TV Times top picks for tonight
What’s on telly tonight? Here the TV Times team of expert reviewers highlight the best shows on Saturday 7th July
Britain’s Greatest Magician, 7.40pm, Channel 5
Imagine a magic show running for 15 years on prime Saturday night TV these days. But that’s what Paul Daniels managed between 1979 and 1994. This welcome reshowing of a 2017 documentary tells us how a shy Middlesbrough lad became Britain’s most popular magician, starting back in 1949 on a family holiday where an 11-year-old Paul was first bitten by the bug. Debbie McGee, Paul’s sons and fellow wand wavers David Copperfield, Penn and Teller and Stephen Mulhern are among those stepping up to praise a much missed entertainer in this well-made tribute. Paul pops up again, alongside the likes of Dynamo, Derren Brown and David Blaine in TV’s 50 Greatest Magic Tricks (9pm). Rating: ****
Hidden, 9pm, BBC4
DI Cadi John and DS Owen Vaughan really need a break if they’re going to find who is murdering young girls. But instead of finding what they need, they discover another dead girl who looks exactly like the others. Except this girl was killed back in 2005, her uncle was convicted of her murder and Cadi’s dad was the senior investigating officer. Did he put the wrong man behind bars? Elsewhere, Owen lies to his pregnant wife about working late and Mali’s sister Lea puts herself in danger. Rating: ***
Eric Clapton: Planes, Trains & Eric, 9pm, Sky Arts
The highlight of an evening of classic rock has to be this documentary about Eric Clapton’s 2014 tour, said (at the time) to be Slowhand’s last. Much of it is shot in Japan, Eric’s favourite touring destination – a ‘spiritual place’ – where Eric lays down the blues, the hits and some lesser-known gems for an appreciative crowd. It’s followed by another Clapton concert (10.45pm) from 2001, BB King at the Albert Hall (12m’t) and Hendrix at Woodstock (1.45am). Earlier in the day on Sky Arts there’s a profile of the Hollies (3pm), a glimpse of Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead in Festival Express (5.30pm) and Santana at Montreux in 2011 (7.15pm). Rock? It would be rude not to. Rating: ****
More previews tomorrow.
