Baldrick on the dung heap
EVER wanted to get to the bottom of dung? Thought not. But Tony Robinson, who was constantly being compared unfavourably to the stuff in his role as Baldrick in Blackadder, does just that in The Wonderful World of Dung (Pearl, 8.30pm).
Among other pertinent - and pungent - facts, Robinson discovers that if it weren't for the lowly dung beetle, we could find ourselves walking about in a cowpat the size of Australia.
Post racing experts Robin Parke and Lawrence Wadey share their tips on those other major dung producers, horses, in Racing Night Live (World, 9pm), while it sounds as though Pearl can't get away from the subject in their film Disaster at Silo 7 (9.45pm, original running time 100 mins).
Actually, it's not that kind of silo. This one is the sort where missiles, rather than waste, are stored.
The film is based on a real-life near-disaster in America's mid-West in 1980 when a leak in a missile silo threatened to cause a disastrous explosion.
Perry King plays the air force technician trying to prevent the catastrophe in this average drama movie. Look out for appearances from Peter Boyle (The Dream Team ) and Dennis Weaver (McCloud ).
OSCAR fever starts to build as Barry Norman gives his opinion of the nominations in Film '93 (BBC, 7.25pm).
He also reviews Woody Allen's latest, Shadows and Fog, a homage to film noir in the 20s, and The Bad Lieutenant which stars Harvey Keitel.
SPORTS - of sorts - get the MTV treatment (7.30pm) in a non-stop show aimed at young people with a penchant for more unusual activities.
Host Dan Cortese takes viewers on a whirlwind tour round the niceties of bizarre sports like extreme skiing and air surfing.
SHORT and stout comic actor Danny DeVito ( Twins) is the guest voice on The Simpsons (World, 8.30pm), playing Herb, the half-brother that Homer never knew he had.
After finding out about Herb's existence - the result of an affair between Grandpa Simpson and a circus floozy - Homer seeks him out and is overjoyed to discover that he's stinking rich.
THE excellent documentary series Stalin (World, 12.20am) ends tonight, with a look at the last decade of the despot's life. By this time he had absolute power and had established in Eastern Europe, as well as the Soviet Union, his own system of controlled terror.
Strangely, at the same time he was hailed a war hero for the Red Army's part in smashing Hitler, and admired as a scientist and a fighter for peace.
The programme includes interviews with Stalin's associates and his victims.
IF it's Wednesday, it must be Hongkong's turn to choose the videos to be played on Dial MTV (9am). Viewers should ring VJ Nonie on 173-00-0800 and request their favourite videos from the current playlist.
The top five requests are then played during the second half of the show.
Viewers from Taiwan, India and the Philippines take their turns to choose what's shown on other days of the week, while on Fridays the show climaxes with an Asian Top 10.
