How Art Made the World
Sky Arts, 8pm
In this stimulating and insightful series, first shown on BBC Two in 2005, the archaeologist and art historian Nigel Spivey sets out to tell “the extraordinary story of how we humans discovered the power of images and how they created the world in which we live in today”. We take pictures, images and signs for granted now, but this wasn’t always the case, as Spivey explains, and in the opening episode, he takes us back 35,000 years to prehistoric times in an attempt to answer one of the great mysteries of human creativity: when and how did our ancient ancestors come to realise that a collection of lines, dots and colours could represent something?
Ford Football Special
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Sky Sports 1, 12.30pm
The red half of the city has frustrated Arsène Wenger for years. Can the blue half do the same this afternoon as Arsenal face Manchester City at the City of Manchester Stadium?
At 5.15pm, it’s down a division as Watford and Wolverhampton Wanderers meet at Vicarage Road in the Championship.
Live Super League XIII
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Sky Sports 2, 5.30pm
The new season kicks off with the champions Leeds Rhinos up against Hull KR at Headingley Carnegie Stadium.
Miss Marple
UKTV Drama, 7pm
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Geraldine McEwan has recently announced that she is giving up playing Miss Marple, but to be honest she never came close to matching Joan Hickson in the role of Agatha Christie’s elderly sleuth. In A Pocketful of Rye, a nursery rhyme puts Hickson’s Jane Marple on the trail of the killer of a tyrannical businessman and his young wife.
BBC Four World Cinema Awards 2008
BBC Four, 9pm
There will be no writers’ strike affecting this awards ceremony, which celebrates the best in foreign language film-making. A panel of judges will argue the merits of five international hits – Climates, The Lives of Others, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Science of Sleep and Syndromes and a Century – before the winner is announced by Jonathan Ross live from the National Film Theatre, London.
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Nothing But . . . Alan Partridge
Dave, from 9pm
Aha! A whole weekend dedicated to Norwich’s most famous export, with series one of Steve Coogan’s brilliant I’m Alan Partridgeshowing today and series two tomorrow. Smell my cheese!
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Centre Stage: Band du Lac – Eric Clapton and Guests
Sky Arts, 9pm
Old Slow Hand brought together his all-star supergroup for this charity concert at the Wintershall Estate, Surrey. Among the artists joining Clapton on stage are Ringo Starr, Roger Taylor, Mike Rutherford and Katie Melua to perform a set of greatest hits from Queen, Genesis and the Beatles.