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Reports of My Death (10.30 am R4). Anthony Howard on “premature” newspaper obituaries – the occasions when the still living have been able to read tributes on their supposed death.
» (11.45 am BBC2). Chris Kitchin talks to Patrick Moore about distant clues to the origins of the earth (repeat from last Sunday night).
Private Passions (12 noon R3). Michael Levey, museum curator and fine art professor, chooses some music.
Seeking the Soul: The Music of Alfred Schnittke (from 1.00 R3). The Schnittke weekend continues with a live concert from the Barbican. Also today: an interval talk by David Fanning (1.50) and a late-night chamber concert (10.15).
The Lord Lieutenants (3.30 R4). Richard Stilgoe series continues with a visit to the Lord Lieutenant of Stirling and Falkirk.
The Ultimate Guide: Elephants (4.00 C4). State-of-the-art camerawork brought to bear on the elephant.
» – City of Dreams (7.20 BBC2). A report from the Mexican city of Juarez, on a series of murders of young women. Is it a symptom of machismo’s reaction to female employment?
The Crime List (8.00 C4). Jon Snow assesses the effectiveness of Britain’s police forces. I sense the approach of another league table…
» (8.10 BBC2). Second of this three-part US-made series, “The Golden Age”; on fifth-century Athens: its defeat of the Persians, its heroic leaders –Themistocles, Pericles – its buildings and its drama. (Philosophy has to wait until next week.) Most of this week’s talking heads are North American, but Reading’s Helen King and Edith Hall of Oxford are allowed to say a little, about the Delphic oracle and the Greek theatre audience respectively. (NB: the 6-12 Jan Radio Times edition lists a plethora of general Greek civilisation websites.)
2001 - The Making of a Myth (11.25 C4). About the film, its making, its meaning, etc. Arthur C. Clarke (inevitably) and Camille Paglia (not so) are among those offering their opinions and recollections.