SEAN CONNERY: IN HIS OWN WORDS, BBC2, 9pm
To mark Sir Sean’s 85th birthday, lots of Hollywood stars, and Andy Murray, talk to the BBC about what makes Connery so special.
This hour-long tribute is packed with clips from his best films, with praise and affection offered by some of cinema’s biggest names.
Pierce Brosnan, George Lucas, Dougray Scott and Robert Carlyle all explain why Sean Connery is the best actor and, crucially, the best James Bond.
The programme opens with a look back at his Bond career, and we learn that Connery was chosen for the role as he was relatively unknown.
The director wanted an actor who wouldn’t overshadow the character of Bond.Even the “snobbish” Ian Fleming was won over by Connery.
Initially, the author had said “Absolutely not!” at the prospect of casting Connery because his James Bond was one who’d been schooled at Eton and Fettes, whereas Connery was a mere milkman. But he got the role and his first Bond film, Dr No, made him a star.
But the best Hollywood anecdotes and recollections come from Connery himself, “in his own words”, as the title promises, and we see old clips from interviews where he speaks casually and humorously about his career.
SCHOOL SWAP: THE CLASS DIVIDE, STV, 9pm
This new series puts together pupils from an elite private school with those from a state school in a deprived area. In the first episode, pupils from the spectacularly posh Warminster School go to classes at Bemrose High, a state school in a poor area of Derby. In the second episode, it’s vice versa, with a group of state school pupils sampling life inside the gates of Warminster.
These two schools are said to represent the “educational gulf” in Britain, but they also represent the class gulf, and the life expectancy gulf, and the equality, fairness and hope gulf.
The pampered children at Warminster have a budget of £10 million to be lavished upon them, whereas the far bigger school in Derby limps along on half as much.
So, will the rich kids be horrified, amused or plain baffled when they enter Bemrose? “I’ll get to see a new culture!” one of them enthuses, but redeems himself by saying it’ll probably make him realise how fortunate he is. At least he’s aware of his own privilege.
As the posh kids join the class at Bemrose, we meet the state school pupils, one of whom seems to have been chosen as he’s a stereotype of the cheeky, working-class kid. “It’s just a laugh, innit!” he says.
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