BBC America, 8:00 p.m. ET
This is a repeat of the most recent Doctor Who Christmas special, but it’s worth a second look – or especially a first one, if you missed it over the holidays. The Doctor (Matt Smith), after what happened to his previous companions, is in a world-class funk. Or, in the case of this intergalactic fantasy series, a worlds-class funk. Either way, it takes something big to startle him out of his ennui. One thing: a potential new companion. The other: killer snowmen.
PBS, 9:00 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: This six-hour documentary series focuses on different aspects of different plays and genres of William Shakespeare. Two installments are shown each Friday, beginning with tonight’s double feature on Macbeth (hosted by Ethan Hawke) and The Comedies (hosted by Joely Richardson). The drawback is that these shows spend too much time on the hosts. The asset: Each hour presents tastes from previous TV and cinematic treatments of Shakespeare’s plays. And while most of the comedies get sadly short shrift in the second hour, there is indeed a gorgeous unscripted moment, when Richardson, on the set of the open-air Globe Theatre in London, interrupts herself to admire the beautiful snowfall. That’s some host time well spent: It is, indeed, a magical sight. Check local listings.
Cinemoi, 10:00 p.m. ET
First, look and see if you have Cinemoi on your cable or satellite service (DirecTV is its major home in the States right now.) It’s supposed to be a channel showing subtitled French films to U.S. audiences, but it shows a lot more than that. Here, for instance, it presents one of my favorite crime-caper films from the Seventies: 1971’s $, an American movie, filmed in Germany, starring Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn. He plays a bank manager who plans an inside job to rob certain customers of their safe-deposit box holdings, and she plays his prostitute girlfriend who agrees to help. It’s a very stylish movie (Quincy Jones did the eclectic, exciting score), and it concludes with one of the longest, most inventive chase scenes on film.)
HBO, 10:00 p.m. ET
Tonight’s episode, during a very interesting week for politics, is scheduled to include some very familiar politicians: Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi.
Syfy, 10:00 p.m. ET
This show isn’t good, really, but tonight’s guest-star turn is sort of noteworthy. It’s Janet Montgomery, making her third appearance in as many years as Princess Mithian. But since her most recent appearance, the British actress starred in an American TV series, sporting a very American accent, on the deservedly short-lived CBS drama Made in Jersey.