Square Eyes

Ricky Gervais: New Hero of Comedy (Friday 9pm, C4)

I come and go with Ricky Gervais. Sometimes I think he’s a genius who has served up some of the best comedy work this country has seen in many a year. And then I have periods when I find him to be an annoying tedious and arrogant personality who has started to believe his own publicity. Whichever way the wind blows, there’s no denying that Gervais is somebody we’re all still talking about, so he’s got to be doing something right. This documentary charts his rise from unknown comic to award-winning trans-Atlantic star.

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross (Friday 10.35pm, BBC1)

Ahead of Sunday night’s festivities to celebrate his 80th birthday, Bruce Forsyth pitches up here to have a natter with JR. As somebody who has done so much in their lengthy career, let’s hope Ross can find it within himself to ask Brucie a question and then SHUT UP for five minutes to let a genuinely entertaining personality answer it. It’s a vain hope, I know, but fingers crossed!

Primeval (Saturday 6.30pm, ITV1)

It’s the season finale of ITV’s always entertaining, occasionally frustrating adventure drama, and it looks like they’ve pulled out all the stops. The climax will have to work hard to match the quality of last week’s episode, which is easily the best the show has put out so far. Cutter and his team were left at the mercy of the vaguely evil Leek and Cutter’s ex-wife Helen. It turns out they’ve been stockpiling monsters from this season’s episodes, along with the nasty future monster we saw last season. Quite why they’ve been doing this is yet to be established, but I can’t wait to find out.

CSI: NY (Saturday 9pm, C5)

With rugby dominating much of the evening elsewhere, this might be an opportune moment to check out the third entry in the CSI franchise, now into its fourth season. This one is a harder sell than the others – Grissom’s lot still make it look effortless, Miami has a nice line in cheesiness, but I often find the New York incarnation a little too grim to truly embrace. Still, this tale of two seemingly unconnected murders that the team eventually pull together has the usual CSI bells and whistles and will pass an hour nicely.

The Bourne Identity (Saturday 9.45pm, ITV1)

We don’t usually recommend movies, but this first instalment of the Bourne trilogy is one of the best spy thrillers for many a year. Definitely worth a go if you haven’t already succumbed to the charms of Matt Damon’s tortured hero.

Happy Birthday Brucie! (Sunday 6.35pm, BBC1)

Brucie is 80 and how fitting for one of the nation’s most enduring entertainers to be given their very own TV celebration! This spectacular party is packed to the rafters with friends and colleagues desperate to wish the legend that is Bruce Forsythe a warm happy birthday. Faces from the past and present of a 60-year career are on hand to do the odd turn, all under the watchful eye of hostess Tess Daly. Perfect for a Sunday evening.

The Cult of Sunday Night (Sunday 9pm, BBC4)

Oh joy – this entertaining exercise in nostalgia proceeds to a show that defined 80s TV drama in the UK – Howard’s Way. It was a natural successor to The Brothers in many ways, but was considerably glitzier and undeniably cheesy. The usual mix of star and writer interviews are peppered with clips, and before this, at 8pm, you can catch the final episode of the first series. Joyous stuff all round.

Lewis (Sunday 9pm, ITV1)

Watching Lewis is like watching an old lover and realising something is missing. Kevin Whately is a fine actor, but he never looks totally at ease as the man in the seat formerly occupied by John Thaw’s Morse. Perhaps that’s the charm of the series though and Whately is displaying some definite choices in how he now plays his most popular and enduring role. It’s all pretty much as you’d expect in the first of four new investigations for Lewis and the somewhat dour DS Hathaway when bodies start turning up in picturesque Oxford locations. Jokes about the excessive murder rate in Oxford are banned for the next four weeks.