Andrew Mueller, David Stubbs, Julia Raeside, Clare Considine and Phelim O'Neill 

TV highlights 15/06/2012

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: The Culture Show | Match Of The Day Live: Euro 2012 | Punk Britannia | Episodes | Glastonbury After Hours | Dexter
  
  

Alastair Sooke Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: A Culture Show Special
Alastair Sooke in Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: A Culture Show Special. Photographer: James Costello/BBC Photograph: James Costello/BBC/James Costello

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: The Culture Show
6pm, BBC2

The world's largest open-submission contemporary art show is now 243 years old. This summer exhibition is a giddying cornucopia. It's possible to purchase fine work at (relatively) reasonable prices, and it's possible to look at a lot of next winter's firewood. Alastair Sooke meets the curators who have to hang thousands of works – and must surely occasionally want to hang some of the artists – and Michael Landy explores the rituals that have grown up around the event. Andrew Mueller

Match Of The Day Live: Euro 2012
7pm, BBC1

England seem to encounter Sweden with bizarre frequency in international football and it doesn't usually go well, with a particularly underwhelming record in tournament matches. The Swedes are not at their strongest; John Terry and co recently beat them for the first time since 1968 in a friendly, but this is a competitive fixture. An anxious England will need all the points they can muster, regardless of how they've fared against France, with most commentators regarding getting out of the group stage as an achievement in itself for a squad that can find room for Jordan Henderson in it. David Stubbs

Punk Britannia
9pm, BBC4

This final instalment reaches the post-punk years, from 1978 to 1981. A new generation of artists stepped over the safety pins and bondage trousers to make their mark on a newly politicised scene. Inspired by their spiky cousins' rebellion, the post-punkers attempted to answer the question: if there's "no future", what are we going to do now? More nostalgia for the least nostalgic pop movement of all time, but hard to resist a sigh-and-a-spit for an era when politics-on-their-sleeves acts such as Scritti Politti and the Specials could reasonably expect to become pop stars. Julia Raeside

Episodes
10pm, BBC2

Not many of the problems faced by the writers and producers of the show within this show ring particularly true. More credible and much better played is the storyline in which Matt LeBlanc tries to get one of his Friends friends to guest for the all-important sweeps week. Cue lots of scenes of LeBlanc doing one-sided phone conversations that reveal he's managed to insult and offend all his old co-stars. Phelim O'Neill

Glastonbury After Hours
10pm, BBC4

Julien Temple returns to Glastonbury for this documentary on the side of the festival that Beyoncé didn't see. Priceless footage depicts the wide-eyed, gurning night owls, freaks and trustafarians who gravitate to Shangri-La. The interviews and films depict the fine line between heaven and hell that can be the festival experience pitch-perfectly; it's Mad Max meets Woodstock. Michael Eavis is interviewed alongside festival performers and casualties. Blissed-out early-morning scenes are balanced against knee-deep mud. Clare Considine

Dexter
10pm, FX

It's season finale time for Dexter, which usually means there's some relief to be found after a harrowing adventure. There's relief all right, but it's more of the thank-God-that's-over variety. It aims for a spirited sprint across the finish line with Travis kidnapping little Harrison, but it's all a bit contrived. There's not much of a genuine threat either, as this show has already killed off a family member for a finale, and it would be pretty low to try that again. Still, it's worth hanging on for the final few minutes. PO'N

 

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