GRAVITY AND ME: THE FORCE THAT SHAPES OUR LIVES, BBC4, 9pm
GRAVITY is so obvious we rarely think about it, which reminds me of a comical scene from a Tintin story in which a baddie, trying to enrage Captain Haddock, slyly asks him if he sleeps with his beard inside or outside the covers.
The captain had never considered this before and so that night he can’t sleep, and is furiously tossing and turning and trying out how it feels to have his bushy beard in or out.
That’s how I think of gravity: we don’t consider it in daily life, but when this programme compels us to, it’s quite overwhelming.
The cool physics professor Jim Al-Khalili talks us through this force that “sculpts the universe” and shows how it affects our daily lives, with the power to change our weight and height and how quickly we age.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INSIDE NO 9, BBC2, 10pm
THIS is a repeat but I’m including it here as it’s one of the most powerful things I’ve seen on TV.
It was first broadcast two years ago but I find myself thinking of it often.
Inside No 9 is usually described as a dark (very dark!) comedy anthology, but there is no humour in this episode, only tension, fear and an almost unbearable sadness.
Sheridan Smith plays Christine, a care-free party girl. There’s a party, a one-night stand, which then becomes a relationship, then on into a marriage.
A child is born ... we go racing through Christine’s life at an increasingly fast pace and see her change from the laughing, tipsy girl in the first scene to a stressed and confused single mother who is haunted by strange images of an anxious man in her flat.
She must be going mad, you think. She must be ill.
Then everything becomes clear and you will cry furiously for a week.
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