There continues to be nothing positive to be said about physical real-world Mondays, apart from the fact that there's only one of them in the week. While everything in Edinburgh may carry on regardless and at full tilt, the rest of us slump back into the week with all the enthusiasm of a chocolate teaspoon invited to a sauna party, hoping to goodness that Monday won't have the chance to get too painful before it's all over.
But wait! Before it is over, there's some bally good telly to be had this evening, including people who like nothing better than stuffing dead things, old rock stars who look like they may actually be stuffed, and a group of girls for whom to be stuffed means a hearty meal of two kleenex and a branflake.
To find out what I'm talking about, or simply to plan your evening's viewing, check out our picks of the day, from this week's Guide and today's Guardian.
Life On The List 7pm, BBC1 Justin is seven years old. His heart has failed and he's on a heart bypass machine. Only a transplant will save Justin's life. Meanwhile, Adrian faces a 400-mile journey by ambulance when the possibility of a suitable heart arises, while Trevor and Sharon both need double lung transplants. These and similar stories, told over five consecutive nights, form the cornerstone of the BBC's DoNation season, which aims to foster awareness of issues surrounding organ transplantation.
Jonathan Wright
God's Rottweiler 8pm, C4 Take a Bavarian authoritarian whose formative experience was a German military defeat, and put him in charge … what could go wrong? This appraisal of Pope Benedict XVI looks for the truth behind the "God's Rottweiler" nickname that was bestowed upon the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during his previous gig as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Interviewees include Benedict's brother and biographer, and his opponents — those Catholics who'd rather Benedict directed his righteous ire away from homosexuals, women and Muslims.
Andrew Mueller
Taxidermy: Stuff The World 9pm, BBC2 A film exploring the wonderful world of wildlife stuffers. It's a competitive sport, an all-consuming passion. A bit weird. "I love dead animals," says Jeanette as she cups a bag of elk testicles appreciatively. Matthias combines a love of taxidermy with his fervent belief in Jesus. Young Victoria feels bad for wiping out god's creatures, but her family do eat everything she kills. At one point her dad actually says of a buck she plugs, "He got a purty mouth" though.
Julia Raeside
America's Next Top Model 9pm, Living TV A chance to witness the spindle-thin wannabes doing stuff you've never seen them doing before. Apart from eating. Enjoy and enjoy again Rebecca's collapse, Michelle's skin disease and Tyra's tiff with Tiffany. And then there was Kahlen's hilarious prank on Christina, Kahlen clearly releasing the pent up anger she feels towards her parents for giving her a made-up name. The final's next week, with Britain's Next Top Model starting in September.
Julia Raeside
Boston Legal 10pm, LivingTV Prissy James Spader gets sent to work a case in Texas — "I've not had my shots" — to defend a low-IQ man scheduled for execution in a few days. A "beyond humiliated" Shelley Long is being accused of paying for sex on several hundred occasions so the team start to work on a nymphomania-based defence. The final episode of the law show where all the cases are either nice spins on cliches or enjoyably absurd. Shatner, as always, seems to be acting in a different show than everyone else, while Spader can still deliver lines others would struggle with, especially when explaining his attraction to the Lone Star state's mechanical bull rides: "it would be like visiting Los Angeles and not sleeping with Paris Hilton."
Phelim O'Neill
Motörhead: Live Fast, Die Old 11pm, Channel 4 It's now 30 years since the formation of the outfit once deemed "the loudest band ever" by the Guinness Book of Records. This film follows 57-year-old founding member (and avid collector of gothic skulls) Lemmy, as he leaves his west Hollywood apartment to embark on yet another tour of the UK.
Neil Crossley
Antony Beevor and the Chekhova File: BBC4 On BBC2 11.20pm, BBC2 This documentary is pegged on the release of Antony Beevor's new tome about Olga Chekhova, a niece of Anton Chekhov and a renowned film star in Nazi Germany. The film follows Beevor as he investigates whether Chekhova was a spy for Soviet intelligence from the 1920s to the 40s, recruited by her brother Lev, a Russian composer.
Neil Crossley
