THE VIRGIN QUEEN
BBC One, 9pm
It is not hard to see why this series was postponed to avoid clashing with Helen Mirren’s virtuoso performance as Elizabeth I on Channel 4 — there is no comparison. Anne-Marie Duff proved in Shameless that she is an enormously likeable actress, but her portrayal of Elizabeth lacks the fierce intelligence, steel and force of personality required of a great monarch-in-waiting. She is not helped by a heavy-handed production, where the Catholics are hissing and cadaverous; the Elizabethan dial-a-mob is straight out of Blackadder; the Tower of London is a chamber of horrors; and moments of happiness are signified by beaming smiles, bright summer days, upward shots of swirling trees and bursts of choral singing.
TIME TEAM
Channel 4, 5.55pm
Martin Hipwell was building a house for his mother near Glendon Hall in Northamptonshire when the workmen dug up a body in the ground. Then another. And a third. They had found themselves in the middle of a medieval graveyard with five layers of bodies dating back to the Black Death. Tony Robinson and a team of local archaeologists have three days to excavate the site, find the foundations of the church that ought to be close by and explain why there is also a Roman cremation in the middle of the burial ground. I hope when Mum moves into her new retirement home she doesn’t feel that she is being, in any way, hurried.
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CHILD OF OUR TIME
BBC One, 8pm
Professor Robert Winston examines sibling relationships in tonight’s programme, but — as he would probably agree — there is not a great deal of science involved. At the end of the programme, a courageous psychologist watches a group of adults pitching tents and tries to guess from their behaviour whether they are the eldest or youngest of the family — and gets it impressively wrong. Nevertheless, the children are as delightful as ever; the good news is that a volatile sibling relationship would appear to be preferable to no relationship at all, and most five-year-olds would share a biscuit with their siblings rather than see them deprived.
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FOYLE’S WAR
ITV1, 9pm
A conscientious objector stands accused of murdering a war hero. All the evidence is stacked up against him, but his sister pleads with Foyle (Michael Kitchen) & Co to investigate. “I know him,” she says, “and I know he wouldn’t do this.” Everyone, in fact, agrees that the accused is a man of principle — a hard worker who wished no one any harm. It is obvious right from the start that he didn’t do it, but it takes 90 minutes before we find out who did. Meanwhile, boffins on the beach have been testing anthrax, which contaminates a local farm and nearly does for Foyle’s driver, Sam (Honeysuckle Weeks). She lies in bed, suspended between life and death, deciding whether or not to marry her GI. Once again, ITV takes viewers on a trip to a parallel universe inhabited by actors behaving strangely.
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BEST OF THE REST . . .
THE SOUTH BANK SHOW
ITV1, 11.10pm
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The 2004 SBS following Sir Ian McKellen as he moves from Strindberg to Tolkien and panto via the Oscars.
Multichannel choice
by Angus Batey
SUPERNATURAL
ITV2, 9pm
A spooky, heavily trailed new drama from America that follows two brothers as they search for their missing father while fighting forces of evil in a small Californian town. At the centre of their struggle is the Lady in White — a ghostly hitchhiker who wanders country roads at night, luring young men to their doom via her ethereally blonde charms. This glossy teen hokum is repeated on ITV1 tomorrow evening.
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RAT
BBC Four, 7.30pm
Statistically, a New Yorker is five times more likely to be bitten by another New Yorker than by a rat. And it does seem curious, as you watch these furry little fellas padding through the sewers and nibbling at scraps of food on the floors of Big Apple flats, that we reflexively think of them as disgusting. This film sets out to give rats a fair hearing; its success will depend on how deeply ingrained your fears are.
THE SMELL OF PARADISE
BBC Four, 9pm
An enlightening documentary in which various Islamic warlords, clan leaders, emirs, mullahs, terrorists and godfathers from around the world reveal what drives them to fight against the West. The film’s makers, Mariusz Pilis and Marcin Mamon, have travelled around the world for more than ten years meeting those who denounce Western values with the Koran in one hand, a rifle in the other and Truth as their argument.
Daytime choice
by Angus Batey
LIVE VB SERIES CRICKET
Sky Sports Xtra, 6am
Australia play the second of their four matches against Sri Lanka in this triangular tournament which also features South Africa. There are highlights at 4pm.
LIVE EUROPEAN RUGBY
Sky Sports 2, 12.30pm
Another two matches from the final batch of group games in the Heineken Cup. Leeds take on Cardiff then Bath play Leinster.
FORD SUPER SUNDAY
Sky Sports 1, from 1pm
Today’s matches from the Premiership are both derbies: Charlton’s visit to Chelsea kicks off at 1.30pm, with Manchester United v Liverpool at 4pm.
LIVE FOOTBALL: AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS
British Eurosport, 3.15pm/6pm
The reigning champions Tunisia begin their campaign against Zambia, then South Africa play Guinea.