THE TRENCH DETECTIVES
Five, 7.15pm
In a new five-part series, a team of archaeologists and historians excavate the trench systems of the First World War, beginning with a site at the Battle of Loos, which took place on September 25, 1915, and cost the lives of 50,000 British troops. The team uncovers a mass grave and — amid the human remains and pieces of uniform — discovers a postcard bearing the fragment of a name. It turns out to have belonged to the most unlikely soldier — Leopold Rothärmel, a musician from Munich.
MATCH OF THE DAY LIVE: ENGLAND v GREECE
BBC One, 7.55pm
Despite being a friendly, Steve McClaren’s first game in charge of England has the potential to be a baptism of fire. His team takes on the European champions without the suspended Wayne Rooney and the injured Michael Owen, so the familiar sight of an experimental front line awaits.
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JANE HALL
ITV1, 9pm
Jane Hall is settling down well to her new life in London. But there are two problems. One is that she is having an affair with two people simultaneously, which for the time being gives rise more to bedroom farce than angst. And secondly, one of the other bus drivers at her depot has been brutally attacked. This may explain why the series has aroused so much antagonism — as a result of combining light farce with bleak drama. But even if it doesn’t get the overall tone exactly right, it has an abundance of other qualities that more than make up for it.
TURN BACK TIME
BBC Two, 10pm
The many fans of Vic Reeves will enjoy seeing him quizzed here about his regrets in life. Reeves gives the appearance of being totally relaxed in front of the camera, which — combined with his gentle whimsy — is a beguiling alternative to the usual flashy chat-show performance. He regrets getting confirmed in order to chat up a girl at a church youth club (but only because it wasn’t successful). He regrets not growing up to be a zookeeper; that his friends are useless when it comes to acting as crew on his boat; and that the future once promised — with time travel, robots doing all the work and crisps floating through the air — has never materialised. It is half an hour of quirky humour.
TED BUNDY: NATURAL PORN KILLER
Channel 4, 10.50pm
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Ted Bundy was executed in the electric chair on January 23, 1989, at Florida State Prison amid a carnival atmosphere. This good-looking, intelligent and articulate man had raped, murdered and mutilated at least 30 women over a four-year period. “I don’t think,” he said, “anybody doubts that I’ve done some bad things. The question is what, of course. And how? And maybe — even most importantly — why?” In an interview with a Christian evangelist on the eve of his execution, he said it was the result of an addiction to pornography that began with his exposure to lurid detective magazines in the 1950s. But this sober and chilling documentary challenges that claim, suggesting instead that the interview was his final attempt to put a spin on his murderous career.
MULTICHANNEL CHOICE
by Gabrielle Starkey
INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL: REPUBLIC OF IRELAND v HOLLAND
Sky Sports 1, 7.30pm
After being confronted by a gunman outside his hotel on Monday night, Ireland’s manager Steve Staunton should have little to fear from this friendly at Lansdowne Road as he continues his side’s preparations for the Euro 2008 qualifiers.
BEST OF TALK
ITV3, 9pm
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The series begins a repeat run with one of the best: David Frost’s chat highlights, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono recalling their first meeting and interviews with such diverse guests as Muhammad Ali, a young Prince Charles, a Nazi war criminal, Woody Allen, Margaret Thatcher, the Two Ronnies and Idi Amin.
DAVID BLAINE: FROZEN IN TIME
ITV4, 9.10pm
The stary-eyed magician attempts 72 hours inside a giant ice-cube in Times Square. Fortunately, the snore-inducing footage of Blaine in the ice is intercut with pre-stunt training and his impressive “street magic”.
HIGH SCHOOL PROM
BBC Four, 10pm
American teenagers may still celebrate the end of their schooldays with a prom, but racial integration and the embracing of liberal values mean that today’s dance looks very different from the traditional vision peddled by old-school Hollywood movies, especially in the Deep South. In this documentary a Los Angeles author, Lisa Teasley, visits an Alabama school to meet a black soccer jock with two white girlfriends and a mixed-race lesbian couple.
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RETURN TO GENDER
Discovery Home and Health, 10pm
For once, NHS waiting lists have something to be thanked for. This cautionary tale focuses on two British men who were mistakenly classified as transsexuals while going through personal crises. Paul fast-tracked himself through gender reassignment with a private surgeon and now feels trapped in a woman’s body. Kieron, on the other hand, had no money but time, on the NHS, to reassess, and stopped short of surgery.
THE GRAPE ESCAPE
Discovery Real Time, 10pm
Tony Hindhaugh is not the most charismatic reality TV subject but he embarks, in this new series, on an extremely risky adventure. Leaving behind his wife and four small children he jets to Cape Town with £1 million of investors’ money, on the trail of a dream: to buy a vineyard and produce a quality vintage that will fly off supermarket shelves in the UK. From first impressions, he has a good chance.
ELVIS’S MEMPHIS
Sky Travel Extra, 11.30pm
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It is 29 years to the day since Elvis died, which is reason enough to take a commemorative trip around his beloved home town learning, among other things, where his beloved mother bought her boy his first guitar.