TIMEWATCH
BBC Two, 9pm
An exemplary account of the first British naval victory of the Second World War that ended with the sinking of the German battleship Graf Spee. “In a dark, cold winter,” said Churchill, “it warmed the cockles of the British heart.” Nevertheless, the story that is told here — with contributions from veterans and relatives from both sides — is more sad than triumphal. It was a battle fought between two captains of exceptional decency and honour. Commodore Henry Harwood was an inspired naval tactician who, according to his son, “had a happy knack of getting results by being pleasant”. This is a rare example of revisionist history that enhances the reputations of everyone concerned.
FILTHY RICH AND FEMALE
BBC Two, 7pm
Women are taking over the world. According to the Inland Revenue in July, there are now more female than male millionaires between the ages of 18 and 44. The Money Programme profiles eight of them, who range from women selling industrial flooring and fake suntan lotion to a former maths teacher who owns 675 properties in Kent and that scourge of muggers, Nicola Horlick.
Female bosses are keen on flexible working hours; they tend to have smaller egos than men and don’t feel the need to drive flash cars. They are better at multi-tasking, and work harder to prove themselves. But never mind. We men are still much better at darts and war.
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30 MINUTES
Channel 4, 7.35pm
Liam Halligan, Channel 4’s economics correspondent, suggests that Britain’s two-tier pensions system imposes an unfair burden on the private sector. Public-sector workers retire at 60 and the Government guarantees their final salary schemes. Private-sector workers retire at 65, and if the company goes bust and their schemes are wound up, they can end up with next to nothing. Because everyone is living longer, the Government can hope to meet its commitment to public-sector pensions only by raising taxes. That, of course, is unpopular with voters, so it has shifted the burden on to local councils, which it can accuse of inefficiency. An average of 26 per cent of the council tax is already spent on paying for public-sector pensions, which will continue to rise and further penalise people who are themselves already struggling to make ends meet.
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MY NAME IS EARL
Channel 4, 10.35pm
Tonight’s instalment of the US comedy is extremely funny. If you missed the first couple of episodes, Earl (Jason Lee) is an amiable piece of small-town trailer trash who wakes up one day in hospital determined to make up for all the bad things he has done in his life. One of his past sins was faking his own death to be able to break up with a girlfriend.
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Unfortunately, his confession inspires her new boyfriend to do the same thing. It is not easy for a girl already suffering from low self-esteem to accept that two different men have faked their own deaths to get away from her. Earl’s kindly solution is to behave like the amiable piece of small-town trailer trash that he is — and lie.
BEST OF THE REST . . .
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A TOUCH OF FROST
ITV1, 8.30pm
The very first episode featuring the moody DI Frost.
Multichannel choice
by James Jackson
DJANGO REINHARDT
BBC Four, 9pm
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You don’t get many two- fingered jazz guitarists, part of the reason perhaps why — nearly 50 years after Django Reinhardt’s death — legions of passionate fans from Tokyo to Oslo continue to celebrate his talent at festivals around the world. The mania that drives these fans forms part of the focus of what promises to be a “frank, hilarious and revealing study” of the mysterious, mustachioed Reinhardt, who was the first important jazz musician to be born in Europe, and who has been an influence on artists as varied as Julian Bream, Woody Allen and Black Sabbath. He lost the use of his fingers in a fire, in case you were wondering. No preview tape available.
MOZART 250 LIVE
BBC Four, 7pm/11pm
Coverage of the current hoo-la surrounding Mozart’s 250th birthday begins at 7pm with Jim Naughtie presenting highlights from festivities, including a concert from Beijing; then five hours of live music from 11pm, starting with a celebration from Berlin conducted by Daniel Barenboim. The programming will be punctuated by short films, which promise to reveal nuggets of Wolfgang trivia.
THE WEST WING
More4, 9pm
The President has an uncomfortable reunion with a rival with whom he split the Nobel prize, and Kate deals with an impending invasion of Canada. Everyday life in the White House, etc.
SEESAW
Hallmark, 9pm
What happens when the teenage daughter of an affluent, middle-class family is abducted and the parents (David Suchet and Geraldine James) stump up the £500,000 ransom without telling the police? Deborah Moggach’s drama is less a conventional kidnap drama than a psychological study of wealth lost and gained.
Daytime choice
by Stephen Dalton
THE ODESSA FILE (1974)
More4, 3.45pm
After the apparent suicide of an elderly Jewish man, a journalist (Jon Voight, above left) uncovers a disturbing family connection to a Nazi war criminal in Ronald Neame’s engaging adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s bestseller. (130 min)