Channel Hopping

EARTH: ONE AMAZING DAY TODAY, BBC2, 6.30PM

ACCORDING to the BBC blurb, this 90-minute wildlife special – narrated by Robert Redford – involves ‘a cast of unforgettable characters’. They include a baby zebra ‘desperate to cross a swollen river’ and a penguin ‘who heroically undertakes a death-defying daily commute to feed his family’. Despite the programme’s title, it took three years to make – including 142 filming days in 22 countries. Almost 40 different species are featured.

KILLING ME SOFTLY: THE ROBERTA FLACK STORY TODAY, BBC4, 11.30PM

ROBERTA Flack’s version of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face was America’s biggest-selling single of 1972. The following year, she topped the charts again with Killing Me Softly With His Song. This hourlong profile traces her rise from working as a teacher to becoming a star at the relatively late age of 35. Contributors include Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis and Flack herself.

MAD ABOUT ELVIS WEDNESDAY, BBC1, 7.30PM

EVERY September, around 35,000 visitors converge on Porthcawl, South Wales for the world’s biggest festival devoted to Elvis Presley. Needless to say, most of them appear to come in full costume. ‘It’s like an annual portal to a lateral universe,’ says organiser Peter Phillips in this documentary. ‘And it’s a universe that’s probably quite fun to live in actually.’

THE SWEENEY WEDNESDAY, FILM 4, 10.50PM

THOSE of us who were around for the TV series of The Sweeney remember the spectacle of kipper ties, Ford Granada cars and chainsmoking. Of course, the fashions and social attitudes were updated for this 2012 film version. But with Ray Winstone taking the part of Detective Inspector Jack Regan (originally played by the late John Thaw), pictured right, thankfully it is all still a long way from New Man territory.