OLYMPIC GRANDSTAND
BBC One, 8am/BBC Two, 1pm
On the 14th day, there are six finals to be decided in the canoeing (8am), with Tim Brabants going for gold in the final of the men’s K1 1000. Later, Kate Allenby and Georgina Harland take to the pool in the modern pentathlon (from 11am) looking to take an early lead. Meanwhile, in the ring, today is the semi- finals in all 11 weight divisions (from 11.25am). All British eyes will be on Amir Khan, the 17-year-old sensation who is already guaranteed a bronze medal but has the chance to go further when he goes up against Serik Yeleuov of Kazakhstan (6.38pm).
Advertisement
A YEAR AT KEW
BBC Two, 8pm; not Wales
The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew is a national treasure. For 250 years these 300 acres of paradise have been an oasis of peace and beauty just seven miles from the centre of London. But the place where George III went to recover from his illness deserves more thoughtful treatment than this point-a-camera series, presented by Alan Titchmarsh. We see a beech tree cut down, a badger set being dug, a swarm of bees being removed and the famous Palm House sprayed with fungal spores, all shot in a lazy documentary style that jettisons the magic of the place in favour of chummy human interest.
SPY SECRETS
Five, 8pm
It must be tough trying to make programmes about the security services, and it is hardly surprising that this new series is fragmented and opaque. Consider this from Dame Stella Rimington, the former director general of MI5. “Operating under cover,” she says, “is something that would most frequently be done if you were working in an agent-running section, where you might find yourself in a whole series of different sorts of situations where you would be wishing to say that you were somebody other than you were (sic), in order to get alongside your target, whoever that may be.” All very illuminating.
Advertisement
RICKY GERVAIS LIVE: ANIMALS
Channel 4, 9.30pm
Expectations were extremely high when Ricky Gervais returned to stand-up comedy after the success of The Office. His material is based on curious facts about animals and although reviewers praised his timing, phrasing and grinning charisma, there was a feeling that the evening was a letdown — that what was funny coming out of the mouth of the appalling David Brent was less entertaining coming straight from his creator. But that’s the trouble with having done something as original as The Office. Nothing compares with it.
Advertisement
Satellite, cable and digital
REGGAE: THE STORY OF JAMAICAN MUSIC/WINDRUSH
BBC Four, 7pm/10pm
By now black street culture is so closely identified with “cool” that politicians must visit the Notting Hill Carnival to prove they’re hip — and, as the event approaches, the Beeb is repeating some of its Jamaica 40 programmes from two years ago. Part one (of three) of Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music charts the rise of the distinctively Jamaican ska music in the early 1960s and its gradual eclipse by reggae (episodes tomorrow chronicle Bob Marley and beyond). Windrush, meanwhile, is a three-hour docu-marathon charting how black people with African-Caribbean origins have influenced British life since 1948.
Advertisement
SIDMOUTH FOLK FESTIVAL
BBC Four, 9pm/1am
BBC Four’s Friday-night commitment to covering the summer’s less high-profile music festivals continues with highlights from Sidmouth. Among the artists are Kate Rusby, Steeleye Span and the extended Waterson/Carthy family. Sounds to unwind to.
Advertisement
CHAPLIN TODAY: THE KID
Artsworld, 9.50pm
Charlie Chaplin enthusiasts should look out for this brief history of the making of his sentimental 1921 classic The Kid. Having explained why the film is “two moments in the life of the same man — the adult Chaplin and the little boy he once was”, the programme then switches abruptly to modern-day Tehran where the award- winning film-maker Abbas Kiarostami discusses the film’s universal relevance. Overall, the film acts as a trailer for Artsworld’s star- studded documentary about Chaplin tomorrow (8pm).
JAMES JACKSON