Programme Information

Manish Bhasin and guests discuss what's been happening in the world of football and look ahead to the weekend's fixtures.

Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal are all in action in the Barclays Premier League today with Liverpool not playing until Monday, when they tackle Everton in the Merseyside derby. Manchester United suffered just four defeats on the road last season, with one coming against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. Today is their chance to erase that memory.

In the Coca-Cola Championship, Birmingham face Cardiff while another promotion clash features a good, old-fashioned Lancashire derby with Preston meeting Burnley. In the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Premier League, Rangers host Falkirk, having put nine goals past the Bairns in the two meetings at Ibrox last season. Celtic travel to Aberdeen tomorrow.

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Final Score

Saturday 17 January

4.30-5.20pm BBC ONE

www.bbc.co.uk/football

Final Score brings viewers results and reports as the final whistle blows on today's football fixtures. Manchester United are at Bolton while Chelsea host Stoke.

In the Championship, Birmingham play Cardiff while Preston and Burnley face one another in a Lancashire derby.

Digital viewers can watch Final Score from 2.30pm until 6pm by pressing the Red button on their remote controls.

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Amanda Byram and Richard
Hammond bring all the action as
the latest group of competitors
face Total Wipeout

Crashes, smashes and hilarious mud splashes continue on one of television's largest and most extreme obstacle courses. Larger-than-life characters from all walks of life compete in order to win a fabulous cash prize.

Presenting from the safety of the studio, Richard Hammond is in charge as the action unfolds. Meanwhile, Amanda Byram is trackside in Argentina to talk to the brave and foolhardy contestants.

The Qualifier saw youthful contestants receive the best times. Eighteen-year-olds Sian and Perran, 22-year-old Dan and 27-year-old Johnny all succeeded in under two minutes.

Meanwhile, 55-year-old pilot and embarrassing dad Colin did a sterling job on The Qualifier. He's proven that experience and an incredibly long pair of legs are all that's needed to get through the course in super-quick time.

The Sucker Punch became a handful for all 20 of the contestants. Some laughed and some squealed but the result was always the same – a long swim through the mud.

"Old-skool raver" Chris had been taking trampoline lessons to help with the Big Balls. He confirmed that preparation is everything on this course by hitting the first Big Ball and falling off backwards!

Finally, after three rounds of intense competition, friendships are well and truly put to one side as the three finalists battled it out for the £10,000 prize.

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Eurovision – Your Country Needs You Ep 3/5

Saturday 17 January

6.35-7.40pm BBC ONE

Feature

Andrew Lloyd Webber watches
closely as five acts take to the
stage in a bid to become the
UK's Eurovision entry in 2009

Graham Norton tells the best of UK talent: "Your Country Needs You", as BBC One viewers vote for which act will perform at Eurovision 2009.

The stakes are high as five specially selected acts take to the stage in tonight's live show.

Their first aim is to win enough votes to stay in the competition. Next, they battle to win the contest to represent the UK against the best of Eurovision in Moscow on 16 May 2009.

Watching closely is Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, who's composing the song and has been working with each act all week, right up to the moment they go on stage.

This week, the acts are tested on some special Euro performances – complete with Eurovision gimmicks.

Once all the acts have performed, the public cast their votes. Four acts go through to next week's show, with the once-in-a-lifetime chance of becoming the UK entry for the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest.

Viewers can sing along by pressing the Red button on their remote controls.

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Gary Lineker presents all the goals and highlights from today's Premier League fixtures.

Manchester United made the short journey to the Reebok Stadium where Bolton upset them 1-0 last season to give Gary Megson his first win as Wanderers manager. Sir Alex Ferguson would have been hoping his team could return to the form of the previous season when they came away from Bolton with a 4-0 win, courtesy of a Wayne Rooney hat-trick.

Chelsea were aiming to do the double over Stoke while the Potters' fellow Premier League newcomers, Hull, were looking for a similar achievement over Arsenal, having enjoyed a shock win at the Emirates last September.

