Wednesday 3 August 2011

TV highlights 03/08/2011

The Code | 24 Hours in A&E | My Resignation | The Adult Baby | The Great British Weather | Franklin and Bash

The Code
9pm, BBC2

At first glance, the hexagonal columns of the Giant's Causeway seem out of place in such a wild landscape. But understand the maths behind their creation, says Marcus du Sautoy, and all becomes clear. Essentially, for all that it looks "a bit of a mess", the world is rather more ordered than we suppose. Patterns abound: bubbles are spherical, for example, because it's the most efficient shape for them. A glorious journey through geometry that encompasses beekeeping, the ancient Greeks, extraordinary salt formations, the underlying fractal symmetry of Jackson Pollock's canvases and the virtual-landscape-driven birth of Pixar. Jonathan Wright

24 Hours In A&E
9pm, Channel 4

The real Casualty continues with more human narratives highlighting the fragility of life. These stories in another editor's hands would be less inspiring but the cutting here is perfect. Kev the porter is invested with excellent comic timing. The poignancy of one patient's story is heightened but not overplayed. Like One Born Every Minute, the ingredients are impressive enough on their own and the filmmakers know that, preferring to subtly frame their subjects rather than muck them about. Brilliant television. Julia Raeside

My Resignation
9pm, BBC4

The ritual of the disgraced figure falling, or failing to fall, on their sword has become a staple of the morality show that is modern public life. However, it's not always as simple as that, as the testimony of prominent resignees, including former home secretary Jacqui Smith, shows. She had wanted to resign immediately over the expenses crisis, she says, but was prevented from doing so by a PM concerned about timing. And should sexual peccadilloes or preferences be a resigning offence? Prostitute-fancier Lord Lambton did not think so 40 years ago ? neither does Max Mosley today. David Stubbs

The Adult Baby
9pm, National Geographic

Stanley Thornton, 29, calls himself an "adult baby". He spends much of his life living as an infant, dressing in over-sized babygrows. He has even constructed himself a comically giant highchair to have meals in. But as his backstory of childhood abuse emerges, it makes our initially whimsical introduction to him seem rather tasteless. There's also a woman unable to conceive who collects disturbingly life-like infant dolls and a suburban dad who leads an incestuous double life on Second Life. It takes all sorts. Ben Arnold

The Great British Weather
7.30pm, BBC1

The key to this programme's success has been a wry, understated acknowledgement that its title is a something of a joke ? however much it dominates the national conversation, British weather is, by global standards, dull, mild and predictable. This episode reflects on exceptions to that rule. Chris Hollins counts down the UK's five worst ever storms, and Carol Kirkwood visits Scotland's windy Cape Wrath. Andrew Mueller

Franklin & Bash
10pm, E4

After Peter Franklin (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) represents Danny Dubois, an old enemy of legal partner Jared Bash (Breckin Meyer), he starts to see him in a whole new light, in another outing for this legal show. Elsewhere, Jared takes on the case of a husband and wife who are unable to settle their divorce amicably. All of which makes this campy and somewhat ridiculous series sound way more serious than it actually is. If you're after an over-the-top comedy drama, then this is the courtroom for you. Ali Catterall


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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/aug/02/tv-highlights-03082011

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