The Daily Telegraph from London, Greater London, England • 294

Friday April 9 Unlikely lads: Nicholas Lyndhurst, David Jason and Lennard Pearce (BBC1, 9.30 pm) Pick of the Day by Chris Riley Walden on Villains (BBC2 except Scotland, 7.30 pm) After one series of lectures, delivered without script or autocue and filmed in one take, in which Brian Walden was sometimes less than complimentary about a few of history's heroes, a series in which he's occasionally surprisingly enthusiastic about a quintet of villains although of course everything is placed in an appropriate historical context. His first subject is Hitler, though rather than explore the Nazi regime's grotesque crimes, Walden chooses to focus instead on the "insufficiently discussed" area of what his rise to power in a democratic society says about democracy itself. "The public mood that Hitler exploited to gain power hasn't simply gone away," he argues. "Nor is it in any sense specifically German. It's the hole in the heart of the democratic process." As the Crow Flies (BBC2 except N.Ireland, 8.00 pm) Janet Street-Porter makes her way through some glorious Yorkshire countryside on this third leg of her walk to Greenwich, cutting across the Pennine Way M1 of the weekend rambling and walking and learning about butter sculptures before discovering Vic Reeves lying in a field of cows.

Laughter in the House (BBC1, 9.30 pm) This entertaining survey concludes, moving on from the cosy sitcoms of the Seventies to their bolder, brasher cousins in the Eighties and Nineties, beginning with Yes Minister and ending with Men Behaving Badly. Along the we take in The Young Ones, Blackadder and perhaps the archetypal sitcom of the Thatcher years, John Sullivan's Only Fools and Horses a show whose finale was watched by a staggering 24 million viewers but which began life in 1981 with such a tiny audience it was very nearly cancelled. Frasier (C4, 10.00 00 pm) One of the more schematic episodes which tend to come along once or twice a series, here featuring three separate Valentine's Day stories. It's buttressed by a strong middle section in which Frasier struggles to work out the exact nature of his dinner with the station's new publicity manager Cassandra is it a business meeting or a date? a tale of conflicting signals and hopes raised then dashed. And we end with Martin and Daphne desperately trying not to make a big deal about having to spend the most romantic night of the year in each other's company.

But the unmissable segment, with the ever-pernickety Niles waiting for the arrival of his date, comes first. In an escalating series of disasters, he manages to draw a line from a slightly crooked trouser crease to a domestic inferno in seven farcical minutes. 30 The Daily Telegraph Television Radio BBC 1 6.00 a.m. Business Breakfast. (19441) 7.00 Breakfast News.

(T) (55170) 9.00 Kilroy. Talk show. (T) (S) (9190002) 9.45 Style Challenge. (R) (S) (8834422) 10.10 The Vanessa Show. (T) (S) (9241165) 10.55 News and Weather.

(T) (9142199) 11.00 Change That. A visit to the Avoncroft Museum, near Bromsgrove. (S) (9129248) 11.25 Can't Cook, Won't Cook. Culinary challenge. (T) (S) (9122335) 11.55 News and Weather.

(T) (4342098) 12.00 Going for a Song. With Penny Smith and Kit Hesketh-Harvey. (S) (6130985) 12.25 Wipeout. Quiz show. (S) (7685070) 12.50 The Weather Show.

(T) (S) (76029267) Head 1.00 News and Weather. (T) (65557) (BBC2 1.30 Regional News and Weather. (58199712) 1.40 Neighbours. Joel's mother is furious to 6.10 be the last to find out about his accident. Bill gets set for a romantic evening with Anne.

but she has other things on her mind. (T) (S) (16357809) 2.05 Ironside. (R) (1245267) 2.55 Through the Keyhole. With guests Jonathon Morris. Nina Myskow and James Whale.

(R) (T) (S) (2204422) 3.25 Smart on the Road. (6930354) 3.40 Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch. (R) (S) (7143606) 4.00 Rugrats. (R) (T) (S) 10.30 (5925354) 4.15 Get Your Own Back. (S) (7415847) 4.35 The Mask.

(S) (7639151) 5.00 Newsround. (T) (S) (5678248) 5.10 Blue Peter. (T) (S) (2439847) 12.00 5.35 Neighbours. (R) (T) (S) (466538) 12.30 6.00 News and Weather. (T) (644) 1.00 6.30 Regional News Magazine.

(996) 1.10 (N.Ireland: Newsline (996); Wales: 2.10 Wales Today (996)) 7.00 Weekend Watchdog with Anne Robinson. Consumer reports. (T) (S) (6731) 7.30 Top of the Pops. The week's charttoppers, featuring live bands and the 4.55 UK's number one single. (T) (S) (880) 5.30 8.00 Ground Force The team returns to Milton 6.00 Keynes and the garden of prison officer 6.20 Stuart Higham.

to check up on his plot 18 6.45 months after they built a gazebo which was 7.00 not entirely to his liking. (T) (S) (2151) 8.30 The Builders. Liz and Mark Burch await completion of their extension, and 84- 7.30 year-old Ethel Chick prepares to leave her prefab after 52 years. (T) (S) (1286) 9.00 News and Weather. (T) (9422) 9.30 Laughter in the House.

