CRITICS’ CHOICE
Road to nowhere
Utopia — In Search Of The Dream (BBC4, 9pm)
The art historian Richard Clay is not above giving his audience a kick in the guts as he opens this three-part search for a perfected world. “Remember this?” he asks, over footage of President Obama’s first victory speech. “It seems like an age ago now, doesn’t it?” Optimism might be the driving force of human history, Clay argues, but the course is not a straight one.
In 1516, he tells us, Thomas More coined the term Utopia as a “knowing classical joke”, referring to the Greek words for “no place” and (spelt differently) “a good place”, and Clay’s first instinct in trying to locate it is to head to Watford FC, where men come together to share a common passion and forlorn dreams. He sounds like Prof Brian Cox and looks like a member of Franz Ferdinand, and his appreciation of cultures high, low, old and new is intriguing, as he visits Wikipedia, discusses Swift and Wagner and obsesses about Star Trek with Lieutenant Uhuru.
Helen Stewart
Get A House For Free (C4, 9pm)
The property millionaire Marco Robinson wants to “give something back”, and that something is a three-bedroom flat in Preston. It will be free, though, to whichever of the 8,000 applicants he deems most worthy at the end of this distinctly queasy documentary. Here we see him meet and befriend three chosen finalists — none of whom seems wholly suitable — and ultimately hands one of them a key. (MJ)
Last Will And Testament (PBS America, 9pm)
As with the identity of Jack the Ripper, questions of attribution over the works of Shakespeare have long proved entertaining for many and lucrative for some. Did he or didn’t he? That is the question posed again here, from an American perspective, yet with several British contributors, including Derek Jacobi. Suspects are wheeled on stage — but the smart money is on Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. (MJ)
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Craft It Yourself (More 4, 8pm)
“What fresh hell are they gonna unleash on us now?” asks Clemency Green, almost quoting Dorothy Parker in anticipation of viewing a dismal Birmingham dining room. Fear not: she plans to conduct a makeover in a style the gang, now making up their own language, calls rustic bohemian. It means unfinished and scrappy, judging by the jagged table and concrete lamp shade. (HS)
American Ripper In London (History, 9pm)
In what seems like a gruesome episode of Who Do You Think You Are, Jeff Mudgett, a retired lawyer, traces the story of his great-grandfather HH Holmes, America’s first serial killer. Mudgett’s relative owned a Chicago hotel building with asbestos walls to muffle screams, dead-ended corridors to disorientate and vents to pump poisoned gas — but did he also moonlight as Jack the Ripper? (HS)
FILM CHOICE
The Wrong Man (1956)
TCM, 9.05am
This lesser-known Hitchcock film is an intriguing variation on one of its maker’s trusted formulas: a luckless guy finding himself unjustly suspected of a crime. Based on real events, it has a sombre tone and a religious dimension, and its hero is not an adventurer but an ordinary family man (played by Henry Fonda). (B/W)
On Dangerous Ground (1951)
Movies4Men, 6am
In this film noir, the director Nicholas Ray applies his strong visual sense to two contrasting worlds: the urban jungle that is home to Robert Ryan’s violent, insular cop, and the snowy countryside in which he meets a loving woman (Ida Lupino). (B/W)
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Tootsie (1982)
Film 4, 6.30pm
Film 4 marks Dustin Hoffman’s 80th birthday by showing two of his most successful movies: Kramer vs Kramer (at 1.30am) and this comedy, a showcase for his tour-de-force performance as an actor who disguises himself as a woman to obtain a role in a soap opera. Dir: Sydney Pollack
Black Rock (2012)
C4, 1.30am
Starring Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell and Katie Aselton (who directed) as friends persecuted by male strangers during a camping trip on an island, this rough thriller is a grindhouse flick with feminist instincts. Taking the fight to those attackers, the women discover their inner Amazons.
Previews by Edward Porter
Radio pick of the day
America Redux (Radio 4, 9am/9.30pm)
James Morris scooped the world with the news of the conquest of Everest in 1953, the year he also first visited America. In 1972, after a sex-change operation in Morocco, he became Jan Morris: the glittering writing career continued. Now 90, Morris reflects on 60 years of her trips to the States and plays some of her favourite American music — including Peggy Lee, Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra.
Paul Donovan
Sports choice
Test Cricket (SSME, 10.30am)
Cycling (Eurosport 1, 2pm)
WTA Tennis (BT Sport 1, 4pm)
ATP Tennis (SSME, 5.30pm)
Uefa Super Cup Real Madrid v Man United (BT Sport 2, 7pm)
You say
Fearless (ITV): clumsily scripted, rushed and predictable. A shame: the premise was interesting. As for John Bishop, the less said the better.
Joe Kirrane
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I wonder how John Bishop feels about not being thought a professional actor? He certainly is, as well as being a very funny comedian, and his performance in Fearless was right on the button.
Freddie Dale
Can someone explain what happened to the car bomb in the final instalment?
Patrick Fawl
Send your comments to: telly@sunday-times.co.uk