Sometimes you're staring at the TV previews for a bit of inspiration, and you find there's nothing, nothing more you can say. Like when you read a sentence like:
"Belgian artist Wim Delvoye likes to make machines which replicate the human digestive system -- you put food in one end and get shit out the other. "
And suddenly you find it difficult to think about anything, much. At all. Hmm.
Anyway, find out where you can put that little nugget (if you'll excuse the terminology) in context by checking out the picks of tonight's TV, taken from this week's Guide...
Walking With Monsters 8.30pm, BBC1 Even before tyrannosaurus rex and company walked the Earth, our planet was home to some vicious beasties, the distant, distant ancestors of today's myriad species. The same team that produced Walking With Dinosaurs recreates this first complex life in CGI form, life that began to develop after another planet collided with the young Earth some 4.4 billion years ago. Despite some strange excursions into Finding Nemo-style anthropomorphism this is a show that's as impressive as its predecessors.
Jonathan Wright
Russian Godfathers 9pm, BBC2 "They never forget me," says Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky of the Putin government. Wanted in his homeland on fraud charges, Berezovsky lives in a "gilded cage" in the home counties. However, the multi-millionaire businessman refuses to go into quiet exile. Then the Russian government imprisons another oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, leading to disquiet in the west. Is the political climate changing in Berezovsky's favour?
Jonathan Wright
I Killed John Lennon 10pm, C4 Most of the anniversary programmes this week celebrate John Lennon's life -- this deals with the person who ended it. Based on taped interviews, this reconstructs the life and motives of Mark Chapman: security guard, born-again Christian, and, ultimately, Lennon assassin. A narcissist, disappointed by his succession of dead-end jobs, this suggests Chapman fixated on Lennon and hoped to round out his personality by killing him. This we hear him talk about in such a way as to suggest the plan failed. All vaguely macabre.
John Robinson
Art Safari: Wim Delvoye 10pm, BBC4 A show which takes a peek inside the weird and wonderful world of contemporary art. This week, Belgian artist Wim Delvoye. He likes to make machines which replicate the human digestive system -- you put food in one end and get shit out the other. Presenter Ben Lewis is a little like the Louis Theroux of the art world -- enthusiastic, unfazed by the craziness he encounters and totally deadpan. You're never quite sure where the wonder ceases and the irony begins. It's a great TV moment, watching two grown men having a serious conversation about crap, arses and art.
Martin Skegg
John Lennon: Imagine; John Lennon: Bed-In 8pm; 9pm, Artsworld These complementing films offer conflicting sides of two fascinating personalities. Imagine is a very tedious vanity piece for John and Yoko, featuring the two of them swanning around their mansion in an extended video to the album. Yoko Ono in particular seems deluded, both in her dress sense and in her music. Then at the famous bed-in, everything Yoko says is wise and considered, as she argues not for peace in an accusatory, antiestablishment sense but on a personal level. John is the one everyone wants to talk to, of course, but Yoko seems like the one in control -- in a good way.
Will Hodgkinson
The Good Girl (Miguel Arteta, 2002) 10.05pm, Film Four There's a staunchly indie feel to this tale about a shop cashier looking for a bit of excitement -- somehow surprising when you consider that the lead here is Friends star Jennifer Aniston. Dismal romcom vehicles having failed to work for her, here she acts, rather than simply providing a variation on her most famous role. She's in great company: playing opposite John C Reilly and Jake Gyllenhaal (as the deep, but ultimately surprisingly worm-like Holden), this turns out funny, even cool.
John Robinson
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Gosh, there's nothing on but poo and Lennon. Toodle-loo.
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