The best of the rest: Harry & Meghan… and Jeremy

Royal wedding fever is taking over our tellies this week, as St George flags get confused flying high without a glimpse of international football on the telly.

After teaser stings on Sky’s channels, and much kerfuffle in the tabloids as who is and isn’t invited to this Royal event, finally it’s here. And very much in the style of Prince Harry and his betrothed Meghan Markle, it’s gone against orthodox convention and is happening on a Saturday – no day off work! But also plenty of other things to do on a sunny weekend day if it’s just not your bag (especially if you happen to live in the middle of somewhere that’s having a Festival, Fringe and Great Escape!).

If you do want to watch proceedings from start to finish it’s all there on the Beeb for five majestic hours. If you want to pretend that you have, there’s highlights of the wedding on BBC2 in the evening. Always good to have a cheat sheet.

It’s gone against orthodox convention and is happening on a Saturday – no day off work!

If you want to send the whole thing up in glorious British satirical style then ignore the main event and treat yourself to Tuesday night’s The Windsors Royal Wedding, starring Kathryn Drysdale and Richard Goulding as the happy couple – a full hour of Harry Enfield, Paul Kaye, Haydn Gwynne et al stuffing the stuffed shirt of formality. Well, Channel 4 would wouldn’t it? This is, after all, the home of The Alternative Queens Speech every Christmas.

And if you’re more interested in looking at twentieth century history presented in a movie-star-studded dramatisation (rather than a television-star making present day history) take note of A Very English Scandal. Written by Russell T Davies, starring Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw, it is the telling of the scandal that rocked Britain in the 1960s, when homosexuality was illegal and ambitious politician Jeremy Thorpe embarked upon an affair young stable hand Norman Scott. With this calibre of history, cast, and writer – you know it makes sense to tune in.

The Royal Wedding: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Saturday, BBC1, 9am – 2pm
The Royal Wedding: Highlights Of The Day, Saturday, BBC2, 7pm
The Windsors Royal Wedding, Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm
A Very English Scandal, Sunday, BBC1, 9pm