As always, there are a million things to do in London this week. If you fancy a night in though, here are a few things to keep you occupied.
On TV, Londonist likes:
Monday, 16 July
Building Britain (BBC1, 19:30-20:00) The first in the series, Peter Ackroyd's back to take us through the changes in London's skyline and how money and power are influencing how our city will look.
Olympic Backlash: Tonight (ITV1, 20:00-20:30) It's still five years away, but there's no shortage of controversy about the 2012 Olympics. This programme looks at the price of the games and meets with a group of pensioners who are protesting the games by refusing to pay their council tax.
Wednesday, 18 July
Storyville: Every Good Marriage Begins With Tears (BBC4, 22:30-23:30) This documentary follows two young Bengali sisters from their home in London to Bangladesh to prepare for their arranged marriages. Director Simon Chambers, a friend of the sisters, looks at their reluctant attitudes to the marriages, and why they're still going through with them.
Sunday, 22 July
Call Me A Cabbie! (ITV1, 18:00-18:25) Three celebrities compete to prove they have what it takes to be London cabbies, but Nick Ferrari, Lady Isabella Hervey and Chantelle Preston must first pass a special drivers test before they can get out on the road. Sure it might not be the most intellectually stimulating show on the telly this week, but we always like a programme with an exclamation mark in the title.
Clapham Junction (Channel 4, 22:00-24:00) This one-off drama written by playwright Kevin Elyot follows a group of gay men, their friends and partners over thirty six hours in London. Part of Channel 4's 40 Years Out season marking the anniversary of the 1967 Homosexual Reform Act.
On the radio, Londonist likes:
Monday, 16 July - Sunday, 22 July
BBC Proms 2007 (BBC Radio3 from 19:30 [Mon, Wed-Fri, Sun] or 19:00 [Tues, Sat]) It's the Proms live from Royal Albert Hall all week. The official website has detailed descriptions of all the performances. We don't know much about classical music but we like the sound of the "Swingle Singers" who'll be doing some Rossini Monday from 19:30.
Tuesday, 17 July
Flared Brightly, Died Young: The Aids Generation (BBC Radio 2, 22:30-23:30) Part two of this programme looking at gay culture in Thatcher's Britain. The programme looks at how the music, entertainment business, media and politicians played a part in the attitude towards the gay community and asks if Aids was used as a political and religious tool.
Online, Londonist likes:
Galaxy Zoo - Okay, it's not strictly about London, but since you can sometimes see the stars at night in London, we figure it counts. This project hopes to use the power of the internet to classify a million galaxies. That sounds hugely ambitious and a little intimidating, but you don't even need to be an astronomer to take part. We're hardly experts and even we figured it out. As a bonus, if you get caught browsing the internet at work, you can always say you were helping with a major scientific project. That sounds much more impressive than just skiving off.
