CRITICS’ CHOICE
The tide is high
Performance Live: Flood — To The Sea (BBC2, 10pm)
Given some of the rain in the past month, it is not hard to imagine the scenario of tonight’s presentation coming true: Britain is facing an aquatic apocalypse. Written by James Phillips and produced by the Slung Low theatre company for Hull’s year as City of Culture, Flood has been unfolding over the course of 2017 in four separate segments — the first part was a short film you can watch online — and the actors are now into the third act. If you want more, the final part begins in Hull in October.
It seems like only yesterday we were bidding adieu to the old football season and looking forward to a long summer of edification, education and intelligent discussion on the box. Well, Match Of The Day is back on BBC1 at 10.30pm, so our hopes may be forlorn — but it is surely good news for the 12,000 whose television licences pay Gary Lineker’s salary and want to know how their money is being spent.
David Hutcheon
FILM CHOICE
Buried (2010)
BBC1, 12 midnight
Starring Ryan Reynolds as an American kidnapped in Iraq and immured in a coffin, this thriller never leaves its hero’s prison, yet it doesn’t box itself in: it keeps finding handy ways to increase the tension. Dir: Rodrigo Cortes
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Little Women (1949)
BBC2, 8am
Starring Elizabeth Taylor, June Allyson, Janet Leigh and Margaret O’Brien as the sisters in Louisa May Alcott’s tale of a 19th-century family, Mervyn LeRoy’s movie of that much- filmed novel is one for folk who like their period dramas in cosy Technicolor.
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
BBC2, 2.20pm
Elegantly adapted from Philip Barry’s comic play about a disrupted wedding, George Cukor’s film has a nice tinge of melancholy and a line-up of golden-age greats: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart. (B/W)
Previews by Edward Porter
Radio pick of the day
The House Of Doctor Dee (Radio 4 Extra, 6am/4pm)
First heard on Radio 4 in 1997, this dramatisation of Peter Ackroyd’s eerie novel stars Nigel Anthony as the Elizabethan wizard Dr John Dee, who dabbled in the occult and tried to summon angels, and Philip Glenister as the modern-day owner of his abode. The Forum (R4, 11am) asks what became of India’s 500 princely states and their princes after Partition in 1947. Rajan Datar presents.
Paul Donovan
Top TV programmes
BBC1
1 EastEnders (Fri) 6.74
2 Poldark 6.44
3 Countryfile 6.43
4 Wild Alaska Live 6.00
5 In The Dark 5.64
6 Casualty 5.48
7 BBC News (Sun, 10pm) 4.80
8 Who Do You Think You Are? 4.72
9 Holby City 4.16
10 Peter Kay’s Comedy Shuffle 4.07
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BBC2
1 Nadiya’s Food Adventure 2.62
2 Inside The Factory 2.45
3 The Sweet Makers 2.24
4 Gardeners’ World 2.21
5 University Challenge 2.12
6 Ripper Street 1.68
7 RHS Tatton Flower Show 1.37
8 Dad’s Army 1.33
9 Addicted Parents 1.22
10 The Mash Report 1.12
ITV
1 Coronation Street (Wed) 7.72
2 Emmerdale (Wed) 6.34
3 Fearless 4.66
4 Joanna Lumley’s India 3.46
5 Love Your Garden 3.41
6 Catchphrase 3.22
7 ITV News (Wed, 6.30pm) 3.07
8 Killer Women 2.89
9 Eat Shop Save 2.70
10 Harry Potter/Goblet Of Fire 2.69
C4
1 The Handmaid’s Tale 1.96
2 Women’s Euro: Eng v Spain 1.54
3 The Last Leg 1.44
4 Women’s Euro: Eng v Scot 1.43
5 Naked Attraction 1.19
C5
1 Murder Of Sarah Payne 1.88
2 The Hotel Inspector 1.50
3 The Dog Rescuers 1.40
4 All New Traffic Cops 1.26
5 Blind Date 1.25
AND THE REST
1 Love Island 2.82
2 Game Of Thrones 2.77
3 The Secret Life Of Pets 1.27
4 First Night Of The Proms 1.05
5 Love Island Aftersun 0.99
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Channel numbers
BBC4 Sky 116 Freeview 9 Freesat 107 Virgin 107/163
ITV2 Sky 118 Freeview 6 Freesat 113 Virgin 115/176
ITV3 Sky 119 Freeview 10 Freesat 115 Virgin 117/178
ITV4 Sky 120 Freeview 24 Freesat 117 Virgin 118/178
E4 Sky 136 Freeview 28 Freesat 122 Virgin 144/145
More 4 Sky 138 Freeview 14 Freesat 124 Virgin 147/203
Drama Sky 158 Freeview 20 Freesat 158 Virgin 128
SCP Sky 301 Virgin 401/431
SCT Sky 309 Virgin 409/439
SCG Sky 304 Virgin 404/434
SCS Sky 312 Virgin 412/442
Film 4 Sky 315 Freeview 15 Freesat 300 Virgin 428/429
TCM Sky 317 Virgin 415/416
Gold Sky 110 Virgin 124
Universal Sky 113 Virgin 137
Sky Living Sky 107 Virgin 111/112
W Sky 109 Virgin 125
5 Star Sky 176 Freeview 30 Freesat 131 Virgin 151
5 USA Sky 174 Freeview 21 Freesat 129 Virgin 153
Dave Sky 111 Freeview 12 Freesat 157 Virgin 127
Fox Sky 124 Virgin 157/158
Comedy Central Sky 112 Virgin 132
Yesterday Sky 537 Freeview 19 Freesat 159 Virgin 245
Nat Geo Sky 526 Virgin 266/268
Discovery Sky 520 Virgin 250/251
Sky Arts Sky 121 Virgin 122/206
PBS America Sky 534 Freesat 155 Virgin 276