TV’s 50 GREATEST STARS
ITV1, 5.30pm/9.15pm
Bradley Walsh from Coronation Street has been chosen as the icon to present this self-explanatory countdown, which, according to the predictably understated press blurb, is “the much anticipated results of the biggest search for the greatest British television star ever”. Voted for by the public, this showbiz salute will chew over the relative talents of small-screen actors, comics and personalities alike, from Morecambe and Wise to Ant and Dec, Hancock to Gervais, Attenborough to, um, Titchmarsh. Dozens of the stars themselves will take part, among them Helen Mirren, David Jason, Alan Whicker, Robbie Coltrane and Simon Cowell, talking about their own careers and gushing about their heroes. Let the clips begin.
BBC PROMS LIVE 2006
BBC Two, 7.30pm/BBC One, 9.15pm
It’s the Last Night, the end-of- summer jamboree, and there is little left to be said about the patriotic passion that accompanies it. You either love it or you don’t. Before the fun gets started — when the mingling patriots, students and tourists sway the flags and sing-loud/sing-proud
to Jerusalem — tonight’s programme has a distinctly Russian flavour as two soloists, the baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the violinist Viktoria Mullova, perform works by Borodin, Rubinstein and Prokofiev. There’s also the ever-popular Toreador’s Song from Carmen and, during the interval, the new tradition of highlights from Proms in the Park locations around the country.
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THE STORY OF LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
BBC Two, 9.15pm
It’s been a long road, but this exhaustive (exhausting if you’re Stephen Fry) tour of the family tree of light entertainment reaches completion with variety. In the glory days of the variety show, venues such as the London Palladium would have magicians, acrobats and dancers performing alongside the likes of the Beatles.
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The myriad clips here remind us that those days are long gone, but also that Paul Daniels was really quite good (remember the vanishing elephant?). Since then Messrs Blaine and Brown have revitalised magic, Cirque du Soleil has reinvented the circus and cheesy talent shows are the biggest events on TV. In light entertainment, everything can become cool again. Except ventriloquists.
THE FUNDAMENTALISTS
Channel 4, 7.15pm
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As we enter an age of banal YouTube snippets, cogent programmes such as this are a reminder of television’s worth in questioning and making sense of problematic issues evolving within our society. They also remind you that TV can be, frankly, a depressing way to spend two hours on a Saturday night.
Here, Mark Dowd, a former Dominican friar, scrupulously explores the “F word”. He interviews a London-based Muslim extremist about why the 7/7 suicide bombers were justified; he meets racist monks in Sri Lanka; he travels to Gaza to witness how martyrs are the new celebrities and hears from their proud mothers. Can anything be done to quell the advance of dangerously militant faith? Watch and brood on the intractable path down which the world is heading.
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BEST OF THE REST . . .
FREAKY
Channel 4, 12.30pm
Weird and wonderful street magic for kids.
Multichannel choice
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ROBBIE WILLIAMS LIVE: A CLOSE ENCOUNTER
Sky One (and HD), 9pm
As his five-month world tour finally draws into the home straight, Robbie Williams becomes the subject of the first live music broadcast in High Definition. Viewers will
be able to choose to watch different camera angles of his gig tonight in Leeds, and the HD revolution will allow those with expensive sets to see every bead of sweat as he bawls out Rock DJ, Angels and the like. A tour documentary (alas, not in HD) precedes the gig at 8pm.
AL GORE: CLIMATE CRISIS
More4, 8.05pm/12.05am
Another chance to see the man who should have been President plugging An Inconvenient Truth, his much talked-about book and film about global warming, at the Hay Festival this summer.
JOYCE GRENFELL: COMEDY WITH BREEDING
BBC Four, 11.15pm
This is something of a Joyce Grenfell-appreciation weekend. Tomorrow BBC Four is devoting an entire evening of programming to her, which will include the filmThe Happiest Days of Your Life (see film choice), one of her celebrated collaborations with Alastair Sim and Margaret Rutherford. Tonight, in this new documentary, the likes of Clive James and Maureen Lipman (who has re-created many of Grenfell’s routines) paint an affectionate portrait of the much-loved comedian.
Daytime sport
LIVE PREMIERSHIP FOOTBALL
PremPlus (and HD), 12.30pm/5pm
Today’s pay-per-view matches are the first Merseyside derby (Everton v Liverpool, kick-off 1pm) and Manchester United v Spurs (kick-off 5.15pm).
LIVE RUGBY UNION
Sky Sports 2 (and HD), 1.30pm
The other Premiership — the Guinness one — also has a live match today, as champions Sale entertain Northampton at Edgeley Park.
LIVE ATHLETICS
British Eurosport, 2pm
The fourth two-day IAAF World Athletics Final has moved from Monaco (where the stadium was so small that some events were held in Hungary) to Stuttgart.
LIVE TENNIS
Sky Sports 2, 5pm
The season’s final major, the US Open, draws to a close this weekend in New York. Action today will include the women’s final and the men’s semis. ANGUS BATEY