The end of an era for petrol heads, a Bond classic and a real Sunday TV biopic are our selections for today.
Top Gear
8:00pm, BBC Two
The end of an era as Messers (sic) Clarkson, Hammond and May host for the last time together. This 75-minute swansong special is split into two films. In the first, the trio get behind the wheel of a Fiat 124 Spyder, a Peugeot 304 Cabriolet and an MGB GT and "set off on an adventure that includes brown beer, breakdowns and a hair-raising classic car show". In the second, they assume the roles of "lifestyle leisure enthusiasts" - on a budget of £250. They shell out for a Vauxhall Frontera, a Jeep Cherokee and a Mitsubishi Shogun with ultra-high mileage, do battle with the Stig's cousin and face up to the "terrifying consequences" of losing a race. If that's your kind of thing, enjoy.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
3:45pm, Sky Movies Drama
Sunday TV is made for biopics like this. Based on the autobiography of the same name, the Idris Elba-starring Long Walk to Freedom begins in the 1940s and what follows is a breathless charge through events, many of which would be worthy of movies in themselves. That director Justin Chadwick has made such a cohesive film, which deftly combines the personal and the political with tension and tenderness, is no mean feat. And while you will wish that more screentime had been devoted to some elements, the inevitable miniseries that is to come will have its work cut out to do a better job than this chronicle. The same applies to Elba's performance. Within five minutes you've forgotten about the physical dissimilarities; his voice and charisma are hypnotic and he even delivers his best work in the film as the elderly Mandela. Truly, the most fitting of tributes to the life story of our age.
A brilliant performance by Idris Elba as Nelson Mandela
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
6:00pm, RTÉ Two
Ah yes, yet another visit to Piz Gloria in the Swiss Alps for that most poignant of Bond adventures. We adore George Lazenby's only turn as 007, and have done since we first saw it as part of Easter telly back in 1982. The visuals are gorgeous, the soundtrack is amazing and the lump in the throat is still as big after all these years. Watch out for Joanna Lumley as one of Blofeld's 'Angels of Death'.
George Lazenby and Diana Rigg turn up the heat
For TEN's full TV listings, click here.
