John Robinson, Phil Harrison, Ben Arnold, Jack Seale, Hannah J Davies, Mark Gibbings-Jones and Paul Howlett 

Friday’s best TV: Hip-hop Evolution; The Biggest Weekend; Friday Night Dinner

Shad, Canada’s nicest MC, interviews the hip-hop greats in a valuable documentary; live festival music comes from Belfast and Roger Popper’s sitcom returns
  
  

Shad meets Roxanne Shante in Hip-hop Evolution.
A course module instructional … Shad meets Roxanne Shante in Hip-hop Evolution. Photograph: Palatin Media Film & Fernseh

Hip-hop Evolution

9pm, Sky Arts

On Netflix, hip-hop fans will have already enjoyed The Defiant Ones, a fast and fun doc focusing on the glamorous lives and great talents of Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine. Imagine that, but shot in the style of a course module instructional presented by Shad, AKA Canada’s nicest MC, and you’ve got this. It’s valuable for its procedural interviews; Grandmaster Flash on creating the “break” is particularly great. Stay tuned for a very literal demonstration of hip-hop’s evolution as Sky Arts profiles the UK grime scene in Generation Grime. John Robinson

The Biggest Weekend

7.30pm, BBC Four

BBC Four is mourning a Glastonbury-shaped hole in its schedules this summer. However, there are some choice offerings this weekend from the 6 Music-curated Belfast bash. Tonight: hardy Welsh malcontents Manic Street Preachers, alt-rock greats the Breeders, perennial loser Beck and fraternal rave icons Orbital. Phil Harrison

How to Get Fit Fast

8pm, Channel 4

Anna Richardson looks into the rising popularity of bodyweight training – formerly known as callisthenics – in the world of fitness, using our own heft to develop muscles. Meanwhile, chirpy Amar Latif has a go at standup paddleboarding, which can radically improve core strength. Ben Arnold

The Bridge

9pm, BBC Two

Scandi noir’s best cop show stays on course to cement its classic status, with another hour of enmeshed events and characters whose importance is initially unclear. The changes of tone are expert: a key arrest is unexpectedly touching, while Saga’s visit to a shrink becomes a hilarious series recap. Jack Seale

Friday Night Dinner

10pm, Channel 4

Robert Popper’s sitcom about the shambolic Goodman family and their attempts to have a quiet Shabbat dinner continues. Martin uncovers an old ventriloquist’s dummy and begins wreaking havoc. Plus, a guest joins the bambinos in the form of Jonny’s friend Ben (Liam Williams), who has just been dumped. Hannah J Davies

High & Dry

10.30pm, Channel 4

The castaway capers continue as Douglas spies an inhabited island a mere raft-ride away. Brett wants everyone to stay on his idyllic atoll, coaxing a spurned Susan into derailing Douglas’s escape plans. With a kangaroo court constructed to keep Douglas contained, it’s up to Arnab to save the day. Mark Gibbings-Jones

TV films

War for the Planet of the Apes (11.40am, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere)

Part three of the apes v humans fantasy, and it’s all-out-war. Simian chief Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his motion-captured army defend their foresty fastness, beset by the forces of Woody Harrelson’s Colonel; both sides are divided, compromised and vengeful, in Matt Reeves’s superb reboot.

Paul Howlett

Live sport

Test Cricket: England v Pakistan (10.30am, Sky Sports Main Event)

The second day’s play from the Lord’s Test.

Cycling: Giro d’Italia (12 noon, Eurosport 1)

A 181km route from Venaria Reale to Bardonecchia.

Super League Rugby: Warrington Wolves v Hull FC (7.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event)

Rugby league from the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

 

Leave a Comment

Required fields are marked *

*

*