The Tudors (Friday 9pm, BBC2)
Somebody’s playing the assassination game in tonight’s tale of everyday Tudor folk as they take a pot shot at Anne Boleyn. Poor Anne, nobody seems to like the girl, from the British public to the Pope (a fabulous Peter O’Toole). And Henry is sure to go off her pretty soon, even though she’s pregnant and all around are hoping for a bouncing baby boy… One feels there might be disappointment on the way. History has to play a small part in the narrative somewhere along the way. Doesn’t it?
Comedy Connections (Friday 10.35pm, BBC1)
Lifting the lid on another classic comedy. This week the long-running Rab C Nesbitt gets the connection treatment, full of the usual talking head interviews, revealing stories and clips galore. It’s not one of my favourite comedies ever (I prefer Still Game), but its place in the annals of comedy history are assured - there’s even a very early appearance from a young David Tennant in there somewhere…
The X Factor
It’s that time of year when The X Factor returns and the mammoth slog to Christmas begins in earnest. Of course there are well-publicised changes this year - Sharon is out, to be replaced Girls Aloud pop starlet Cheryl Cole (and you won’t find any complaints from me on that score). Also, over on The Xtra Factor on ITV2 straight after the main show, Holly Willoughby takes over from Fearne Cotton. Oh well, we can’t have everything. No doubt Louis will quit halfway through the run, only to be persuaded to come back by Simon in a flurry of tabloid scuttlebutt, but by now, it’s all just part of the fun. As always we start off with the heats, commencing in Manchester. Let the fun begin! (And come back to TV Today tomorrow for our review — Ed.)
Sleepers (Saturday 8pm, BBC4)
A shining beacon in a dull Saturday evening schedule (The X Factor aside), this frothy comedy thriller from the early 90s concludes. Our lovable Russian spies, played consummately by Warren Clarke and Nigel Havers, evade the covert forces of both the KGB and MI5 in a madcap chase around Britain. Hugely enjoyable and highly recommended. They don’t make ‘em like they used to. Instead, they make Bonekickers.
Dad’s Army (Saturday 8.30pm, BBC2)
Classic comedy to brighten up your Saturday in the company of the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard. The residents of the town are no longer taking the threat of invasion seriously, so Captain Mainwaring engineers a plot for the platoon to pose as fifth columnists to teach them a lesson. Inspired and still brilliant.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Saturday 8.30pm, ITV1)
First in a new run of the perennial gameshow, only worth recommending as it’s a celebrity special featuring castmembers from Coronation Street. Does anybody know when Casualty is back?
Midsomer Murders (Sunday 8pm, ITV1)
You know that when an actor with the stature of Joss Ackland turns up in Midsomer Murders that he’s unlikely to make it to the first ad break… and so it as Sir Freddy Butler dies of a supposed heart attack. But then the will goes missing and his lawyer meets a hot and sticky end, so it isn’t long before Barnaby and Jones come running. Always fun in a gentle kind of way
Britain From Above (Sunday 9pm, BBC1)
A lovely show based on a simple premise - let’s have a look at the landscape of Britain from a great height. As I noted last week, it’s all very pretty, but I do wonder why it’s on at 9pm. Surely an earlier slot would allow some younger viewers to watch as its hardly offensive stuff - unless Andrew Marr is deemed too scary for a pre-watershed slot.
Spooks: Code 9 (Sunday 9pm, BBC3)
Well, thank goodness for some new drama, but a shame it’s the drearily incomprehensible Spooks: Code 9. The problem I have with the whole concept is BBC3’s desperate need to court a younger audience, crow-barring the embarrassing Maguffin that terrorists are getting younger, so it stands to reason that spies have to. Eh? This series lost me in episode one when Joanne Froggatt took a bullet. The regular cast, Georgia Moffett aside who acts her colleagues off the screen, are painfully dull and all look cloned from the same cardigan. I still think the series needs Peter Firth as Harry Pearce, chewing the scenery in grand style, to give things some context - couldn’t he have been on holiday when the bomb went off?
Leave a comment