Mrs Brown / Quartet
FILM FROM 9PM, BBC4
It’s Billy Connolly’s 80th birthday today, so we’ll be toasting him with a cup of tea and a biscuit while watching this double bill featuring the much-loved musician and comedian who also has a very respectable roster of acting roles. He was Bafta-nominated for Mrs Brown (9pm), the 1997 drama in which he played Balmoral ghillie John Brown to Judi Dench’s Queen Victoria. In Quartet (10.40pm), Billy stars alongside Maggie Smith and Tom Courtenay in a comedy drama directed by Dustin Hoffman about a home for retired opera singers. You can see one of his very first acting roles, in a Play for Today, on Wednesday on BBC4 (11.30pm) or iplayer if you missed it. ★★★★ JP