THE Italian Tourist Bureau should be flooded with SBS viewers wanting to tour, all courtesy of the Giro d'Italia, on each night late-ish – well, really late.
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Le Tour de France attracts tourists too, especially to see the chateaux glimpsed on route, but the Giro d'Italia eclipses Le Tour.
The camera hovers over the blue Mediterranean, the white beaches, the towns with their coloured terracotta roofs nestled on the mountains, the wonderful forests and the glimmering lakes.
It's all so beautiful and makes you want to dash immediately to book an Italian tour.
Oh, there are the cyclists too, and Australia did very well at the start with three members of the Orica GreenEDGE claiming the Maglia Rosa (the pink jersey for the leader of the general classification).
The team won the time trial on the first day with Simon Gerrans donning the jersey, then Michael Matthews wore it for two days and then Simon Clarke.
Okay, they've dropped a bit behind now, but Richie Porte, a Tasmanian, who rides for the Sky team is way up there as one of three contenders for the win.
The others are Contador and Abu and they're fighting it out each night.
Contador has the Maglia Rosa, but Abu is only four points behind and Porte 22 so that's nothing in a three-week race.
You can watch it for the cyclists or you can watch it for the wonderful views of Italy, but it's worth it even if you have to record it.
GK Chesterton's Father Brown is back on the ABC.
I wasn't fussed about it the first time, and although I watch it, I'm still not enthused by it.
Grantchester, which was set in the same era, after World War 2, was a far better program.
Its protagonist was a handsome Anglican clergyman who had a number of failings, near alcoholism for one, but who developed a close friendship with a detective and together they solved a number of crimes.
Father Brown had no failings, except perhaps smugness when he manages to work out who did what to whom, and the cop in this series always arrests the wrong person, with Brown triumphant all the time.
Bring back Grantchester.
ON THE same night, Friday, the ABC is screening DCI Banks, and that I do like.
All the characters in DCI Banks are well drawn and the cases are always interesting.
I do prefer not having a week's gap before finding out the solution to the crime, but that apart, I really enjoy this series.
