SBS's weekly programmer picks - 2/7

Pick of the Week:

We now have our big annual broadcast of the Tour de France underway and even if you can't tell the difference between a pelaton and a time trial you will probably have noticed the impact on the SBS ONE schedule, with the late news shifting back into its old slot at 9:30pm weeknights. For fans of our 9:30pm docos (Wednesday 'Big Ideas', Thursday observational docos and Friday 'As It Happened') you're going to have to make do with a bit of a rest break.

There is, however, another big sporting event on the horizon, one involving a certain amount of rings. We're marking this in our own way with three documentaries about the triumphs and controversies of the Olympic track. We start this week with Caster Semenya: Too Fast To Be A Woman? (Tuesday 8:30pm SBS ONE) - a portrait of the South African 800m world champion who attracted a media storm when doubt was cast over her gender. This film has extraordinary access to Semenya and her inner circle and we see the trials she faces as that most basic aspect of our personal identity is thrust under the microscope. She fights back though and ... will we see her battling for gold in London? Tune in and find out. In future weeks look out for documentaries featuring Carl Lewis and Ben Johnson, and current 100m world champion Usain Bolt.




Documentary Round-Up:

Other documentaries I'd recommend are Planet Egypt (Tuesdays 7:30pm SBS TWO) - if you missed it last year this series provides a grand overview of the rise and fall of Ancient Egyptian civilisation. A South American Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby (Fridays 7:30pm SBS ONE) picks up from Caroline Quentin's Indian trip last week to give a cultural portrait of present day South America. Dimbleby, a journalist, is occasionally gruff but generally good company. Finally, moving house is about the last thing I ever want to do in my life again but at least I'm only talking about what goes inside. Massive Moves (double episodes Saturdays 7:35pm SBS ONE) is about those kind of moves where for one reason or another the owners choose to take their entire house with them. There's a multitude of things that can go wrong and this series captures the home owners' agony and ecstasy as their four walls take to the road.



Next week: the return of Wildest Africa.