Tuesday? Oh, it's not just any old Tuesday, it's a Tuesday full of pride and full of prejudice. Pride at some ashy stuff connected to the cricket, and prejudice against - well, Australians, I suppose, for lack of anyone else. After weeks and weeks of television scheduling prejudice against anyone who doesn't like cricket, I for one am celebrating the absence of it with a heady marathon of 'realising there was never anything of worth on during the day anyway'.
But have no fear, for this evening's primetime entertainment is striding toward us like an enormous man in a wet shirt, come to sweep us off our feet and carry us toward bedtime, happy. Mmmm. Now you go and read the picks of the day from this week's Guide, while I think about Colin Firth.
Pride And Prejudice Revisited 7pm, BBC4 With Matthew MacFadyen and Keira Knightley about to step into Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle's boots and bodice as Elizabeth "not handsome enough" Bennet and Mr "all politeness" Darcy in Joe Wright's new film version, BBC4 are handily repeating Jane Austen's 10-year-old saga, with a double-bill on Tuesday nights over the next few weeks. Tonight there's also a documentary (9.30pm) looking at "its history, impact and enduring appeal", with lots of clips of Alison Steadman, Julia Sawalha, Anna Chancellor, Lucy Davis, Emilia Fox and Tom Ward getting all hot under their bonnets. Click here for a full refresher course from this week's Guide.
Richard Vine
The Man Who Faked His Life 10pm, C4 In 1993, the wife, two children and parents of a French doctor called Jean-Claude Ramond, a well-liked family man and respected researcher for the WHO, were murdered. Ramond survived, but too traumatised to speak. This terrific documentary relates what emerged when the gendarmes investigated. They discovered that Ramond didn't work for the WHO, wasn't a doctor, and that his entire adult life had been a meticulously organised fraud. Incredible, heartbreaking stuff.
Andrew Mueller
Murder One 9pm, FX It's been a long haul, but well worth it for anyone who's stayed the distance with growling Teddy and his team of glossy 1990s LA lawyers. Steven Bochco's one-case wonder has been a welcome repeat - despite the slightly annoying move to Tuesdays (along with The Wire, in case you've been wondering what had happened to Wednesday nights). Tonight we finally get to the bottom of the grisly sex, drugs and Hollywood murder trial, with suspects galore, a death-bed confession and just enough pay-off in Teddy's final scene to make you feel like you haven't just wasted 23 hours of your life…
Richard Vine
Nighty Night 10.30pm, BBC3 Hug for Jill… Having found out that Cath and Don are hiding out in Cornwall, the newly married Mrs Tyrell-Bulb (or is it Bulb-Tyrell?) is on the road this week, with Linda (and her caravan) in tow. Meanwhile the Coles are trying to work things out in the Trees Therapy Centre, and Jill's forced to handle a hit-and-run in her own special manner. If you can't wait to see Angus Deayton in a thong, www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/nightynight has a clip.
Richard Vine
ITV 50: 50 Years Of World Of Sport 9.45pm, ITV1 Between 1965 and 1985, World Of Sport was a mainstay of ITV's programming. It was a time of innocence when schoolchildren seriously thought the wrestling wasn't fixed and that there was nothing weird about a mainstream broadcaster showing Acapulco cliff diving. Then came Sky… As part of ITV's celebration of its first five decades, Dickie Davies looks at the history of sport on the channel. Expect a show that encompasses everything from Eric Morecambe's inspired lunacy, to moments of genuine sporting drama, such as England winning rugby's world cup.
Jonathan Wright
Medium 11.05pm, BBC1 A curious one, this. Based on the story of real-life medium Allison Dubois, it stars True Romance's Patricia Arquette as a young woman whose dream visions of dead people bear a startling correlation to real-life murder cases. À la the X-Files, her scientific husband maintains a healthily sceptical line. Still, at least the mood is ruminative and subdued, rather than out-and-out silly. Tonight, Allison has a chance to use her skills to send a serial rapist/murderer to the lethal injection chamber.
David Stubbs
No, no, still thinking about Colin Firth, sorry - I'll say something funny tomorrow, I promise.
