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Tonight's Terrestrial Telly Tips

Posted by Louise Bolotin | Thu, 02/09/2010 - 07:21

An hour is not nearly long enough to do justice to the glorious history of French cooking but cultural historian Andrew Hussey has a pretty good try in France on a Plate (BBC4, 10.25pm). It’s a whirlwind tour of Gaullish grub, from the political and royal hub of Versailles, where haute cuisine was invented, to the designer-led nouvelle style where the look of the dish took prominence over the taste. Hussey chats to some iconic French chefs en route and explores why food is of such national importance to our cousins across the Channel.

Tonight's Terrestrial Telly Tips

Posted by Louise Bolotin | Wed, 01/09/2010 - 09:04

The talk on the nation's lips this morning has been, unsurprisingly, the publication of Tony Blair's memoirs. And it's not been pretty. The former PM has been vilified across the board, despite donating millions in royalties to a services charity (a gesture described as "blood money"). So, the question is how will he fare in The Tony Blair Interview with Andrew Marr (BBC2, 7pm)? Marr himself is a Labour man but everyone will still be hoping and expecting him to give Blair a decent grilling over the Iraq war and much more. Whatever, it'll be an entertaining hour - as much for what doesn't get said as what does. Don't miss it.

Tonight's Terrestrial Telly Tips

Posted by Louise Bolotin | Tue, 31/08/2010 - 07:51

On the heels of yesterday's challenging drama about modern-day slavery, Channel 4 is launching a mini-season on trafficking and sexual exploitation. The Hunt for Britain's Sex Traffickers (9pm) covers police activity in the nationwide Operation Pentameter 2, which aims to bring traffickers to justice. The cameras tracked DC Andy Leigh of the Gloucestershire Constabulary for more than a year - we see him gather evidence through covert filming, local intelligence from businesses such as estate agents and liaison with other forces before raiding brothels to free enslaved sex workers and track down the men responsible. Helen Mirren narrates, part two is tomorrow.

Tonight's Terrestrial Telly Tips

Posted by Louise Bolotin | Mon, 30/08/2010 - 09:41

Slavery is alive and thriving in modern Britain, despite having been outlawed nearly 200 years ago. It exists through the wealthy importing foreign domestic staff and then exploiting them because of legal loopholes. I Am Slave (C4, 8.30pm) is a powerful fictional drama based on true testimonies about Malia, a young Sudanese girl snatched from her village and sold on before ending up enslaved to a rich London family who have bought her knowing she is not free. Wunmi Mosaku shines as the young slave who makes a dramatic bid to escape her owners. This is harrowing viewing for a bank holiday Monday but will not fail to move you if you have the courage to watch.

This Weekend's Terrestrial Telly Tips

Posted by Louise Bolotin | Sat, 28/08/2010 - 09:51

SATURDAY

BBC Proms 2010 (BBC2, 6.45pm): The proms in recent years have become so much more interesting as they expand to explore non-traditional classic music. The now-annual Doctor Who proms springs to mind and, after last night's jazzy Jamie Cullum-led concert, classic musicals get an endorsement, with this fabulous homage to the gilded partnership of Rodgers and Hammerstein, who between them produced a string of legendary scores for Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, Carousel, South Pacific and more. John Wilson conducts a hand-picked orchestra live at the Royal Albert Hall.

Tonight's Terrestrial Telly Tips

Posted by Louise Bolotin | Fri, 27/08/2010 - 08:54

Jazz fans should settle on the sofa early this evening for the BBC Proms 2010 (BBC4, 7.30pm), as Jamie Cullum is starring at the Royal Albert Hall with the 40-piece Heritage Orchestra, which is one of the hottest and funkiest jazz ensembles on the circuit right now. The jazz pianist has played at the venue plenty of times but, surprisingly, this is his first-ever prom. Tonight he'll be delivering some classics and standards from composers like Cole Porter and George Gershwin, some of his own recent material and some new tunes. We're also promised special guests but no details have been released so you could be in for some surprises. Jules Buckley conducts.

Tonight's Terrestrial Telly Tips

Posted by Louise Bolotin | Thu, 26/08/2010 - 09:01

Ah, Mistresses! What joy you have brought to millions with your clichéd dialogue, perfect homes, gorgeous but dim lovers and designer threads. Yes, it's hokum of course but quality hokum nonetheless. The last-ever (gasp - yes, really!) episode sees the four friends have a massive bust-up at Richard's funeral, triggering the six-month split that Katie tried to end at the start of this season. It's perfectly bleedin' obvious why Trudi's not speaking to Katie, of course but we finally get to learn why everyone else fell out with each other. And whether they can mend the giant rifts before Katie... But no, no spoilers. Tune in at 9pm on BBC1 to find out for yourself.

Tonight's Terrestrial Telly Tips

Posted by Louise Bolotin | Wed, 25/08/2010 - 07:59

Professional dogma-dismantler Richard Dawkins is no stranger to controversy when it comes to his full-scale assaults on religion, so it's a surprise to see his latest TV outing tucked away on More4. This two-part documentary of his best-selling book, The God Delusion (9pm), comes to life on the small screen as the eminent professor explains why he finds God to be an "unpleasant fictional character" and why he believes religion is the chief cause of pain and suffering in the world. It's full-on stuff, as you'd expect from Dawkins - whether you agree or not, he argues his case passionately and eloquently. It's just a shame that such a heated topic is not being shown on parent station Channel 4.

Tonight's Terrestrial Telly Tips

Posted by Louise Bolotin | Tue, 24/08/2010 - 07:36

The problem with The Great British Bake Off (BBC2, 8pm) is that it always make me so hungry. As soon our wannabe patissier contestants start rubbing fat into flour, my stomach starts growling for cake. Never mind that I've just had my dinner, this cooking competition is tickling my tastebuds in ways that shouldn't be allowed. Appropriately, this week our bakers are off to Scone Palace in Scotland to bake scones, while presenters Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc discover why the humble digestive biscuit is so called and how shortbread came to be Scotland's defining finger of baked deliciousness.

Tonight's Terrestrial Telly Tips

Posted by Louise Bolotin | Mon, 23/08/2010 - 07:37

The second part of In Their Own Words: British Novelists (BBC4, 9pm) is dubbed The Age of Anxiety and it's not hard to see why. In the aftermath of Hiroshima and the Holocaust, and with the rise of the Cold War, people became preoccupied with fears. A new generation of British novelists capitalised on those fears to produce a new wave of science fiction and the birth of the Cold War spy genre. Archive footage includes interviews with greats such as John Wyndham, William Golding, JRR Tolkien and Doris Lessing. This lovely, low-key series weaves together seemingly unrelated threads to create a new vision of the state of British literature in the last century.