One of Blackburn's few victories so far this season came at Newcastle. Could Rovers repeat the feat at Ewood Park? West Brom are another side who have found victories hard to come by this season. Today, they hosted Middlesbrough, having won 1-0 at the Riverside. Aston Villa were at Sunderland, while former Manchester United captain Steve Bruce took his Wigan side to the home of Manchester City. The Latics beat City 2-1 at the JJB Stadium earlier this season, thanks to a controversial penalty.

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BBC Switch continues with its series of six, five-minute modern interpretations of a selection of Greek myths with a teenaged slant. The stories revolve around the lives of several teenagers living in the fictional village of Delphi, with a special appearance from top girl band The Saturdays as The Syrens.

The Syrens' Call sees Odysseus finally return home from a gruelling, year-long cricket tour of the world, not suspecting that it is here, on home territory, that he will face his biggest challenge yet. Will Odysseus stay faithful to long-term girlfriend Penelope or will he fall for the Syrens' Call?

Other films in the series include: The Eye Of The Cyclops; The Fall Of Icarus; The Love Of Narcissus; and Escape From The Underworld.

Myths is a truly multi-platform experience. Viewers can watch Myths, explore the original Greek myths, get to know the characters and play the Myths quizes and games at bbc.co.uk/switch.

Interpreted by BBC Switch in-house writers, the series is a co-production with Ridley Scott's RSA Films and is directed by Henry Mason.

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BBC Switch continues with UK sitcom Trexx & Flipside, starring Peter Dalton and David Ajala as two wannabe hip-hop stars.

Ollie, the record company assistant, has set up a break-through appearance for the boys on Big-Up TV. But she also has a little sister, Alesha, who needs babysitting. Trexx and Flip are roped in to help out, but are warned not to feed Alesha anything containing an E-number.

Meanwhile, arch-rival rapper B-Ice gets wind of the TV gig and his girlfriend, Chinaza, sends her two hottie friends over to visit Trexx and Flip, armed with a bag of additive-laden sweets to divert the boys' attention. So, who will step into the breach when the guys look like they're not going to show for Big-up TV? Meet the boys' best friend, the ABBA-loving Clinton.

Pete Dalton (1Xtra BBC's Mistajam) is Trexx, David Ajala is Flipside, Ashley Madekwe is Ollie, Tyrone Lewis is B-Ice, Emi Wokoma is Chinaza and Marcel McCalla is Clinton. Rich Fulcher (Bob Fossil of The Mighty Boosh) also stars as Mr Brilliance.

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Neil Oliver examines the historical
power of Scottish bishops

BBC Two's fascinating historical documentary series continues to tell Scotland's history and tonight's programme reveals deft legal manoeuvring across international boundaries to ensure that the Scottish bishops retained independence.

Chess enthusiast English monarch Edward "Longshanks" believed his "endgame" was in sight. But he was about to make a tactical error by trying to bring Scotland's bishops to heel.

As presenter Neil Oliver says: "English bishops did as they were told. The English church was Edward's property ... Scotland's bishops had power that was independent of the Scottish crown and the privilege of direct appeal to the Pope himself. If Scotland became an English territory, the privilege disappeared. The Scottish bishops would have to bend the knee, tug the forelock ... And they didn't want to."

While they literally paid lip-service and kissed the English king's ring, the Scottish bishops were to be the driving force in the re-birth of Scotland's crown.

However, first, they needed a new Scottish king – someone worthy of the title but not so worthy that he couldn't contemplate something which looked dangerously like casting out a legitimate king, an ex-communicable act. They chose Robert Bruce.

Says Neil Oliver: "By 1309, Bruce had crushed resistance almost everywhere in Scotland. It was time to get on with the business of kingship ... The sheer scale of Bruce's task was becoming clear. His kingship was still in question. He was not a legend ... yet."

Legend has it that Bannockburn secured Bruce's position and Scotland's independence. However, it appears that it was the bishops who really made the man who would be King.

HM