MONDAY 15 NOVEMBER
CRITIC'S CHOICE: Accused
BBC One, 9.00pm
You know what you’re getting from a Jimmy McGovern drama, and it’s not vampires, psychics or unfeasibly good-looking secret agents who can bring down entire terrorist networks with a well-aimed quip. Accused is the first of six new hour-long dramas (each of them focusing on a different ordinary person who finds himself in the dock) scripted by the man behind Cracker and The Street, and it’s so straight-down-the-line that initially it’s in danger of coming across as dull.
But the reason McGovern’s dramas always feel so familiar is that they’re so convincing: every pause, every pint and every punch is perfectly weighted, never over-egged. Christopher Eccleston, the star of this opening story, must have played numerous characters like Willy – a hard-working, hard-drinking, eloquently gobby family man who finds himself in serious debt and then in court – but that’s because he’s so good at it.
Among the impetuses for Willy’s problems are his needy mistress and a daughter who’s about to get married. He is gradually undone by a combination of the recession and his own pride. You don’t learn what Willy’s actually on trial for until near the end, making this less of a courtroom drama than a moral one. It may be understated and old-fashioned but Accused is very effective TV. Future episodes involve such talents as Juliet Stevenson, Peter Capaldi and Andy Serkis, and so promise to be equally strong. SR
Rewind the 60s
BBC One, 9.15am
The evergreen and ever-so-slightly shrill Lulu presents this frothy five-part history of the Sixties, with the decade’s key events viewed through the prism of the emerging pop culture. This morning, comedian Jimmy Tarbuck – then a Butlins redcoat and Brighton & Hove Albion triallist – shares his reminiscences. Guests over the course of the week include designer Zandra Rhodes and actor Sanjeev Bhaskar, who also stars in a new week-long daytime drama series The Indian Doctor. SR
The Indian Doctor
BBC One, 2.15pm
This daily five-part series, starring Sanjeev Bhaskar, tells the story of the Indian medical staff who came to Britain in the Sixties at the behest of Enoch Powell. CM
Tinker Bell (2008)
Disney Cinemagic, 2.45pm
The first Disney film to feature JM Barrie’s roguish fairy in a speaking role tells the story of how she came to be. Tinker Bell (voiced by Mae Whitman) is born of a baby’s laugh. The fact that she seems to have had a personality transplant from the Peter Pan character we know shouldn’t deter you from this animation. RW
Tax the Fat: Panorama
BBC One, 8.30pm
Britain is the fattest nation in Europe, and that’s official. One way of tackling the country’s obesity epidemic might be to implement a “fat tax”, which would raise the price of sugary snacks and junk food. This could help the NHS to afford the ever-rising cost of treating obesity-related illnesses, such as diabetes and heart disease. Here reporter Shelley Jofre puts the idea to the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley and visits Denmark, the first country in the world to implement such a tax, to see how it’s working there. She also travels to the US, where a proposal to tax sugary drinks, such as Coca Cola, has been met with fierce opposition. CM
Miranda
BBC Two, 8.30pm
Series two of Miranda Hart’s gently farcical, slapstick-happy comedy continues where the first left off, with Miranda battling the threat of eternal spinsterhood while trying to get one over on her Sloaney rival Tilly. Sally Phillips (previously best known for Smack the Pony) co-stars. SR
Giles & Sue Live The Good Life
BBC Two, 9.00pm; Scot, 11.20pm
Giles Coren and Sue Perkins continue to work towards suburban self-sufficiency in the manner of Tom and Barbara Good from the 1970s sitcom The Good Life. This week, they try to pickle eggs, plant spuds and make wine, although the futile nature of the endeavour is underlined when they take delivery of two Gloucester Old Spot pigs, only to discover that it’s now against the law to allow them to perform their traditional function of gobbling up kitchen waste. SR
Greek Myths: Tales of Travelling Heroes
BBC Four, 9.00pm
Historian Robin Lane Fox is convinced that Greek myths are an essential part of Western culture so he finds out how they originated and grew into legend. In a voyage through sumptuous Mediterranean scenery, Lane Fox goes back to the 8th century BC to examine the world of a group of merchants and adventurers from the Greek island of Euboea. It is through their stories that, Lane Fox believes, we can trace these legends of gods, giants and monsters. SH
Scrubs
E4, 9.00pm
A double bill marks the start of the ninth season of the hospital sitcom, which, amazingly, hasn’t lost its touch. Supposed to close at the end of the last series, it’s been given another shot with a new look (the hospital has been rebuilt on a university campus), while the old stalwarts, JD (Zach Braff), Turk (Donald Faison), Dr Cox (the terrific John C McGinley) and a pregnant Elliott (Sarah Chalke), are joined by a new crop of medical students, among them the sweetly bumbling Lucy (Kerry Bishé). As ever Scrubs thrives on surreal humour, crude puns and undeniable charm. Tonight JD and Turk struggle to adjust to their new roles as teachers and mentors. SH
The Trip
BBC Two, 10.00pm; NI, 11.50pm
Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan – here playing characters loosely based on themselves – are superb comic actors, but there are times when The Trip feels like not much more than two middle-aged men doing silly voices at each other. Tonight, the pair visit a hotel in the Lake District. MD
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Channel 5, 10.00pm
This unflinching drama from Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Gladiator) retells the events of October 3, 1993 when 100 soldiers from a UN peacekeeping force are dropped into war-torn Somalia. Their mission is to capture two crime lords but when two of their helicopters are shot down a violent siege follows. Josh Hartnett stars. CG
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Film4, 12.55am
Shooting Dogs may be a more harrowing take on the 1994 Rwandan genocide, but this is a shocking film relevant to anyone with an interest in global politics. The clichéd comparison is with Schindler’s List, but this story of a hotelier (Don Cheadle) giving refuge to thousands stands in its own right. MW
Under the Bombs (2007)
Channel 4, 2.25am
A brave and fascinating war film which goes beyond fiction: it was shot during a real war, in the Lebanon of 2006. Director Philippe Aractingi improvised scenes with bombed-out civilians amid actual rubble. The story is simple – a mother is looking for her son – but the results are affecting and frighteningly authentic. CR
