ABC1's blog

8:30pm – Sunday, January 27 on ABC1

Harry’s (Neil Jackson) desire to impress Beryl (Laura Haddock) leads him and Johnny (Nico Mirallegro) into the world of boxing and, as their big fight draws ever closer, the boys are determined to reign victorious.

Upstairs, as she and Sir Hallam (Ed Stoppard) drift further apart, Lady Agnes (Keeley Hawes) is reacquainted with a familiar face who shows her an exciting world away from 165 Eaton Place, and Sir Hallam makes a dangerous decision which will change his life forever…

7:30pm – Sunday, January 27 on ABC1

The 16th century Old Manor in Norfolk is an extraordinary hotchpotch of architectural styles. The Grade II listed property is full of history but it is on its last legs. Beset with damp, woodworm and death watch beetle, it is an overwhelming project to take on and yet new owners, Polly and her French husband, Erich, are determined to turn this crumbling property into their dream home. Unfortunately, as work gets underway, expensive and unforeseen structural problems are uncovered, which have a huge impact on Polly’s budget.

Meanwhile, the historical and architectural investigations start to yield results. A leading expert thinks he’s identified the original church location of the stained glass windows that firmly dates them back to Henry VIII’s Reformation.

Just when Polly and Erich think they’ve sorted out the major structural problems, disaster strikes again.

The Old Manor is broken into and badly vandalised, putting the whole project at risk.

8:30pm – Wednesday, January 23 on ABC1

Bee Gees: In Our Own Time is the compelling story of the Bee Gees’ career. From their roots in the north west of England, through their early career in Australia, their return to England and international breakthrough in the late sixties, and then on to global superstardom with ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and beyond.

Alongside the success there is the heartache of the tragically early deaths of first their younger brother Andy and then later Maurice. The story is told ‘in their own words’ through in-depth new interviews with Barry and Robin Gibb and through extensive interviews with Maurice filmed shortly before his death in January 2003. These are lavishly illustrated by live performances, TV and film clips and home movies of their early days.

10:05pm – Sunday, January 20 on ABC1

Grayson Perry, a leading British artist and winner of the Turner Prize, has always been fascinated by taste – why people buy the things they do, wear the things they wear and what they are trying to say about themselves when they make those choices.

This week, Perry embeds himself with the middle classes in and around Tunbridge Wells. As someone originally from a working class background, but now living amongst the middle class, Perry is fascinated by social mobility and the rise of a new middle class. He finds a world of aspirational, brand-led taste, with people keen to demarcate themselves from the working-class tastes they have left behind, but uncertain what new taste signals to send out.

Moving on to the middle class heartland of Tunbridge Wells, Grayson explores the taste obsessions – from organic food and gastropubs to vintage furniture and dinner parties – of the traditional middle classes. These are the people who are most self-conscious about what their taste decisions say about themselves. But Grayson finds that, for all the differences between the many middle class ‘taste tribes’ he meets, all of their tastes share a burning desire to show what good people they are.

6:00pm – Friday, January 25 on ABC1

The Australian Of The Year Awards 2013 celebrates the achievements and contributions of outstanding citizens throughout the last year. Prior to the Australia Celebrates Concert, ABC1 will be covering the official announcement by the Prime Minister live. Hosted by Stephanie Brantz, the 2013 Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year and Australia’s Local Hero will be presented with their awards at a public event in front of Parliament House. * AEDT 8:30pm Australia Celebrates 2013 Friday, 25 January 2013 Celebrate what’s great on Australia Day Eve, January 25, when ABC1 broadcasts Australia Celebrates, a live concert from the steps of Parliament House Canberra. Some of Australia’s favourite artists, a mix of internationally renowned and locally loved home-grown talent will perform on this prestigious occasion.

Artists and host tbc. *AEDT And on the morning of Australia Day itself, ABC1 will broadcast the National Australia Day Flag-Raising and Citizenship Ceremony 2013 live from the shores of Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra. Adam Spencer will commentate on this important Australia Day event, where new Australian citizens are welcomed by the Prime Minister and Governor General.

9:00pm – Thursday, January 24 on ABC1

In episode 4, Bel and Freddie pitch to expose Cilenti’s vice network and police collusion over the anti-nuclear policy story planned for tomorrow’s show. Randall sees the scoop’s potential, but challenges them to find sources to prove their story is ready. Heeding this, Bel arranges a meeting with showgirl Rosa-Maria, who puts herself in mortal danger in order to reveal what is behind Cilenti’s hold over London’s most influential men… It looks like the story just got a whole lot juicier.

