Saturday's best TV: Michael McIntyre's Big Show; Tom Jones – the Decade that Made Me (original) (raw)

Michael McIntyre’s Big Show

7pm, BBC1
Seizing the “Beeb does variety shtick” baton from John Bishop, McIntyre launches his latest well-meaning if MOR venture, filmed at the Theatre Royal in London. This week Geri Horner (formerly Halliwell) falls victim to the Send To All treatment, with the host embarking on the brand of text-based trolling that will be familiar from his chat show. There’s also acrobatics, a performance from Tinie Tempah and an unsuspecting civilian is given the chance to duet with Michael Ball. Hannah J Davies

Bang On The Money

7pm, ITV An intriguing concept in this new ITV gameshow. Two teams of friends will be tasked with completing a series of physical and mental challenges, with the winner decided by their ability to hit specific, pre-determined target numbers precisely. Ted Rogers’s immortal 3-2-1 proved that convoluted rules weren’t necessarily a problem for a gameshow - but hosts Rickie Haywood-Williams and Melvin Odoom will need to keep things lively. Mark Gibbings-Jones

Tom Jones’ 1950s: The Decade That Made Me

9pm, BBC2 Tom Jones paints a vivid picture of rock‘n’roll in the 1950s in this documentary. As did The Daily Mail who called it “the negro’s revenge”. “Everything was calm, the Germans weren’t bombing us any more… then all of a sudden – Jesus!” Jones and others describe their cultural awakening in this superb film, the first of four to document pop through epochal decades. As Joan Bakewell puts it: “Ballroom dancing was suddenly over.” Ali Catterall

Follow The Money

9pm, BBC4 The Danish white-collar crime drama concludes with a double bill that finds Mads and Alf closing in on slippery Sander and other senior figures at Energreen – less an energy company, more a financial conjuring trick that probably involves emails to Panama. Meantime, out in the real world, rubbish opportunist criminals Nicky and Bimse once again encounter the scary Swede. Entertaining, but high production values don’t quite make up for the predictable plotting. Jonathan Wright

Play To The Whistle

9.20pm, ITV Forty-five minutes of high spirits in front of a rowdy audience - Play To The Whistle isn’t so much a sport quiz as a chimps’ tea party hosted by Holly Willoughby. Team captains Bradley Walsh and Frank Lampard attempt to keep things steady, while Romesh Ranganathan supplies banter. The show distinguishes itself, however, with the inclusion of physical games, which add an element of surprise. Diver Tom Daley and career panellist Richard Osman are tonight’s guests. John Robinson

Bottom Live: Weapons Grade Y-Fronts Tour

11pm, GOLD A rerun of Rik and Ade’s 2003 live Bottom touring show. They were able to be considerably muckier on stage than they ever were on the TV, so gird yourself appropriately for some turbo-charged toilet humour, riotous flatulence and invasive amateur medical procedures. Ade’s Eddie Hitler invents a lager that puts the user into a coma, while Richie inherits a trunk from his uncle. The plot is thin, the violence thick and unctuous. Ben Arnold

How To Be A Queen: 63 Years And Counting

9pm, More4 How has Elizabeth II remained queen for a record-breaking 63 years? If your answer is “By literally just sitting there”, royal-watchers are here to put you straight, via this previously aired list show. It counts down 10 top tips for maintaining regality, such as political neutrality, emotional reserve and not appearing on It’s A Royal Knockout. When the talking heads and newsreel flag, scenes from movies such as Diana and Mrs Brown fill in. Jack Seale

Colin Firth in Fever Pitch. Photograph: Moviestore/REX Shutterstock

Film Choice

Lust For Life (Vincente Minnelli, 1956), 1pm, BBC2
A magnificent -performance from Kirk Douglas drives this Van Gogh biopic. Douglas learned to paint for the role, but the real energy is in his depiction of a man constantly on the edge of breakdown. Minnelli -fashions a -complex -portrait of man and artist, and there’s a fine turn, too, from Anthony Quinn as Gauguin. Paul Howlett

Ender’s Game (Gavin Hood, 2013) , 7pm, Channel 4
Just as the kids always knew, they turn out to be much better at -computerised warfare than the adults in this entertaining hi-tech teen fantasy from Gavin Hood, whose Eye In The Sky is now on release. Asa Butterfield is Ender, recruited by colonel Harrison Ford to take down an invasion of alien bugs not a million miles from Starship Troopers. There’s an interesting dark centre to the whiz-bang interstellar action. PH

Fever Pitch (David Evans, 1996), 11.10pm, TCM
A reminder for Arsenal fans of the days when they used to win the league. Colin Firth is Paul, the big kid -masquerading as a teacher but living for Saturday afternoons at Highbury, in an -amiable version of Nick Hornby’s novel; Ruth Gemmell is Sarah, the girlfriend -sharing him with 11 men. The highlights are -flashbacks to young Paul’s awkward, loving -relationship with absent dad Neil Pearson. It’s a sweet and funny romance with a bit of footie thrown in: what’s not to like? PH

Today’s live sport

Live Snooker: The World Championship 10am, BBC2
Day one coverage of the tournament held at the Crucible.

Premier League Football: Norwich v Sunderland 12noon, BT Sport 1
A crucial relegation showdown from Carrow Road. Chelsea v Manchester City airs at 5pm on Sky Sports 1.

Rugby Union: Saracens v Harlequins 3pm, BT Sport 1 Wembley stadium hosts a London derby. Northampton v Leicester follows.