Television choice
THE HUMAN SENSES
BBC One, 7pm
Of all the human senses, balance offers the greatest potential for television shenanigans, and Nigel Marven makes the most of it. He puts on his crash helmet and gets into a car with a stunt driver, who rolls it over in a genuinely alarming way. He sails in a lifeboat through rough seas to demonstrate how our bodies react when the brain receives conflicting sensory information, and he goes on a zero-gravity flight in Russia. It has something to do with the inner ear.
Advertisement
THE OLDEST MUMMIES IN THE WORLD
Channel 4, 8pm
The oldest mummies in the world were created by the Chinchorro people in 5000 BC, near the borders of what is now Chile and Peru. The Chinchorros’ approach was more radical than that of the Egyptians 2,000 years later. They dismembered the entire body, removing the skin, head, arms and legs. The body was heat dried and reassembled, packed with clay and feathers, with the limbs and vertebrae reinforced with sticks. The skin was then pulled back over the body and covered with a white ash paste, creating a more enduring version of Sid Vicious.
Advertisement
SPOOKS
BBC One, 9pm
Tonight’s episode throws a triple whammy. Or a quadruple whammy, if you count Jenny Agutter as a whammy in her own right. First, there are developments in the special relationship between MI5 and the CIA (Matthew Macfadyen and Megan Dodds). There is also a mole in M15, and you can never have too many moles in an espionage drama. Finally, there is a sub-plot in which a Colombian narco-terrorist cartel tries to swap a ton of cocaine for surface-to-air missiles. Not forgetting the welcome re-appearance of Jenny Agutter. Spooks is a cod with wallop.
Advertisement
BBC FOUR ON BBC TWO: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LUCHINO VISCONTI
BBC Two, 11.20pm; concludes tomorrow at 11.20pm
It is a stroke of luck when a great artist becomes the subject of a superb documentary. This magnificent two-part edition of Arena is both a description of Visconti’s life and an appreciation of his art. He came from a family of fabulously wealthy aristocrats, yet remained a communist all his life. As a young man, he was Italy’s most successful racehorse trainer before giving up his stables to become an unpaid assistant to Jean Renoir. He lived life and made films with a colourful and operatic intensity. One interviewer told him: “You’re like a great lord in the vulgar world of the cinema.” Unmissable. DC
CV: Gail Hipgrave
Do or Diet
BBC One, 10am
Advertisement
Age 32
Formerly Gail Porter
Lives In North London with husband Dan Hipgrave (from Toploader) and daughter, Honey
Advertisement
Peak moment When her naked image was projected on to the Houses of Commons
Off-screen Has her own production company, Heroine
Don’t mention Her bragging about presenting the kids’ TV show Fully Booked while “absolutely pissed”
Satellite, digital and cable choice
GODFATHERS
The History Channel, 9pm
The history of the Mafia uncovered, as we explore the Italian and Sicilian roots of organised crime and discover how the Mob was ushered into the States by Godfather Charles “Lucky” Luciano.
WHAT IF . . ?
BBC Four, 10pm/12.30am
What would have happened if John Major’s affair with Edwina Currie had become public when he was Prime Minister? That’s the question posed by Clive Anderson in the first of a new series pondering alternative scenarios from recent history. Tonight’s obstreperous guest pundits — the former Tory spin doctor Amanda Platell, former Tory MP Michael Brown and Guardian hack Michael White — certainly prevent the thought “so what?” arising. Brown splutters over the hypocrisy in the Tory party during that era, while Platell declares that Currie was “damn sexy”. James Jackson
Radio choice
AUTO MOTIVE
Radio 4, 9am and 9.30pm
Peter Day’s new six-part series examines the car: its history, its growth and the effects it has had on our lives. Will six parts be enough?
THE TEARDROP EXPLORED
Radio 4, 11am
Not the Julian Cope story misspelt, but the excellent — and soon to be much-missed — Fi Glover examining the mysterious power of the lachrymal glands.
WHEN MADMEN SAILED THE WORLD
Radio 4, 8pm
See choice of the week. CC