TV week ahead

Published on Saturday 29 December 2007 13:49

Shows, films and the week's radio.

BEST REALITY

Big Brother's Celebrity Hijack

Channel 4 and E4, Thursday

The original big daddy of reality TV programming was never really going to disappear, now was it? For as much as the execs at the top of BB towers eventually hung their heads in shame over the 'Shilpagate' race row last year, a show which accounts for 15% of the channel's total revenue is never going to be relegated to the history books without a fight.

And so we have a new 'take' on the Big Brother phenomenon, with this new experiment, featuring celebrities as the controllers of events within the house and members of the public as the lab rats.

Not the usual array of talentless wannabes, however, for these housemates will include scientists, athletes, acrobats and members of Mensa.

Be more concerned about the antics that Jimmy Carr, Matt Lucas, Ian Wright, Malcolm McLaren, Joan Rivers, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Brian Sewell and Bo' Selecta! character Keith Lemon will get up to behind the cameras.

Also try: JK Rowling: A year in the life, STV, today, 5pm. Harry Potter's scribe has lived out her life in front a documentary team for year, and all for your viewing pleasure

BEST DRAMA

Sense And Sensibility

BBC1, New Year's Day, 9.10pm

Ang Lee's attempt at a modern shakedown of this classic was pretty much near perfection thanks to Emma Thompson, but Andrew Davies wouldn't let such a small matter trouble him, given that every script he touches turns to gold these days.

The Dashwood sisters are thrown into poverty when their father dies, but in typical Austen style out of destitute circumstances comes the opportunity for passion, progression and plenty of prenuptials.

David Morrissey stars as Colonel Brandon, with Dominic Cooper (best known for his role in The History Boys) accompanying him as a suitor for Marianne Dashwood's hand, while Line Of Beauty star Dan Stevens is the beau in pursuit of Elinor.

Also try: The Shadow In The North, BBC1, tonight, 8.55pm. Billie Piper returns as Sally Lockhart in this second of four books from Philip Pullman's Victorian detective thriller series

BEST HOGMANAY

Jool's Annual Hootenanny

BBC2, Hogmanay, 11.05pm

There's a lot to be said for the warm, fuzzy feeling Jools Holland can bring to a show which has the potential to replicate the chaos of The Word and The Tube combined, yet manages to waltz on and off our screens with the utmost of rock'n'roll composure.

It's all thanks to master Holland's love affair with new and old music, and his genuine charm when interviewing and introducing his guests.

This year's first footers will include Sir Paul McCartney, who will be celebrating a year of musical success – and one of romantic drama best forgotten – the Kaiser Chiefs, Kylie, Kate Nash, Madness, Seasick Steve, Mika and Raul Midon.

Also try: Hogmanay Live From Edinburgh, STV, 11.50pm, and Hogmanay Live from Glasgow, BBC1 Scotland, 11.45pm

BEST OF BRITISH

Shameless

Channel 4, New Year's Day, 10.10pm

Frank Gallagher still knows how to "paaahty", so what better way to kill your hangover than to watch some other poor sod suffer. The Gallaghers return for series five, with a visit to the local hospital putting Frank in a bit of a spin.

With 16 episodes commissioned this time round, rather than the usual eight, some might be questioning just how much more mileage is left in the trials of life round the Chapsworth Estate, but with a new baby and a fresh love interest appearing over the fence, perhaps there are still some legs left in the drama yet.

Also try: Jam & Jerusalem, BBC1, New Year's Day, 9.40pm. Light drama set among the fictional Women's Guild of Clatterford St Mary, starring Sue Johnson and Pauline McLynn. Scripted by Jennifer Saunders

TV FILMS

WHAT LIES BENEATH

ITV1, today, 9.30pm

Fatal Attraction may have set the standard for heart-in-mouth bath scenes, but Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford, above, come a decent second in Robert Zemeckis's tense thriller about a woman who starts to believe in the supernatural. (200)

STRICTLY BALLROOM

Channel 4, today, 7.15pm

Baz Luhrmann's romantic comedy takes the age old fable of the ugly duckling and turns her into a ballroom blitzer. (1992)

TERMS OF ENDEARMENT

Five, Monday, 1.50pm

If you've managed to make it through Christmas without shedding a tear, then give yourself a bit of cinematic therapy and let it all out, as Shirley MacLaine, Jack Nicholson and Debra Winger deal with life, death and relationships to Oscar-winning standard. (1983)

CARLITO'S WAY

STV, Friday, 11.10pm

Arguably Brian De Palma's last great film, with Al Pacino on blistering form as the ex-heroin dealer trying to go straight. (1993)

SINGIN' IN THE RAIN

Five, Tuesday, 3.10pm

A delight from start to finish, as Fred Astaire and Debbie Reynolds tap their way through the invasion of the 'talkies' on to the silent sets of Hollywood. (1952)

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

BBC1, Tuesday, 11.05pm

Guy Pearce followed up slick roles on LA Confidential and Memento with this adaptation of the classic swashbuckling tale. Co-starry Jim Caviezel. (2001)

BONNIE AND CLYDE

STV, Tuesday, 11.15pm

Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty show 'em how it's done in this classic tale of the notorious bank robbers. (1967)

ANYTHING ELSE

STV, Wednesday, 12.05am

Woody Allen took a risk here by scripting American Pie star Jason Biggs in an Allan-esque lead, as a young neurotic writer struggling with his work and relationships. Sound familiar? (2003)

FIONA LEITH

RADIO

FROM the darker depths of storytelling, Bram Stoker's Dracula (BBC World Service, Saturday, 8pm) is brought back to life in this adaptation by Liz Lochhead. David Suchet swaps Poirot's pencil moustache for some over-defined canine teeth to play the bloodsucking title role in this irrepressible gothic horror classic.

Martin Jarvis's gift of metamorphosis is put to great use on Jeeves Live (BBC Radio 4, Monday, 11.30am), a one-man performance of some of PG Wodehouse's most popular characters. First up is Fixing It For Freddie where Jeeves, the valet, has a plan to reunite Freddie and Elizabeth; followed by Bertie Changes His Mind, the only story Wodehouse wrote with his signature character as narrator.

Join the wonderful Emmylou Harris as she chats to Nick Barraclough about working with Bob Dylan and her love of all things Cash and Parton on My Country Jukebox (BBC Radio 2, Thursday, 11pm).

Tortoise (BBC Radio 4, Monday, 2.15pm) is a radio premiere of work from acclaimed screenwriter Jack Rosenthal, produced by his widow Maureen Lipman. Felicity Montague and Stephen Mangan play a married couple who have lost their lust for life and each other, with Shelley resorting to an affair with her boss, and Roy spending an increasing amount of time with his beloved pet tortoise.

"When a man says he has exhausted life one knows that life has exhausted him" is one of Oscar Wilde's memorable phrases, and Sunday Feature – Oscar In America (BBC Radio 3, December 30, 10.15pm) explores the overseas impact of the incomparable literary giant. Presenter Owen Dudley Edwards, Declan Kiberd and Wilde's grandson Merlin Holland shed light on the icon.

ROSANNA CHIANTA