Jonathan Miller's Brief History of Disbelief
9.30am, BBC4
No-nonsense meditation on atheism from the eclectic and unabashedly intellectual Jonathan Miller. Miller is quoted in the Paris Review as saying, "Religion is a thought disorder, and something from which one can get better, perhaps with the help of some pills." This rough history might well be one of those pills. In tonight's instalment, we encounter the volatile relationship between science and Christianity; the persecution of those suspected of atheism; and cogent exegesis of Hobbes, Hume and D'Holbach. Like the best lectures, the history Miller wants us to know seems urgent and timely.
Clare Birchall
Films
Tea With Mussolini
(Franco Zeffirelli, 1999) 6pm, FilmFour
Zeffirelli revisits his own youth in an account of a boy growing up in Mussolini's prewar Tuscany. When his mother dies, Luca (Baird Wallace) is saved from the orphanage by a group of dotty, chatty ex-pats, and the interplay of Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Joan Plowright, Cher and Lili Tomlin is a joy. A pity it drifts into more obvious wartime dramatics. Co-scripted by John Mortimer.
O
(Tim Blake Nelson, 2001) 8pm, Sky Movies 1
It may lack the brio of Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, but this is a stylish, powerful teen update of Othello, set in a high school in the American south. Mekhi Phifer's Odin James is the school sports star with beautiful girlfriend Desi (Julia Stiles); no wonder then that his pal Hugo (a surprisingly poisonous Josh Hartnett) gets so jealous - even his dad, school coach Martin Sheen, loves Odin. An admirably bleak and, well, tragic tale.
Dancer in the Dark
(Lars von Trier, 2000) 1.40am, FilmFour
Von Trier's distinctly odd melodrama, a defiant throwback to the far past of cinema, won the Palme d'Or but had the Cannes audience neatly divided into cheerers and booers, and has divided audiences ever since. It stars Icelandic pop singer Björk as a Czech immigrant working in a factory in smalltown USA, circa 1964. She's going blind, and saving for an op for her son to save his sight; but after accidentally killing her neighbour (David Morse) she's headed for a Death Row tragedy, to the accompaniment of several bright song-and-dance numbers, while her workmate (Catherine Deneuve, of all people) looks on perplexed. It doesn't rank with Von Trier's Breaking the Waves, but it's bold, it's different, and it's worth more cheers than boos.
Paul Howlett
Sport
Live Football
7pm, Sky Sports 1
Tottenham haven't been a whole lot of fun this season - a strong defence and frequently uninspired attack combining to provide success if not to impress. But their matches against Portsmouth are often fun - witness nine goals in two games last season - and Harry Redknapp's side has the pace and unpredictability to make this an intriguing encounter.
Simon Burnton
