Inside the Factory, BBC2, 8pm
FOR millions of us, getting through the day without a coffee or three is an unthinkable prospect, but what goes into making the stuff? In the first of a new run, Gregg Wallace explores a Derbyshire coffee factory, where they produce 175,000 jars a day. He follows the production of freeze-dried instant coffee, from the arrival of 27 tonnes of Brazilian green coffee beans to dispatch. Meanwhile, Cherry Healey learns about the drink’s chemistry and Ruth Goodman investigates its origins, visiting the site of the UK’s first coffee house, in a churchyard in 1652.
Mark Kermode’s Secrets of Cinema , BBC4, 9pm
THE film critic’s new series finds him taking a closer look at the techniques and conventions behind some of cinema’s most popular genres, including heist movies, coming-of-age stories, science fiction and horror. But he starts with a type of film that some movie snobs can be a little sniffy about – the romantic comedy. Kermode charts the evolution of the rom-com, from screwball classics like Bringing Up Baby to The Big Sick and La La Land, and finds out what it takes to make us swoon and laugh.
Inside Facebook: Secrets of the Social Network, C4, 9pm
FOR a generation of kids born in the last decade or more, they will never have known a time when people didn’t spend hours clicking on animated GIFs posted by their friends, or spend hours more pressing “Like”. Facebook is, of course, a phenomenon which has changed the way we get our news and snoop on our nearest and dearest. But who decides what can be posted on the world’s biggest social media site? This investigation looks at how those decisions are made.
The Five Billion Pound Super Sewer, BBC2, 11.15pm
WHERE there’s muck there’s brass, as the old saying goes, but what happens when a major city sewer is in need of renovation? This documentary filmed over three years follows the huge engineering project to expand London’s sewers, the biggest upgrade to the Victorian-age network for more than 150 years. The first episode focuses on the creation of the first stretch in east London, as lead engineer Emmanuel Costes has to build an 80-metre-deep shaft, and make it watertight.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here