Doctor Who: Dreamland
BBC Two, 10am
Here’s something that will run and run. The “real” Doctor Who — the one with live actors — already has a cartoon-ish quality, so the transition to a full-on cartoon is effortless. It takes a little while to get used to fact that the Doctor’s face has been pumped full of industrial-strength Botox and the characters move with an awkward lope, but after a few seconds you don’t even notice it. Otherwise, it’s all here — the jokes, the monsters, the excitement and fun. This episode is set in the Nevada desert of the 1950s, where the Doctor (David Ternnant) befriends a waitress in a diner (Georgia Moffett) and her Native American friend (Tim Howar), and together they do battle with men in black, the US Army, and “big ugly army bugs” known as the Viperox. It’s a hoot.
Rod Stewart: One Night Only
ITV1, 9.30pm
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Tickets are now on sale for Rod Stewart’s nationwide tour in May, but you can get a sneak preview of what to expect with this mini concert recorded in front of a specially invited audience of fans. The Scottish crooner will be performing some of his best-known songs and tracks from his new album, Soulbook, which pays homage to the Motown greats who first inspired him to sing. Joining Rod on stage for a special performance of Handbags and Gladrags will be the Welsh rockers the Stereophonics, while Ben Shephard visits him at home to talk to the great man about his 40 years at the top since since his first No 1 single, Maggie. He may be nearly a pensioner, but after this performance fans will still think he’s sexy. MM
Alan Bennett Week
BBC Two, from 6.40pm
It doesn’t get much better than this. BBC Two and BBC Four are launching a season of Alan Bennett plays and monologues that will continue throughout the week. It starts off on BBC Two with a repeat of the 1988 short film Dinner at Noon (6.40pm), which is followed by An Englishman Abroad (7.20pm), with Alan Bates as the spy Guy Burgess, and a brace of Talking Heads (8.25pm). The centrepiece tonight is a new documentary, Being Alan Bennett (8.30pm), which follows him during key moments of his 75th year, including rehearsals of his latest play at the National Theatre, The Habit of Art. If you have the foresight and technical savvy to record everything on offer, you will own a treasure trove of television to sustain you when nothing else is on.
The Thick of It
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BBC Two, 10.30pm
This is a stunning episode. In Hot Planet on Wednesday, scientists release air that has been dissolved in the ice under intense pressure. That’s what happens to the laughter in this shocking episode — it’s still there, but its form has changed. Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) has taken a holiday. Tucker never takes holidays. Like Bob Dylan and sharks, he needs to keep moving to survive. When he does return, a venomous toad (brilliantly played by David Haig) is out to get him and Tucker is unwilling to be got. He unleashes a stream of vitriol so toxic that it cannot be printed, even with asterisks. My wife walked in during Tucker’s tirade, and I’ve never seen anyone flee a room so fast. It is an anthem of obscene, hate-filled fury at the heart of an unforgettable episode.