PICK OF THE DAY

SHAKESPEARE & HATHAWAY

2.15PM, BBC1 ★★★★

This light-hearted private eye drama knows exactly what it is, and makes the most of it. The opening case of a new daily run introduces us to an old nemesis of Hathaway, the supposedly reformed criminal Eddie Monmouth, now working in a bingo hall and played by Jim Moir (right) with a barely concealed comedic glee. While we’re on the subject of guest stars, in Friday’s episode – a missing persons case – look out for an appearance from the excellent Josie Lawrence as an academic.

MARY BEARD’S SHOCK OF THE NUDE

9PM, BBC2 ★★★★

Were statues of goddesses just an excuse for men to ogle the naked female form in public? Mary Beard sets about her two-part survey of the impact of nudity in art with enthusiasm, and finds plenty of layers in our reactions to both male and female artistic nudity across the centuries.

INSIDE NO 9

10PM, BBC2 ★★★

Football referees with secrets are the subject of the first in a new series, which has a far more down-to-earth tone than your average Inside No 9. This feels more like a stage play, a tense series of exchanges between match officials with differing stakes in a game we never see. David Morrissey and Ralf Little play two of them.

BAGHDAD CENTRAL

10PM, CH4 ★★★★

War is rarely good for anyone – that’s the not so underlying message in Ch4’s ambitious and very human thriller set in Us-occupied Iraq. It centres on a detective and family man who has already endured plenty when the Americans arrive – then, he suffers another loss, and they make him a tricky proposal. ROBIN WIGGS