By Melinda Houston
24
New series ***½
David Reynolds in action in October during the Bathurst 1000.Credit: Getty Images
10.50pm, SBS2
Oh. My. God. No previews were available of this series premier (about which I am gnashing my teeth) but as the title suggests, it follows a dashing, damaged secret agent who has just 24 hours to save the world. Only this time it's not Jack Bauer. It's Jai Singh Rathod, the head of the Anti-Terrorist Unit (ATU) who investigates a plot to assassinate India's incumbent prime minister Shri Aditya Singhania, while his wife, Trisha, searches for their missing daughter. That's gotta be good, doesn't it?
Catch Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.
MOVIE: BLUE JASMINE
***½
8.30pm, SBS
It ain't all that funny, but many consider Blue Jasmine among Woody Allen's finest work. Plenty of people – including the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, who awarded Cate Blanchett Best Actress – consider this some of her finest work, too. It's a strange sort of story (strongly reminiscent of Streetcar Named Desire), one of the closest things to tragedy Allen has produced, but it's undeniably both elegant and compelling. Plus – I didn't realise this watching it the first time round – Louis CK is in there! Playing pretty much the character Louis CK always plays.
SPORT: MOTOR RACING
***
Noon, Ten
It's been a long season – and not a great one for Jamie Whincup – but this weekend the V8 Supercars championship will be decided at Sydney Olympic Park. On the one hand, it's hard to imagine anyone getting the better of Mark Winterbottom. On the other, Dave Reynolds reckons he's going to give it a red-hot crack. And this is motor racing. Anything could happen (as Craig Lowndes learned to his cost in New Zealand). The Ten team, including Matt White, Mark Larkham and Rick Kelly will deliver all the action live. I hope we also get a look at those Super Trucks.