There’s an Elton John night on the BBC, more talking heads with Tommy Tiernan, Michael Bublé on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Aretha Franklin, Chernobyl - and some cracking movies . . .
Pick of the Day
Elton John Night, BBC Two
It seems like Elton John - who turned 75 yesterday - has had several musical careers, all the way from his early days as a jobbing piano player and songwriter to today’s much-loved pop royalty.
This will be fun . . .
Elton John at the BBC, 8.35pm, BBC Two
A selection of interviews, news clips and archive BBC session performances from throughout the singer's career.
Featuring many of his biggest hits and starting with his first solo concert at the BBC in 1970, to his Top of the Pops performances in the 1980s and '90s, right through to his 2016 performance for Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park.
The Making of Elton John: Madman Across the Water, 9.35pm, BBC Two
The story of the Middlesex-born singer's formative years, including his childhood, his first break in the British music business and his rise to stardom on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s.
As well as interviews with the singer himself, the programme also features the memories of colleagues and collaborators including lyricist Bernie Taupin and Leon Russell, with whom he worked on 2010 album The Union.
Elton John Live at Hyde Park, 10.35pm, BBC Two
The singer performs a concert in London's Hyde Park to a crowd of 50,000 fans, as the headlining act of Radio 2's Festival in a Day event.
The show features old favourites from Elton's five-decade career, as well as songs from his studio album Wonderful Crazy Night.
This was the LP on which he and Bernie Taupin, the songwriter behind many of his greatest hits, worked together for the first time in nearly 10 years.
BBC One Sessions: Elton John, 11.35pm, BBC Two
Singer-songwriter Elton John performs in concert at LSO St Luke's in London in front of an audience of just 300 people.
The show includes a selection of the flamboyant star's greatest hits - such as Funeral for a Friend (Love Lies Bleeding), Bennie and the Jets, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word and The Bitch Is Back - alongside songs from his album The Captain and the Kid.
Don’t Miss
The Tommy Tiernan Show, 9.30pm, RTÉ One
Turn on, tune in and chill out with Tommy and whoever pops by.
Staying in on Saturday nights never made more sense.
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, 7.30pm, Virgin Media One
On this week’s jam-packed show, Line Of Duty and Motherland star Anna Maxwell Martin is in the Star Guest announcer booth.
Also, Canadian crooner Michael Bublé is back for a big band End of the Show Show, and there's a Takeaway Getaway up for grabs in the grand return of Sofawatch.
Pointless Celebrities, 7.45pm, BBC One
Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman (below) present a food special of the general knowledge quiz.
It features contestants Penny Smith, Sean Wilson, Romy Gill, Kwoklyn Wan, Paul Rankin, Ed Baines, Briony May-Williams and Kim-Joy Hewlett trying to come up with the answers that no-one else could think of to win a prize for the charity of their choice.
Aretha Franklin: Respect, 8.05pm, BBC Two
A tribute to the singer known as the Queen of Soul, featuring contributions from Tom Jones, Beverley Knight, Clarke Peters and Trevor Nelson among others.
Aretha was raised in Detroit where her father preached, and grew up singing gospel.
Her career ignited when she signed to Atlantic in 1967 and global hits such as I Say a Little Prayer and Respect quickly established her in the soul genre, while her delivery and regal presence made her an iconic figure in the emerging Civil Rights movement.
She enjoyed renewed success in the 1980s when collaborating with Luther Vandross, cameoing in The Blues Brothers and then duetting with the likes of Annie Lennox and George Michael.
New or Returning Shows
Chernobyl: The New Evidence, 7.30pm, Channel 4
Part one of a two-part documentary exploring the catalogue of errors that occurred in the run-up to the nuclear disaster.
Along the way it also examines newly declassified evidence from the KGB archives about the levels of safety at the plant.
The programme examines concerns that had been voiced while the nuclear plant was still under construction, but which were ignored by the Soviet leaders.
New to Stream
Don’t Breathe 2, Sky Cinema & NOW
Set eight years after the violent home invasion of the first film, blind veteran Norman Nordstrom has successfully recreated the life that was stolen from him by taking in a beloved foster daughter, Phoenix.
Teaching her everything he knows about how to survive, they’ll need all the skills available to them when Norman’s past catches up with him and their home comes under siege.
No mere teenagers this time - these are heavily armed mercenaries with a vendetta. But they’re still walking into the dark - and the darkness is both Norman’s home and greatest weapon.
Family Flick
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, 6.35pm, RTÉ One
Here’s the second part of JK Rowling's Harry Potter prequel saga, starring Eddie Redmayne, Johnny Depp, Katherine Waterston and Jude Law.
In 1927, the Magical Congress of the United States of America transfers the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald to Europe to stand trial, but he escapes.
In an attempt to scupper the evil sorcerer's plans of raising pure-blood wizards to rule over all non-magical beings, Albus Dumbledore enlists his former student Newt Scamander to help.
Saturday Cinema
Gladiator, 9.50pm, RTÉ2
You can put your feet up and get swept away by this Oscar-winning period epic, with Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Derek Jacobi and Oliver Reed, in his last film role.
Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius is a casualty of a power struggle between the corrupt Emperor Commodus and the senate.
Ordered to be put to death along with his family, he escapes his would-be killers but is sold into slavery as a gladiator - and uses his fame in the arena to fight against the tyrant.
Jackie, 12.20am, Channel 4
Terrible time. Terrific film.
Natalie Portman is a revelation in the lead role here, in director Pablo Larrain's Bafta-winning drama, which also stars Peter Sarsgaard and Greta Gerwig.
Following the assassination of her husband, US President John F Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy battles with grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children, and define JFK's legacy.
It’s a very intimate study of grief, at a time when a woman – even the widow of a US President – was expected to keep quiet and know her place.
