PAY
Flipping Bangers
A&E, 3.30pm
Affable British car lovers Gus Gregory and Will Trickett have quit their jobs, pooled their savings and rented a workshop, and they aim to make a living by buying cars that nobody else wants and fixing them up. Today's project is an unlovely, "turd-brown" Porsche 924. This entry-level "poor man's Porsche" features '70s styling, a little two-litre engine and several decades' worth of wear and tear. But Gregory and Trickett are sure they can spruce it up with penny-pinching attention to detail. The lengths they go to are certainly impressive – Trickett is soon sewing new panels for the ruined upholstery, while Gregory is pulling out the faded carpets and dyeing them with a cheap dye meant for cotton. They don't neglect to provide useful little hints for the home viewer – such as how not to smack yourself in the nose when pulling a steering wheel off the column. Brad Newsome
Jason Silva guides us through a sweep of human history in Origins: The Journey of Humankind on SBS.
Photo: SBS
Origins: The Story of Humankind
SBS, 7.30pm
No fact is so interesting that it shouldn't be embellished with EXPLODING GRAPHICS and a presenter who talks in CAPITAL LETTERS. That seems to be the guiding principle of this shouty documentary series about key moments in history that shaped humanity. There is plenty of fascinating material to work with. The first episode, which focuses on the discovery and use of fire, and its social consequences, begins with prehistoric society and moves on to examine everything from the invention of gunpowder to early rocket technology. But why would you let history speak for itself when you can add fanciful and melodramatic scenes of pseudo-history, including one particularly silly moment in which actors dressed as cavemen are attacked by wolves while a pregnant women goes into labour. The production values are high. From the look of things, a lot of money has been spent in an effort to appeal to an audience that might not usually watch history or science documentaries. The involvement of creator John Boswell, aka YouTube star Melodysheep, suggests Millennials are the target audience. But speaking as a Millennial (albeit a crusty one) I like a documentary that treats me like a grown-up. Louise Schwartzkoff
MOVIE
The New World (2005)
SBS, 9.25pm
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Set in the dismally fledgling British settlement of Jamestown in 1607, Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line) examines how the march of civilisation debases the natural world. The Native Americans, who allow the struggling British to stay one winter on the proviso they leave the following spring, are at ease with the environment. The settlers, who break their word, impose themselves; the first time the indigenous warriors see a wooden fort wall they are mystified. The crossing point between them is John Smith (Colin Farrell), a soldier taken captive by the Native Americans, whose life is summarily saved by a chief's daughter, Pocahontas (Q'Orianka Kilcher). The two can barely communicate, but love blooms. Their wordless reverie is second nature to Malick, who transposes their thoughts and physical affection, before Pocahontas enters the European world, marrying tobacco farmer John Rolfe (Christian Bale) and travelling far from nature's embrace. Craig Mathieson
MOVIE
Logan Lucky (2017)
Stan (streaming)
Swapping the Las Vegas of the Ocean's trilogy for a NASCAR race in North Carolina, Steven Soderbergh delivers a hillbilly heist flick that is meticulously constructed, right down to the storytelling deceptions that keep you one step off the pace. The perpetrators are the down on their heels Logan clan – Jimmy (Channing Tatum), Clyde (Adam Driver), and Mellie (Riley Keough) – who are reputedly unlucky (Clyde lost a hand serving in Iraq with the U.S. Army). They are accent-heavy rednecks, although Soderbergh doesn't dig into political allegiances. Instead he lets Daniel Craig have some fun on screen for the first time in years, playing an explosives expert, Joe Bang, who needs to be sprung from jail so he can help out. The machinations are deadpan and the revelations smooth, so much so that you wish the plot had a genuine antagonist to wind up the robbers. CM
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