Satellite and Cable: Pick of the Day

THERE IS a real poignancy permeating Il Postino (8.30pm Sky Premier), which stems from the fact that the lead actor Massimo Troisi died from a heart attack just 12 hours after shooting was completed. This touching film (right), directed by Michael Radford, was a cherished project for Troisi. In this satellite premiere, nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, he plays Mario, a diffident man who becomes the personal postman for an exiled Chilean poet (Philippe Noiret). From him, Mario begins to learn how to woo the object of his desire (Maria Grazia Cucinotta).

In the 1990s, Boris Yeltsin (9pm History Channel) who is profiled tonight, climbed on a tank to quell an uprising and became a hero to the Russian people. The Russian President, battling ill health and alcoholism, is now a marginalised figure in his own country.