In today's ephemeral, disposable world, filled with instant messaging and snapchats and online gambling, it's easy to forget the important things in life, easy to forget to occasionally slow down and admire the beauty of a three-hour movie about hobbits and elves fighting orcs. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (GO!, 8.30pm) is a welcome alternative on a Friday night to the football.
The middle instalment of Peter Jackson's magnificent LOTR trilogy, The Two Towers set a standard for epic fantasy battle that may never be exceeded. Indeed, Jackson's handling of the entire saga is an object lesson in how to adapt beloved literature to the screen. Possessing a genuine passion for Tolkien's masterpiece that could be said to be lacking in, for example, Michael Bay's approach to the Transformers, Jackson cut wisely from the books' narrative, which was far too long even for the 10 screen hours of the movies, while also making canny additions that enhanced the story and infused characters with a greater richness.
Aragorn in particular benefited from Jackson's adaptation, becoming a far more complex and truly heroic figure in the hands of the director and actor Viggo Mortensen than he was in Tolkien's.
Aragorn truly shines in The Two Towers, as he leads the defence of Helm's Deep against the might of Saruman's army of evil Uruk-Hai. If you aren't much into fantasy, that sentence probably put you straight to sleep. You won't care that Frodo and Sam enter into an uneasy alliance with Gollum as they attempt to bring the One Ring to the fires of Mount Doom. You will be indifferent to the sinister grip of Grima Wormtongue over the grief-stricken King Theoden.
To those people, we who understand the magic of Middle-Earth can feel only pity. If you allow yourself to be transported in the way that fantasy wishes to transport you, you will be thrilled by the brutal battle for Helm's Deep, you will feel Frodo's pain as the burden of the Ring grows ever heavier and be moved by Sam's devotion to his master.
You will cheer as Aragorn's sword, Legolas' bow and Gimli's axe cut a swathe through the orc hordes.
If you can suspend your disbelief, movies simply don't get any better than this.
Of a more scholarly bent is David Suchet: In The Footsteps of St Paul (SBS1, 8.30pm), in which that masterful actor, best known for his definitive portrayal of Hercule Poirot, travels around the Mediterranean uncovering the real life of a man he has long wanted to play.
Suchet visits famous sites of antiquity, interviews experts and examines archaeological evidence to shed light on perhaps the most influential figure in the history of Western civilisation.
