I don't often do this, but I need to jot down some of the great TV programmes coming up over the next few days, just so that I don't accidentally forget to watch them. Like I nearly did last night. Only at the last minute did I spot that More4 was broadcasting an evening of shows from the very first night of Channel 4, not-quite-25 years ago. So I spent several delightful hours revisiting the first edition of Countdown (the first consonant was a T), the first episode of Brookside (how young was our Damon?) and the very first Comic Strip Presents... Five Goes Mad In Dorset (Uncle Quentin! And lashings of ginger beer). I'd have been gutted to miss those. And that's why I'm jotting down the following, OK?
• Stephen Fry: HIV and Me (BBC2, Tuesday, 9pm) If you remember Mr Fry's excellent documentary on depression, this can only be as illuminating (oh, and you had noticed Stephen's blogging now, hadn't you? At length...) • Batman (BBC4, Tuesday & Wednesday, 7:30pm) Holy Classic Sixties Repeats! This week, Mr Freeze zaps, wacks and pows. • Ripping Yarns (BBC4, Tuesday, 9pm) Michael Palin's tongue-in-cheek Boys Own adventure tales, this one feating Eric Olthwaite and his Spear and Jackson number 5. • Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe (BBC4, Tuesday, 10pm) A caustic attack on modern telly, in another fine witty haranguing monologue. • Porterhouse Blue (More4, Tuesday, 11:05pm) That classic Oxbridge drama starring Mr D Jason, playing all this week. And followed tonight by, ooh, Vic Reeves Big Night Out! • Jericho (ITV4, Wednesday, 8pm) First Freeview outing for the apocalyptic US mini series in which a mid-west town finds itself seemingly alone after nuclear Armageddon. • The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle (BBC2, Thursday, 9pm) Jennifer Saunders takes aim at the easy target of daytime chatshows. • 50 Years of the Today Programme (BBC4, Thursday, 9pm) Actually I'm not interested in this one at all, but I know how to give my readers what they want. • Eurotrash (More4, Thursday, 11pm) The very first über-camp episode, avec Antoine de Caunes. • Ugly Betty (Channel 4, Friday, 9pm) New series! Watch it now and save £50 on buying two box sets in six months time. • House of Cards (BBC4, Sunday, 9pm) Another 80s drama ripe for a repeat, especially in a possible election-calling week. • The Sarah Jane Adventures (BBC1, Monday, 5pm) It may be on kids telly, but this Doctor Who spin-off featuring 59-year-old Ms Smith is actually dead good. You've missed two episodes already, but it's evil nuns next week and you wouldn't want to miss them too.
