SBS's weekly programmer picks - 25/6

Mon 25 Jun 2012, 12:00am

Share This

1 0

+ Comment

A lot of this week is about things coming to an end (or a break at least) while much of the late night SBS ONE schedule is taken up by a mix of gritty character study and stunning aerial photography of the French countryside. No, I’m not talking Global Village (although you can still catch Silvio’s little-show-that-could 5:30pm weeknights on SBS ONE) but a little cycling race known as the Tour de France. As befits such an occasion SBS Sport have produced a documentary on Cadel Evan’s historic victory in last year’s race. One Sunday in Paris will air this Saturday 8:55pm (7:30pm in WA) on SBS ONE before the Tour prologue.

Starting with tonight – why don’t you kick back and enjoy some cannabis … documentary viewing. Cannabis: The Evil Weed? (SBS TWO 8:30pm) looks at the impact of smoking cannabis on the human body.

This week also sees the end of Death Unexplained on Tuesdays (8:40pm SBS ONE) – I’m glad that we’ve been getting some great feedback about this series that gives access to the West London Coroner’s Court. Afterwards at 9:30pm try to catch Changing Your Mind – based on the work of Dr Norman Doidge in the bestselling The Brain That Changes Itself. This doco looks at how neuroplasticity allows doctors to treat devastating conditions from depression to OCD. Thank you to Gordon Farrer in the SMH and The Age for the four-star review, describing it as “exciting, uplifting and very, very worthwhile stuff”.

East to West on Wednesday nights also concludes this week – this is another series that has had a really terrific response. We have also received impassioned letters from a couple of viewers questioning some of the conclusions drawn by the program. I’m glad that the series has been able to stimulate conversation on the role of culture and religion through history. If you’re interested in these themes it’d be great if you can to contribute to the quality discussion on the program page.

One Born Every Minute USA on Thursday nights will break for the Tour – but don’t worry – it will be back directly after. These fixed camera documentary series (or “fixed rig”) were at the heart of much discussion at the recent Sheffield Doc/Fest, the consensus being that when done well they really have revitalised very human, character-based documentary making. One of the best examples is the documentary series The School – coming to SBS ONE in August.

If you are in WA you will get a double dose of The Story of Wales on Friday so that it won’t clash with the Tour – for the rest of Australia it will conclude over the next two weeks.

And on Saturday we have Mission Everest (7:30pm Eastern/Central zones, midnight in WA) in which a lower key Bear Grylls compared to his Man vs. Wild persona attempts to fly over Mount Everest using para-glider backpacks with his inventor friend, Gilo Cardozo. In weeks to come we’ll be watching men scale mountains of a similar range using nothing but the power of their feet on the pedals (we hope). Go Cadel!!!

Next Week: Too Fast to Be a Woman? The Story of Caster Semenya