Cable and Satillite: Pick of the Day

RICHARD E GRANT'S screen persona was defined by his first major role - the wonderfully dissolute outsider in Withnail and I. There are touches of that in Keep the Aspidistra Flying (8.30pm Sky Premier), Robert Bierman's moderately successful evocation of the novel by George Orwell, which receives its first showing on satellite tonight. Grant (right) plays Gordon Gomstock, a disillusioned copywriter who packs it in to try out a more Bohemian lifestyle as a poet in grimy 1930s Lambeth. Helena Bonham Carter chips in lively support as his frigid girlfriend.

REM returned to their roots with their recent album, Up, which met with a warm reception. Despite years in the business, they retain their ability to surprise you with their music, as you can witness on An Audience with REM (12 mdn't MTV).

J