Here’s our TV tonight picks for Saturday, July 26 (for more information about what’s on TV, see our TV Guide)…
Whitney Houston Night, BBC2, 8 pm
An evening dedicated to the much-loved multi-award winning singer Whitney Houston, who died in 2012 aged just 48, begins with an At the BBC compilation of archive clips, which includes her breakthrough song “Saving All My Love for You”, as well as “How Will I Know”, “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” and “Your Love Is My Love”.
There’s also a chance to see Whitney Houston: Live in South Africa 1994 (11.15 pm), one of a series of concerts which took place after Nelson Mandela became president, plus the terrestrial premiere of the biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody (9 pm) starring Naomi Ackie as Whitney.
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, BBC2, 2 pm
If you and your family are fans of the Paddington and Stuart Little series of films, you’ll enjoy this adaptation of Bernard Waber’s 1965 book Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, which also features a lovable CGI creature in a central role.
It tells the story of a couple and their young son, who move into a house in New York City only to find it’s occupied by a singing crocodile (voiced by Shawn Mendes), who has been left there by a savvy magician (Javier Bardem). Screenwriter Will Davies has also written for films including How to Train Your Dragon and Flushed Away, while the songs are from composers whose work has included The Greatest Showman and La La Land, so Lyle has an impressive pedigree.
Princess Anne: A Quite Remarkable Royal, 5, 9 pm
Ahead of her upcoming 75th birthday (15 August), this feature-length documentary looks at the life of Princess Anne, who is regularly placed high in polls of the public’s favourite royals, usually behind only the Prince and Princess of Wales, and often voted “the hardest-working royal” because of the number of engagements she takes on.
Anne has also devoted her time to building an extremely successful equestrian career, even competing in the three-day event in the 1976 Olympics, and this film explores how her love of horses has influenced many areas of her life.
Better Man, Prime Video
Despite having very good reviews from most quarters, this Robbie Williams biopic performed poorly in cinemas when released at the end of last year — perhaps the idea of the superstar singer being portrayed in CGI chimpanzee form was off-putting to some?
Now that it’s streaming on Prime Video, you can make up your own mind. Robbie himself provides his own voice, but the actor portraying him via a chimp is Jonno Davies, while Steve Pemberton is his father, Peter, and Alison Steadman is his grandmother, Betty.