It is a sign of how much the red-headed former louche cannon has grown up that his new paymasters are trusting him to kick off the Children in Need 24-hour music marathon. True, they haven’t gone so far as to give him all 24 hours of it, but only the first 150 minutes (after which Mark Radcliffe and Noddy Holder take over). Requests, dedications, pledges of donations and no unfortunate contributions from, say, Sean Ryder and his potty mouth — that’s the way to help the kiddies.

BIOGRAPHY OF A BOMBER
Radio 4, 8pm

Nasreen Suleaman has been a journalist with BBC News for 11 years. Here she presents a strong case for being groomed as the service’s next celebrity reporter as she tells the most detailed story I’ve yet heard of a man who, like her, was born in Britain to Pakistani parents and brought up in Yorkshire. On July 7, though, Mohammad Sidique Khan and three other men caught a train to London, where they blew themselves and 52 innocent people to bits. Why? It is a question asked a thousand times ever since — and Suleaman goes a long way towards answering it.

Explore Film

• Film Reviews

• DVD

• Oscars

• Bollywood

Editor's choice

• The top 10 fan versus band scuffles
• Mamma Mia! The first review
• Times critics' 20 best films for kids