Television choice
THE HISTORY OF BRITISH SCULPTURE WITH LOYD GROSSMAN
Five, 7.30pm
Loyd Grossman examines the human form, from the stylised ecclesiastical sculpture of the Middle Ages through to Mark Quinn’s eery self-portrait cast in his own frozen blood. For all the differences of style, the human body is what Antony Gormley calls “the unifying principle” that escapes the particularities of geography and language, enabling an artist to deal directly with the human condition.
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MY HERO
BBC One, 8.30pm
Ardal O’Hanlon returns as Thermoman, the superhero from the Planet Ultron, who regularly pops out to save the planet the way other people nip down to the pub. He is like a loveable labrador with more bounce than brain, a child stuck with heroic powers. In tonight’s episode, his wife (Emily Joyce) persuades him to play cricket, which unleashes a competitive instinct that he is unable to control. The programme bumbles along in an amiable kind of way, filled with old gags and charm. Unlike many sitcoms, it does nobody harm.
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RESTORATION
BBC Two, 9pm
See pick of the week.
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SEX AND THE CITY
Channel 4, 10pm
The theme of tonight’s episode deals almost exclusively with bonking — for a change. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is having such great sex that she wants to get married, even if it means bullying the rabbi into letting her convert to Judaism. Samantha (Kim Cattrall) has another evening of spectacular and imaginative sex, this time with a young waiter. But unfortunately Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is having problems. She and her Berger may thrive in every other department, but their sex life is lacking in “RRRrrrr” and “throwdown”.
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MY NEW BEST FRIEND
Channel 4, 11.10pm
A new series of reality television designed specifically to generate excruciating embarrassment. Each week, someone tries to win £10,000 by pretending to their nearest and dearest that a complete stranger is their new best friend. The complete stranger, meanwhile, does their utmost to humiliate them. Tonight, a 25-year-old former public schoolboy who is strongly in touch with his masculine side is set up with a plump, ultra-camp care worker. His friends react with disbelief, amusement and revulsion. For viewers, it is like watching a horror film: the only issue is whether or not you enjoy being subjected to such pointless agony. DC
CV: Tom Green
The Best of the New Tom Green Show
Channel 4, 11.45pm
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Age 32
Love life Married Charlie’s Angels co-star Drew Barrymore in July 2001. The marriage, however, lasted just five months. He once dated Monica Lewinsky
Don’t mention His execrable film Freddy Got Fingered
Operation television In 2000 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The operation to remove one of his testicles was filmed as a TV cancer special
Satellite and digital TV choice
RESTORATION SECRETS
BBC Four, 10pm
To complement BBC Two’s Restoration (shown tonight, 9pm; See pick of the week), a nose around more architectural treasures with a curious past (all of which will be open during Heritage Open Days in September). Tonight, a tour of the North West: the Grand Theatre in Lancaster, the mysterious Williamson Tunnels in Liverpool, Fred Dibnah on the oldest canals in the country, and Dan Cruickshank behind the scenes of Manchester’s architectural renaissance.
2,000 ACRES OF SKY
UK Drama, 9pm
Plenty of emotional dilemmas and eccentric rural folk as series two of the BBC’s soft- hearted downsizing drama, set on a Scottish isle, kicks off. Michelle Collins is the stoic single mum, Abby; Paul Kaye enlivening things as her goofy-but-sensitive secret admirer, Kenny. JJ
Radio choice
JEEPERS CREEPERS: THE HARRY WARREN STORY
Radio 2, 10pm
You may not have heard the name, but you’ll know him by the songs he wrote: Lullaby of Broadway, That’s Amore, and Jeepers Creepers itself. Richard Rodney Bennett begins a six-part series about a famous little-known.
VOICES: BUILDING BRIDGES
Radio 4, 11.30pm
To better understand each other’s faiths, a vicar and a Muslim imam swap jobs for the day in Burnley. Roots broadcasting from the Beeb’s Voices project. CC