Paralympics 2008: Opening Ceremony

BBC One, 12.50pm

We have barely caught our breaths after the excitement of the Olympics before it’s back to the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing for the opening ceremony of the 13th Paralympics. Paul Dickenson, the 11-time Paralympic gold medallist, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson and the wheelchair basketball bronze medallist Ade Adepitan bring all the colour and excitement from the event, which promises to be every bit as spectacular as the original – provided that there are any fireworks left. Over the next 12 days, live coverage of the Games can be seen from 10am-4pm on BBCi (available on digital through the red button) with a nightly highlights package on BBC Two at 7pm.

BBC Proms 2008

BBC Two, 6.20pm

Beethoven Night at the Proms is a time-honoured tradition, and what better way to celebrate it than with the violin concerto and his mighty Fifth Symphony.

Eighteen months after its premiere in December 1808, E. T. A. Hoffmann described it thus: “Radiant beams shoot through the deep night of this region, and we become aware of gigantic shadows which, rocking back and forth, close in on us and destroy all within us except the pain of endless longing, a longing in which every pleasure that rose up amid jubilant tones sinks and succumbs. Only through this pain, which –while consuming but notdestroying love, hope, andjoy – tries to burst our breasts with a full-voiced general cry from all the passions, do we live on and are captivated beholders of the spirits.” So there you go.

9/11: Ground Zero Underworld

Channel 4, 7pm

Hundreds of feet below the World Trade Centre was a labyrinth of caverns, shafts and passageways that rescue workers searched in the hope of finding survivors of 9/11. Fourteen people were rescued on the first day in what was later dubbed “the miracle of Stairwell B”, but no one else was found alive and the following months were spent shifting through the rubble in search of human remains. Incredibly, 60 per cent of victims were identified – most of whom showed no sign of “vital reaction”, having died so quickly that their bodies didn’t have time to react to their injuries. This is a grim, emotional account of a search that did so much to help families to come to terms with their loss.

Eurovision Dance Contest

BBC One, 8pm

Presented by Graham Norton, the undisputed king of kitsch, the 2008 Eurovision Dance comes from the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow, just when you thought the city was enjoying a renaissance.

Fifteen European couples – each consisting of a professional dancer paired with a national celebrity – will perform a two-minute dance routine, which is judged by a jury of four experts and the public at large. Louisa Lytton and her Strictly Come Dancing partner Vincent Simone are representing the UK and they will be trying to see off Sweden’s Cha-Cha, Finland’s tango (well, obviously), Greece’s fusion of Latin dances, and the jivers from Ukraine. Brace yourself.

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