It's the little things that make me love television so much. I once spent a happy matter of seconds, flicking between two terrestrial channels on which two protagonists of two old movies were playing the same tune on the piano a the Same Time. It's moments like that that make you believe that there really is a big Television God up there after all, watching over the schedules with a wry smile and a magic remote control.
But then you flick on the TV, and discover a programme about Blue Peter presenters pretending to be Abba, and you realise you were wrong, and there never was such a God, that there never could be, in fact, any kind of god, if this kind of evil is allowed to exist in the world. Still, if you can manage to ignore that piece of useless frippery, there's plenty more fun to be had with your remote control tonight - find out what with the picks of tonight's TV fresh from this week's Guide...
Derailed 9pm, BBC1 The fatal breakdown in the relationship between corporate interest and customer safety that led to the Paddington rail disaster is fully explored by this docudrama, based upon inquiry transcripts and personal accounts. Stephen Greenhorn's script pulls no punches in apportioning the blame — "Investments are up, performance is up, costs are down," boasts Railtrack CEO Gerald Corbett —and heartrendingly chronicles the human scale of the tragedy; but still more shocking is the revelation that the Cullen enquiry's main safety recommendations remain largely unimplemented.
Joss Hutton
When Blue Peter Became Abba 10pm, C4 What a totally random idea. Zoe Ball rounds up four ex-Blue Peter presenters and challenges them to become a convincing Abba tribute band in seven days. Little do they know they will be performing in front of 70,000 at a music festival. Little do we care. They stick them in a luxury mansion and the singing lessons commence. Next week, Jayne Middlemiss challenges four former Blockbusters contestants to convince as the Four Tops. You're not even sure if that's true, are you?
Julia Raeside
Medium 11.05pm, BBC1 Starring Patricia Arquette playing real-life and scandalously employed medium Alison DuBois, this fitfully likable series feels like the trained writers and actors involved are a little bit ashamed of its premise, of the woman whose dreams enable her to solve murder cases. And so they should do, frankly, going by tonight's edition, which features a witness Alison suspects of making up an ID as well as a subplot involving her daughter's imaginary friend.
David Stubbs
Little Angels 8pm, BBC3 The programme that began the devil children sub-genre of reality television is still the most level-headed. On this episode, child psychologist Laverne Antrobus proves herself to be more compassionate than most tantrum-busting experts. She accepts that single mother Jackie has a lot to cope with in six-year-old Paul, who has attention deficit disorder, can flip out at any moment, and responds to instructions from his mother with lines like: "My ears have switched off." Antrobus recommends a sense of order to make Paul feel secure, fewer instructions, and less shouting, of course. It seems to work, at least for television.
Will Hodgkinson
Buried 9pm, FX In which HMP Mandrake inmate Lee Kingley (the brilliant Lennie James) determines to avoid being consumed in the belly of the beast, but becomes all but institutionalised. As Buried should have been: two years ago, with all hopes of recommission turned down by the parole board (aka Channel 4), the doors clanged permanently shut on one of Tony Garnett's finest hours — and best British drama serials in years (it won a Bafta). However, thanks to the miracle of satellite, there is an afterlife, after all. If you missed it the first time round, catch it now.
Ali Catterall
Tittybangbang 9.30pm, BBC3 Demented new comedy sketch thing written by and starring Jill Parker and Lucy Montgomery. This is just a taster. A series is coming in 2006. These girls have no boundaries. A scene of needlepoint tranquillity sees the ladies rubbing their naked bums against each other. A police pathologist can't help shagging the good-looking corpses. Montgomery is undoubtedly the star and wears her lack of vanity like a firework inserted somewhere private. You won't have seen the like before. But you will want to see it again. If only to check you weren't hallucinating the first time.
Julia Raeside
