BOY MEETS GIRL, BBC2, 9.30pm THIS is a new sitcom which airs immediately after Peter Kay’s new comedy, Cradle To Grave. Whilst the latter is set in 1970s South London and is about nostalgia for an old working-class way of life, this one is modern, set in Newcastle, and is about love and dating. Specifically, it’s about a younger man dating an older woman. It opens as Leo is having a miserable day: he’s just been sacked – again – and then he ends up feeling ignored and useless as he tags along with his friends on a night out. At the bar, he begins talking to Judy, an attractive older woman. The BBC may think they’re being daring here, but “older woman” is hardly an apt description. The actress looks like a perfectly normal 30-something. This will hardly satisfy those who’re saying the BBC, and TV and film in general, should make older women more visible on TV. WORLD’S WEIRDEST EVENTS, BBC2, 8pm ANOTHER new series, this one looking at the world’s weirdest events: those which unsettle, disturb and utterly defy rational explanation. I’ve looked through all the episodes but, so far, there isn’t one about why Scotland voted No last year. But there are plenty of other weird events to be analysed and presenter Chris Packham,does a fine job. Despite being on BBC2, the clever channel, and being presented by a man who is a naturalist and an author, the programme is rather jaunty and fun. This isn’t sombre science and analysis but, rather, an invitation to gawp and wonder. This episode, the first of eight, looks at “the bird-killing solar death ray”. It sounds like something monstrous from science fiction but is actually an occasion where the sun’s rays act to exterminate birds in flight.
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