Bel’s relationship with Bill deepens, much to the chagrin of Freddie, whose home life with Camille suffers under his dedication to the story. Hector’s marriage is given hope by a long overdue moment of honesty.

Randall and Lix’s bond reignites over new information regarding their long-lost secret… Cracks form in the team as Freddie and Bel refuse to protect Hector’s ex-comrade, corrupt officer Laurie, in their pursuit of the story. When a conspiratorial McCain offers Hector an exclusive interview that could pip any other story to the top spot, Hector must choose whether to forsake the team’s story to protect the man who saved his life.

Meanwhile, photos of the NATO summit reveal a familiar face to Freddie and further digging reveals that the Cilenti story and nuclear story might not be as far apart as previously thought – could Cilenti’s influence go nuclear? If so, Bel and Freddie have cracked the biggest story of the year. But as bad news arrives, they’re left asking at what cost to their sources and relationships?

8:30pm – Thursday, January 24 on ABC1

Nigella reveals a secret passion for one of the tastes of Italy with her dark and deviant liquorice pudding, before introducing us to the joys of fregola – the Sardinian toasted extra large couscous – in a light, tomatohued recipe of couscous with clams.

Nigella’s dinner party guests are served a simple yet sumptuous meal of butterflied leg of lamb and baby aubergines with oregano and roasted red onion. Dessert is an irresistible meringue gelato cake with sharp raspberries and a dark chocolate sauce.

9:30pm – Tuesday, January 22 on ABC1

Week three in Hollywood for the six Aussie actors seeking fame and fortune.

Penelope finally makes a decision about an agent and starts auditioning.

First up is for a role in a feature film directed by Jeff Probst, host of the Survivor TV series.

Michael gets Penelope to help him make an audition tape for a role in Boardwalk Empire.

Luke is finding it hard to get auditions but remains optimistic.

After a frustrating meeting with her manager, HaiHa finally gets a call about an audition for a pilot. She is ecstatic and celebrates with a hike in the Hollywood Hills.

Meanwhile, Craig gets into the LA lifestyle and begins a juice cleanse diet. He also meets Tropfest founder and feature director John Polson who gives him some sound advice about getting noticed in Hollywood.

Craig takes the advice and ends up starring in an obscure, oddball online film from a director called Scum.

9:30pm – Monday, January 21 on ABC1

The Grammar Of Happiness follows the story of Daniel Everett amongst the extraordinary ‘unconvertible’ Amazonian Pirah� tribe, a group of indigenous hunter-gatherers whose culture and outlook on life has taken the world of linguistics by storm.

As a young ambitious missionary three decades ago, Dan, a red-bearded towering American, decamped to the Amazon rain forest to save indigenous souls. His assignment was to translate the book of Mark into the tongue of the Pirah�, a people whose puzzling speech seemed unrelated to any other on Earth. What he learned during his time with the Pirah� led him to question the very foundations of his own deep beliefs.

As a ‘born again’ atheist, Dan divorced his devout Christian wife and became estranged from his children.

Having lost faith and family, his new life is dominated by the desire to leave behind his legacy. Everett’s most controversial claim is that the Pirah� language lacks ‘recursion’ – the ability to build an infinite number of sentences within sentences, regarded by Chomsky-ists as perhaps the most fundamental characteristic of human language.

The Grammar Of Happiness interweaves the tale of Everett’s attempt to return to the Pirah� with the story of his personal journey since the sixties – from drug-taking musician to evangelical missionary to rabblerousing academic. It’s the adventurous tale of losing faith but finding happiness.

9:30pm – Sunday, January 20 on ABC1

Adam’s (Tom Hollander) decision to allow a Muslim children’s prayer group to use the church for classes brings his congregation’s prejudices to light. Inspired by the clear moral stance he sees in the Islamic classes, Adam decides to take a stand himself and oppose a lap-dancing club threatening to open opposite the school. When he finds himself in one of the branches checking out pole dancers in the name of research, things become rather more complicated.

Tom Hollander as Adam, Olivia Colman as Alex, Steve Evets as Colin, Simon McBurney as Archdeacon, Miles Jupp as Nigel, Lucy Liemann as Ellie, Hugh Bonneville as Roland Wise, Ellen Thomas as Adoha, Alexander Armstrong as Patrick Yam, Colin Salmon as Leon.