Channel Hopping

INSPECTOR MONTALBANO

NOT all that long ago, I had an extremely pleasant holiday in Sicily. It reminded me very much of mainland Italy in that nothing ever seems too important that it should get in the way of having a nice plate of seafood linguine and a brimming glass of Gavi di Gavi. This Inspector Montalbano two-parter, starring Luca Zingaretti, inset, in the title role and set as usual in the fictional Sicilian town of Vigàta, centres on an investigation into arson and kidnap. But I’d be very surprised if there isn’t enough time for some mouthwatering grub and chilled vino as well.

COUNTDOWN TO THE FULL MOTTY

DURING a lengthy career as a soccer commentator, the recently retired John Motson made some memorable observations. He once noted, for example, that the World Cup was ‘a truly international event’. On another occasion, he said of a controversial on-pitch decision: ‘Whether that was a penalty or not, the referee thought otherwise.’ This half-hour special looks back at some of great man’s finest moments behind the microphone.

AVERY ENGLISH SCANDAL

NEARLY 40 years have passed since Jeremy Thorpe – former leader of Britain’s Liberal Party – was acquitted after a six-week trial in which he was accused of conspiring to murder Norman Scott, a male model who had also been his lover. Despite being cleared, Thorpe, who died in 2014, never returned to political life. This three-part drama, which stars Hugh Grant in the lead role and Ben Whishaw as Scott, looks back on events that seem almost hard to credit now.

TOP SECRET!

THIS Cold War spoof, which stars Val Kilmer as a rock singer caught up in a plot to rescue an imprisoned scientist from East Germany, also stars Hammer horror star Peter Cushing and Dr Zhivago icon Omar Sharif.