the announcement that Russell Davies will be leaving after next year's three specials and this one is written by the man who'll be replacing him, the great Steven Moffat - writer of most of the best and certainly the scariest episodes of the past three years (the kid in the gas mask, the clockwork robots, the blinking statues etc). Expect, therefore, a totally seamless transition - if you think Shankly to Paisley. Connery to Moore. George II to George III. This one's all about living shadows, apparently. Sounds suitably Moffatesque.

Saturday:
I'd Do Anything - 6:00 BBC1
Britain's Got Talent - 6:50 ITV
It's finals night. Oh God, which one of these two to watch? If, indeed, either? BGT will win, ofc course, and by quite a considerable distance so expect a flood of 'Simon Cowell Spanks the Nancies' headlines on Monday morning.

Sunday:
Florence - 7:00 BBC1
Yer actual proper up-for-a-BAFTA-next year drama, this is. Behind one of Britain's greatest heroines lies an unexpected story. Laura Fisher stars. Watch out for a cameo by the great Roy Hudd. You simply don’t see enough of Roy on TV These days.

How TV Changed Britain - 9:00 C4
A celebration of, not only my hobby but also my country's national sport - TV viewing. From bringing teen culture to the masses to the impact of cop drama like The Sweeney right up to Life on Mars on real life policing, this six-part show asks the question how has TV changed Britain. There’s two ways you can do this kind of show – either serious, highbrow and academic or more lightweight and nostalgic – not too sure which this is (possibly more of the latter given its slot) but either can work very well and, if nothing else, the clips are always worth watching.

And for those of you following Lost on Sky, remember it's the last two episodes of the current series on Sunday. I could tell you what happens, but I’d have to kill you afterwards.