Shane Cubis

The very best TV dramas transport you to another time and place, whether that’s post-world-war Europe in acclaimed series or three decades of murder in America in . But just as a medium will tell you that you need to be receptive to the spirit world for best results, it’s important to get yourself into the milieu of any given program before you start watching. In this case, we’re getting ready to visit that most magical of locales: Birmingham in 1981, for This Town.

Fire up the fondue pot, fire up the Volvo and try to think of a third Swedish stereotype, because SBS is totally ABBA-fied at the minute. How many members are there in the band? Four. How many docos do we have about the band? FOUR. My, my… that’s a level of ABBA content Muriel Heslop described as “a bit much”. Waaaaait, fondue is Swiss, isn’t it? Honestly, that’s the sort of thing you’d expect the Special Broadcasting Service to get ri- oh wait, fondue’s also very ‘70s-coded.

It’s the one international cycling event everyone can name (sorry Vuelta a España), but the Tour de France doesn’t get quite as much love as it deserves. Even if you’re allergic to Stackhats and get a migraine from pedalling up a slight incline, there are legitimate reasons to watch this amazing event, which has been thrilling two-wheel aficionados since 1903. Here are five of them (reasons to watch, not aficionados).