Big Ideas That Changed the World

Five, 7.15pm

Jesse Jackson describes his 40-year struggle to turn into reality Thomas Jefferson’s vision of a country in which all men are created equal. He looks back at the institutionalised degradation that was part and parcel of growing up in the American South in the 1950s, and talks of the need to look forward — beyond legal equality — to a time when everyone has the same opportunities. “You cannot build walls between the few who live in surplus and the many who live with diseases and low wages and desperation,” he says. “You must somehow build bridges of equality with the whole human family.” The treatment of African-Americans and Latinos in New Orleans after Katrina shows just how much remains to be done.

Life on Mars

BBC One, 9pm

In the penultimate episode, the mystery of what DI Tyler (John Simm) is doing back in the Seventies is no closer to being resolved. Not that it matters. Most of the fun is still to be found in the relationship between Tyler and DCI Gene Hunt, which Philip Glenister has likened to the uneasy relationship between a football manager (a mixture of Brian Clough and José Mourinho) and a star player such as David Beckham. The old-school boss needs the help of his protégé tonight when he is accused of murder and was too drunk to remember what happened. “Just be the picky pain-in-the-a*** you normally are,” he tells Sam, “and I shall be fine.” As an extra perk, the sight of Philip Glenister doffing an impenetrable disguise is the funniest moment of the week.

Horizon

BBC Two, 9pm

The idea of the mad genius has long been part of the popular imagination — but is it true? Horizon examines the link between disability and creativity. The life of Nick van Bloss was made miserable by Tourette syndrome until he discovered the piano. “I would transcend to this wonderful place where I was safe, I was happy, I accepted everything about myself and I loved it.” Talking to other artists who suffer from other disabilities, it transpires that there is a common denominator — the dopamine system in the brain allowing association networks to loosen up. The trick is to find a neuro-chemical balance. “It’s a battle every day,” says a sufferer.

Amazing Grace: The True Story of the Song

BBC One, 11.20pm

The Rev John Newton wrote Amazing Grace in 1772 for New Year’s Day in the church of Olney, Bucks. Of all his prolific output Amazing Grace is his most personal. In it, he speaks of the “snares of life” and the grace that led him away from the slave trade and a life of “most horrid impiety and profaneness”. Such was his evangelical passion that he was accused of being an “enthusiast” or — worse — a Methodist. In this fine documentary, the former prog-rock wizard Rick Wakeman describes the history of the hymn, sung to 24 different tunes in the 19th century before being reborn as an anthem of redemption and hope.

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