See Pick of 8.00 the Day. (T) (S) (151354) 10.20 Golf: US Masters 1999. Steve Rider presents further second-round action from 8.30 the Augusta National. (S) (2556793) 9.00 11.30 Film Kidnapped (1992). True-life drama in which an FBI agent hunts for his abducted son, kidnapped by an organisation that targets wealthy families.

Stars Timothy 10.30 Busfield and Dabney Coleman. (S) (86809) 11.15 1.00 Film Plan of Attack (1992, tvm). Thriller about a rape victim who is plagued by her attacker when he is released from prison. Stars Loni Anderson, Anthony John Denison 1.30 and Stephen Meadows. (S) (4557855) 2.25 Weather.

(5776923) (Wales: News and Weather (5776923)) 2.50 2.30 6.00 a.m. News 24. (48229) 3.00 MERIDIAN: As London except: 12.15 pm Meridian News (7256335) 12.55 Shortland Street (1946267) 1.30 Lie Detector (16346793) 1.55 The Jerry Springer Show (5204151) 3.15 Meridian News 5.30 Streetwise (199) 6.00 Meridian Tonight (712) 11.20 Meridian News (734286) 11.35 Wonderful You (306422) 12.35 ITV at the Belfort Festival (6631381) 1.35 vision (6766132) 2.15 The Haunted Fishtank BBC 2 Head to head: Brian Walden on Villains (BBC2 except Scotland, 7.30 pm) a.m. Living with Drought. (4651489) 7.00 Polka Dot Shorts.

(5506064) 7.10 The Silver Brumby. (R) (S) (9062118) 7.35 Top Cat. (R) (8149248) 8.00 The Bots Master. (R) (S) (5462460) 8.25 Buried Treasure. (8111460) 8.40 The Really Wild Show.

(R) (S) (9387847) 9.08 Rewind. (T) (3321793) 9.10 Goober and the Ghost Chasers. (R) (7188248) 9.35 Student Bodies. (R) (S) (8836880) 10.00 Teletubbies. (R) (S) (42118) Film Tarka the Otter (1978).

Adaptation of Henry Williamson's novel chronicling an otter's fight for survival. Starring Peter Bennett and Brenda Cavendish. (64809) Wildlife Showcase. (R) (S) (24151) Working Lunch. (59335) Johnson and Friends.

(38331489) The Leisure Hour. (R) (S) (1933793) Racing from Aintree. Coverage of the 2.35 Mumm Melling Chase, 3.10 Mumm Mildmay Novice Chase, 3.45 John Hughes Handicap Chase and 4.20 Belle Epoque Sefton Novice Hurdle. (S) (83807460) Esther. Talk show (S) (9416083) Whose House? (S) (373) The Simpsons.

(R) (T) (S) (403335) The Simpsons. (R) (T) (S) (407151) Electric Circus. (T) (S) (589489) The Night before the National. Preview of tomorrow's Grand National. (S) (4373) Walden on Villains See Pick of the Day.

(T) (S) (422) (Scotland: Making It 422)) As the Crow Flies. See Pick of the Day. (T) (S) (3903) (N.Ireland: Making It (3903)) Gardeners' World. (T) (S) (9828) Golf: US Masters 1999. Steve Rider presents live second-round coverage from the Augusta National.

Followed by Video Nation Shorts. (S) (8793) Newsnight. (T) (184002) Film Jefferson in Paris (1995). Nick Nolte stars as Thomas Jefferson in the time before his American presidency. serving as an ambassador to France.

(69760335) Film The Spiral Staircase (1945, Thriller with Dorothy McGuire, George Brent and Ethel Barrymore. (7638300) 2.55 a.m. Weather. (1144359) 5.00 a.m. Learning Zone.

(27958) (67720) 2.45 Short Story Cinema (1245923) 3.25 Trisha (2370316) 4.25 Soundtrax (72887294) 4.45 Nightscreen (25159768) 5.00 Freescreen (17768) CHANNEL: As Meridian except: 12.15 pm Daily Diary 12.20 Channel News (9474064) 3.15 Puffin's Pla(i)ce 6.00 Channel Report (712) 11.20 Channel News (734286) WESTCOUNTRY: As Meridian except: 12.15 pm Westcountry News (7256335) 12.55 Westcountry Live (2855880) 3.15 Westcountry News 5.30 Westcountry Weekend (199) 6.00 Westcountry Live (712) 11.20 Westcountry News (282737) 11.30 Film: The Couch Trip (1988) (954557) 1.20 Generations (7608720) 5.00 Coronation Street (17768) ANGLIA: As Meridian except: 12.15 pm Anglia News (7256335) 3.15 Anglia News 5.30 Off the Beaten Track (199) 6.00 Anglia News (712) 11.20 Anglia News (734286) 5.00 Coronation Street (17768) CENTRAL: As London except: 12.20 pm Central News (9474064) 12.55 Lie Detector (2855880) 2.10 Wish You Were (89009267) 3.15 Central News 5.30 Surprise Gardeners (199) 6.00 Central Westcountry Surprise Gardeners (199) MS.