Captain Slow's flight of fancy; TV Choice.

JAMES MAY'S 20th CENTURY (BBC2, 8pm)

TO FANS of Top Gear, he will always be Captain Slow, while anyone who caught his series with wine buff Oz Clarke might have dubbed him Captain Slurp, but affable presenter James May is back - regardless of nicknames.

In this new six-parter (which bears no resemblance to his TG colleague Jeremy Clarkson's Inventions That Changed the World - honest), he examines the innovations and gadgets which made life in the last century just that bit more bearable.

In the opener, the first of a double-bill, he examines how planes, cars, televisions and computers created a sense that the world was getting smaller, and becoming more intimate.

But this isn't one of those series in which the presenter merely stands in front of the camera and chatters.

May gets out and about too, first of all in the plane that gave rise to the European mini-break, then he gets to relive his youth with a jaunt in what he considers to be a classic family car (there had to be one in here somewhere), the Ford Cortina, before having his bones shaken in a Model T Ford.

Amazingly, the experience leaves the floppy-haired one wondering how motoring ever took off.

CAPE WRATH (C4, 10pm)

MEADOWLANDS may appear to be the greatest place on Earth to live, but as the central characters in this new, eight-part series soon discover, it's far from it.

That might not sound like the most awe-inspiring basis for great drama - after all, it's rather well-worn - but Cape Wrath promises to be one of the most talked about shows for many a moon.

It's certainly got a great pedigree.

Duane Clark has directed CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in the US, and makes his UK debut with the project, while David Morrissey plays one of the lead roles.

"The quality and ambition of Cape Wrath has attracted a cast of top British actors," says Francis Hopkinson, Channel 4's senior drama commissioning editor.

"In tone, scale and substance, this feels like a new departure and adds to the broad variety of Channel 4 drama series, all of which are unique."

Morrissey and co-star Lucy Cohu play Danny and Evelyn Brogan who, while trying to escape a difficult past, think they've landed on their feet at Meadowlands.

Sadly, what appears to be a drug and crime-free utopia soon turns out to be something rather different, and leaving their ghosts behind soon proves impossible.

CAPTION(S):

BACK TO THE FUTURE... the Top Gear presenter examines innovations that changed people's lives in the 20th Century, beginning with computers, TV and cars.; SHATTERED DREAMS... David Morrissey heads the cast of Cape Wrath.