Smash hit

“I just feel, like — not angry — but like, ‘Why are you staring at my mum? I know she’s pretty, but go home and stare at your wife’.”

BEST OF THE REST . . .

STORYVILLE
BBC Two, 11.20pm

Haunting interviews and propaganda film vividly reveal life under Chairman Mao.

Page 2: Multichannel choice ()

JEWEL IN THE CROWN
UKTV Drama, 8pm

Art Malik, Tim Pigott-Smith and Susan Wooldridge star in this 1980s adaptation of Paul Scott’s books, showing nightly from tonight for the last time on this channel.

WONDERFALLS
Sky One, 9pm

The second part of this quirky and immensely likeable comedy drama finds Jaye, still having conversations with perspicacious model animals, mentoring a troubled girl.

CELEBRITY SNAPPERS
FTN, 9pm

This frothy new series goes behind the scenes at photo shoots to investigate how the images of celebrities are brought to the pages of newspapers and magazines. Tonight, the celebrity lensman Nicky Johnston jousts with Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, deals with a drunken stylist and reveals that he turned down shoots with Mikhail Gorbachev and the cast of Friends because he did not know who they were. AB

STORYVILLE: SMALL PAIN FOR GLORY
BBC Four, 10pm

Athletics is not a priority in war-ravaged Sierra Leone, the world’s poorest country. But for some, sport offers the chance of a new life. This film follows a group of athletes as they train for the 2004 Olympics. They do so against the odds: resources are scarce (the national stadium was used as a safe haven for refugees) and starting guns are banned for fear of provoking violence. AF

MIDSOMER MURDERS
ITV3, 10.45pm

As the fifth series begins a run on ITV3, it is not hard to fathom Midsomer’s durability. The plotting may be formulaic but the whodunnits are rarely predictable, John Nettles and co are engaging and easy to watch, and the bucolic settings tap into a certain vision of Britain as it once was and should forever be. It even acknowledges how ludicrous its own body count has become: which is almost postmodern. AB

CYCLING: TOUR DE FRANCE
Eurosport, 11.45am/ITV2, 7pm

The Tour heads into the Alps for today’s mountain-top finish at Courchevel, but the true horrors lurk tomorrow, as the peloton tackle three fearsome mountain passes. Whoever is wearing the maillot jaune after these stages will be hard to beat. AB

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