What's on? 10 top TV and streaming tips for Saturday

Chuck D hosts Fight the Power: How Hip-Hop Changed the World, George Ezra is among the many guests on Michael McIntyre's Big Show, and Jake Johnson stars in Ride the Eagle . . .

Pick of the Day

Fight the Power: How Hip-Hop Changed the World, 9.00pm, BBC Two

Even if hip-hop/rap isn't your thing, this highly anticipated new series could be an entertaining and informative watch. It’s certainly a pivotal component of late 20th Century/early 21st social history.

And it's made by PBS, so it's just got to be quality.

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

Public Enemy front man Chuck D explores rap's political awakening over the past 50 years, revealing how hip-hop became a global force for change after its emergence in the Bronx in the 1970s.

In the first edition, Chuck is joined by a host of stars including Melle Mel, KRS-One, Fat Joe, John Forte and Grandmaster Caz to chart the deep roots of hip-hop, from the tumultuous 1960s, the despoliation of 1970s New York, the influence of DJ Kool Herc and socially conscious hit The Message by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in 1982.

Then in episode two at 10pm, Chuck D explores the genre in the 1980s.

This was a time when police clampdowns due to the crack epidemic prompted the emergence of socially conscious rap, with his own band Public Enemy leading the way.

On the West Coast, hip-hop's reaction to racial profiling is even fiercer as NWA and Ice-T respond to increasing police brutality with lyrical rage.

Eventually that anger finally erupts onto the streets of Los Angeles in May 1992 after four LAPD officers were acquitted of using excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King.

Don’t Miss

The Tommy Tiernan Show, 9.20pm, RTÉ One

Streaming on RTÉ Player

Improvised chat show in which neither the presenter nor the viewers are told the identity of the guests in advance.

With the comedian in the dark about who he will be interviewing until they walk out to greet him, anything can happen - especially if Tommy doesn't have a clue who they are.

Last week’s interview with Patrick Kielty was a classic – here's to more of the same tonight.

Michael McIntyre's Big Show, 6.50pm, BBC One

Michael McIntyre hosts another evening of entertainment, recorded in front of an audience at the London Palladium.

Alison Hammond bravely hands over her phone to play Send to All, while footballing legend Peter Crouch is rudely awakened for a very special Midnight Gameshow in Portugal.

Also featured, George Ezra performs his latest hit single Sweetest Human Being Alive. Plus,there's a special performance from the Unexpected Star of the Show.

The Masked Singer, 7.00pm, Virgin Media One

More singing in secret as Joel Dommett hosts the show where five incognito celebrities take to the stage for a tune.

As usual, panelists Rita Ora, Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall and Mo Gilligan will be trying to figure out who they are behind their masks.

Here are Shirley and Martin Kemp talking about their experience on the show as Cat & Mouse:

Early Doors, 10.50pm, BBC Four

This welcome repeat of the cult sitcom has been a joy to watch. If you haven’t seen it, please give it a watch. It’s terrific.

First up tonight, Eddie celebrates his wedding anniversary at the pub with Joan, but his mother-in-law is causing him concern, so Tommy offers some words of wisdom - or so he thinks.

Meanwhile, Duffy ropes Joe into an extramarital deception

Then at 11.20pm, Ken and the regulars prepare for a trip to York races, while Melanie meets her real father.

Tommy causes uproar when he gets out his wallet and buys a round, and the mystery of the cigarette end in the urinal is finally solved.

Behind the Beat Special: Public Enemy, 11.00pm, BBC Two

Coinciding with Fight the Power: How Hip-Hop Changed the World, here’s a 1988 edition of Behind the Beat from BBC Two's DEF II strand focusing on the legendary New York hip-hop group Public Enemy.

That’s followed at 11.30pm by Hip Hop at the BBC, with performances through the decades from the BBC archives.

They include the Sugarhill Gang in 1979 and Run DMC, LL Cool J and Eric B & Rakim in the '80s. Plus, Ice T, Monie Love, Fugees and the Roots in the '90s and latterly Dr Dre featuring Eminem, Dizzee Rascal and Jay-Z.

New to Stream

Ride the Eagle, Sky Cinema & NOW

Here’s a comedy starring Jake Johnson, Susan Sarandon, J.K. Simmons, D’Arcy Carden, Eric Edelstein and Cleo King.

When Leif's (Jake Johnson) estranged mother Honey (Susan Sarandon) dies she leaves him a 'conditional inheritance'.

Before he can move into her picturesque Yosemite cabin, he has to complete her elaborate, and sometimes dubious, to-do list.

Leif and Nora, his canine BFF, step into Honey's wild world as she tries to make amends from beyond the grave.

Saturday Cinema

Braveheart, 9.10pm, RTÉ2

Oscar-winning historical epic, directed by and starring Mel Gibson. With Patrick McGoohan, Sophie Marceau and Catherine McCormack.

As most if not all of you will know, it’s a dramatic account of the life of medieval Scottish hero William Wallace, played by Gibson.

After the slaughter of his father and brother, young Wallace is taken in by his uncle, who teaches him how to use not only his brawn but his brain.

It’s the latter which he employs to great effect years later when he resolves to drive the English out of Scotland.

Mission: Impossible 2, 6.35pm, Channel 4

Director John Woo's action thriller sequel based on the 1960s' TV show, starring Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton and Anthony Hopkins.

This time around, the Cruiser’s secret agent Ethan Hunt sent to find and destroy the only sample of a deadly man-made virus.

But he faces tough opposition in a former spy-turned-criminal mastermind who has already acquired the cure and now wants the pathogen itself.

Family Flick

The Secret Life of Pets, 6.35pm, RTÉ One

Animated adventure from the makers of Despicable Me, featuring the voices of Louis CK, Eric Stonestreet and Kevin Hart.

When rivalry leaves them cast adrift on the streets of New York, two bickering hounds must put their differences aside and pull together.

What's on? 10 top TV and streaming tips for Saturday

Pick of the Day

Don’t Miss

New to Stream

Saturday Cinema

Family Flick

Click here for TV listings

Click here for more TV news

More stories on

Read Next