Ian Hislop’s Scouting for Boys, BBC Two, 8pm

In the 20th century only the Bible, the Koran and The Thoughts of Chairman Mao sold more copies than Scouting for Boys, Robert Baden-Powell’s 1908 guide to improving citizenship among young chaps. In this film (first shown on BBC Four) Ian Hislop sets off, in amiable fashion, around the country to investigate its author. While noting the more mockable elements of the guide (eg, its obsession with boots), the tone is affectionate throughout – in fact, you’re even left convinced that it should return as mandatory reading in today’s classes.

Panorama, BBC One, 8.30pm

An anxious mother recently wrote in to Dr Tanya Byron in times2 saying that her seven, eight and nine-year olds were all addicted to Big Brother. Dr Bryon screamed in response (I’m paraphrasing here): “FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE WOMAN! STOP THEM WATCHING ADULT RUBBISH WITH NO REDEEMING FEATURES. SELL THEIR TVS! GET A GRIP!” Quite right, too. In this valuable contribution to the debate, Panorama takes away televisions, computers and consoles from a class of children for two weeks to find out what happens to their behaviour. The results are striking. One parent says afterwards: “Thinking how we were as a family – allowing the TV to control us – just seems totally crazy now.” Of course the box is bad for your kids. It’s obvious. Look what’s it done to me.

The Time of Your Life, ITV1, 9pm

Despite a strong cast that includes Geraldine James and Robert Pugh, this new six-part drama series about a woman who wakes up after 18 years in a coma has a basic problem: it doesn’t ring true. The sense of shock and bewilderment of catching up on 18 lost years presents an overwhelming challenge for the writer and actor, only here it is entirely lacking in emotional honesty. Instead of the reality of rehabilitation, the series opts for the easy soap opera of the what-happened-to-the-boyfriend variety. And being ITV, Kate (Genevieve O’Reilly) was found unconscious near the body of a friend, creating the added mystery of how he died. The only uncomfortable truth in the piece is the damaged relationship between the parents, who play a subtext of profound unhappiness.

Cutting Edge: The Dangerous School for Boys, Channel 4, 9pm

The “dangerous school” in question is an eccentric English Catholic boarding school in a small village in France. The school has turned its back on the modern world. The principal likes to think of it as “Eton before the Reformation”, but one of the pupils more accurately describes it as a cross between Hogwarts and Colditz. There is no doubting the faith and commitment of the staff, but the school is in dire straits: the buildings are crumbling, some parents have withdrawn their children because of the poor teaching and the French Government has refused funding. It is a remarkable institution – but not an entirely sane one.

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