Friday I’m in love

There’s something beautifully uplifting about sitting on a Friday and staring down the barrel of a weekend-long heatwave.

Fridays are great at the best of time (as Mr Smith and his pals demonstrated so perfectly in that perfect song released in the perfect summer of 1992) but a Friday when you know Saturday and Sunday and even Monday are going to be sizzlers is anticipation honed into excitement via the whetstone of sunshine.

As I write this (on Friday – obvs!), the prediction is 22C, 26C and 30C for Saturday, Sunday and Monday respectively and although, when I look out the window at the low cloud and breeze tickling the Alders those predictions seem a tad optimistic, I resign myself to have faith in our metrological experts and their super computers. And it is through this faith that I am able to plan a weekend full of magical wonders – paddling pools, barbecues, 99s, beer and sun-cream (factor 50).

As God is my witness, every spare waking moment this weekend when I’m not being called upon to change a lightbulb, re-wire a plug, climb into the attic or undertake any other manner of bolt-on task particular to a man of middle years, I will spend en plein air sporting sunglasses, a cold beverage and a smile on my face. I will either have just eaten something tasty or I’ll be thinking of what to eat next. I will stroll – no – I will amble – no! – I will promenade among the recently-planted cherry trees in the garden and marvel at the light from our nearest and dearest star and how that light can translate into the most beautiful, enrapturing chlorophylls. The leaves containing those green molecules will be touched – no – stroked – no! – caressed as my perambulation takes me hither and thither among the bushes and if, per chance, I might happen to sit myself under a leafy canopy, I will savour the wondrous cools of shade that only really be appreciated on hot summer days.

In short, I plan on sucking up this clement weather as never before and as such, I hope that come each evening this weekend, we are sated with foods and drinks (hotdogs, cheese burgers, beers – all in that order) and that we then take time to reflect on how lovely the daylight hours have been.

All things considered, I find that I really like Fridays before a weekend heatwave – no – I love Fridays before a weekend heatwave – NO! – I luuuurve, Fridays before a weekend heatwave. So long as this weather lasts, I have no intention of switching on the telly. However, the weather man has been wrong in the past.

First up and in no particular order, Deep Ocean: Giants of the Antarctic Deep shows Monday at 10pm on BBC4…

Documentary about the first scientific research undertaken in a submersible in the Antarctic. Three marine biologists use customised UHD cameras to capture ling the extraordinary forms of life that thrive in the Southern Ocean on film. Narrated by David Attenborough.

Alternatively, Britain’s Tourette’s Mystery: Scarlett Moffat Investigates debuts Tuesday at 10pm on Channel4…

With more people than ever being diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, Scarlett Moffatt travels around the country to uncover the potential causes of this strange medical phenomenon. She meets some of those who have recently been diagnosed with the condition, the influencers sharing their tics online, and the psychiatrists treating the epidemic. She also reflects on the tics that appeared when she was 12 years old, when she was already having to deal with crippling anxiety.

Or what about Unvaccinated (Wednesday at 9pm on BBC2)…

Professor Hannah Fry meets seven unvaccinated people to investigate why five million remain unprotected against Covid-19, and to find out if any of them will change their mind. Together, they meet leading experts, confront the latest science and statistics to emerge in the field, and dissect how misinformation spreads on social media.

And lastly, Christian arrives with plenty of hype this Friday at 9pm on Sky Atlantic…

Drama following a man who lives in a desolate neighbourhood on the outskirts of Rome, and has the power of curing people with his hands. With Edoardo Pesce. In Italian.

Altogether now, “I don’t care if Monday’s blue…”