The Nile: Egypt’s Great River with Bettany Hughes (C5, 9pm)
A HUNDRED miles south of Cairo a stretch of the Nile was once considered Egypt’s main highway, used by Cleopatra to travel the country. More than 2000 years later, Hughes visits a vast desert catacomb where tens of thousands of mummified animals were once left as an offering. Further upstream, there is a chance to swim in the Nile, and look inside the tombs where Tutankhamun’s discoverer, Howard Carter, first got hooked on Egypt.
Still Game (BBC1, 9pm)
SERIES nine of the popular sitcom is also the last, so make the most of this six-parter as Jack, Victor and the rest of the Craiglang gang return. Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill’s saga continues to celebrate growing old disgracefully, and once more the pensioners rail against everything modern life has to throw at them. In episode one, Isa is mugged and Winston comes to her rescue. Unaware that his selfless deed is being filmed, he is soon transformed into an internet sensation. Although the viral star downplays the attention, Methadone Mick emphasises the advantages of internet fame, and Winston soon embraces his new-found celebrity status. The supporting cast includes Jane McCarry, Sanjeev Kohli and Gavin Mitchell, and look out for Line of Duty’s Martin Compston as a phone salesman.
The Looming Tower (BBC2, 9.30pm)
AS the mid-summer of 2001 ends, the CIA becomes aware that Al-Hazmi and Al-Mihdhar have vanished and must relay the information to the FBI. After learning that a man has been flagged for ignoring the landing component of a flying lesson, I-49 requests a list of Arabs enrolled in US flight schools who have other aggravating factors. Marsh complies, but conceals the fact that two of the men in her file are known al-Qaeda operatives.
A Question of Sport (BBC1, 8pm)
SUE Barker presents another helping of teasers. Golfer Matt Wallace, Great Britain sprinter Imani-Lara Lansiquot, European gold medal-winning gymnast Ellie Downie and England cricketer Sam Billings join team captains
Matt Dawson and Phil Tufnell for the long-running sports quiz show.
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