Joanna Lumley: In the Land of the Northern Lights

BBC One, 9pm

As a child growing up in the tropical heat of Malaysia, Joanna Lumley read stories about ice queens and the frozen beauty of the north and ever since has longedto see the northern lights. To this end, she travels to the Arctic Circle on a sledge pulled by Alaskan huskies. In a programme that is not exactly characterised by understatement, she is overwhelmed by the “sublime, savage and quite overpowering” beauty of the fjords.

She visits the Sami reindeer herdsmen and sleeps in a hotel made entirely of ice. Finally – after much anxiety – she sees the greatest screensaver on the planet in action. “This,” she says, “is the most astonishing thing I have ever, ever seen.”

Live Soccer Aid 2008

ITV1, 6pm

England take on The Rest of the World in a fundraising event for Unicef at Wembley. The teams are made up of celebrities and sportsmen: members of the England team range from Hugo Speer and Angus Deayton to Alan Shearer and Jamie Theakston. The Rest of the World includes Alastair Campbell, Brian Lara and Peter Schmeichel. Kick-off is at 7.30pm, but the prematch warm-up features contributions from such Unicef ambassadors as David Beckham, Robbie Williams, Orlando Bloom, Ewan McGregor and that footballing legend, Lucy Liu.

The Heart of Thomas Hardy

BBC One, 6.30pm

As a warm-up for a new, full-on tele-Tess next Sunday, Griff Rhys-Jones reveals how Thomas Hardy drew on his own personal life to create his characters.

Charley Boorman: Ireland to Sydney By Any Means

BBC Two, 8pm

For his latest adventure – this time without Ewan McGregor – Charley Boorman sets out to travel from his old home in Co Wicklow overland to Australia using any means of transport appropriate to the country, be it donkey, yak, steam train, dingy or tuk tuk. He is going with his erstwhile producer and a cameraman, and they intend to make the journey without flying on a commercial airline.

Boorman seems to be one of those characters who divides opinion; some people would rather have their teeth extracted by a Syrian hairdresser than watch him. But he seems an ebullient and cheerful soul, and his small team is joined by a convoy of 500 bikers on the Coventry-to-London leg of the journey who turn out to wish him well.

Earth: The Climate Wars

BBC Two, 9pm

Today, the reality of global warming has become an article of faith – but it wasn’t always thus. In 1972, a group of eminent scientists wrote to President Nixon warning him of the imminent arrival of a new Ice Age. And if the scientists could get it so wrong then, who’s to know they may not be equally wrong now?

In this absorbing new series, Dr Iain Stewart – with his now-familiar muscular delivery – examines the scientific discoveries and political battles that have been fought over climate change over the past 40 years. In the process, he sets out to answer a number of basic questions. How do we know the climate is warming? How was it discovered? And what happens next?

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