Sunday TV: 100 Years of Mills Boon

Photo: Reuters Consuming Passion: 100 Years of Mills Boon ABC1, 8.35pm Lust, tears, burning stares and 100 years of arrogant andhandsome men penetrating passionate and proud women's betterjudgment are celebrated beautifully in this salute to romancepublisher Mills Boon. Writer Emma Frost's clever approachweaves together three women's stories, each set in a differentperiod, to illustrate the impact, importance and oft-disdainedformula of Mills Boon books. Advertisement: Story continues below Olivia Colman is excellent as Janet Bottomley, a put-uponspinster living in the 1970s. She finds refuge from the era'sdreary sexism and her mother's ailing health in Mills Boonnovels but becomes infatuated with the officious doctor giving hermo ther a hip replacement. Inspired, Bottomley writes a swooningromance novel of her own. The second story, set between and , centres on Mary Boon, who pressed her husband, Charles, to concentrate on romancetitles. In the third story, Emilia Fox plays a present-day English lecturer who is teaching a course in romantic fiction and whose cynical, somewhat politically correct notions of passion areup-ended by a young, hot-blooded student. Heston's Feasts SBS One, 8.35pm Jelly phalluses, melting watches, an edible mini-garden with fried insects and a drink flavoured with toffee, buttered toast,cherry pie, custard, pineapple and turkey. British chef Heston Blumenthal makes these dishes to re-create the Victorian era's love of the exotic and invites celebrities to taste them. He seems like a spoilt twit until his determination and exhaustive Rosetta Stone German research reveal him to be an adept scientist and ingenious bon vivant. History of Scotland SBS One, 7.30pm In the first episode of this ambitious five-part series,Scottish archaeologist Neil Oliver stands before an aerial view of his homeland to declare its beauty "overwhelming". But he believes it has suffered from its past being shaped by myths. His mission -to look beyond the legends and find the nation's real story -begins with the "birth" of Scotland, a land inhabited by disparategroups that joined to fight invading Romans. Lenny Ann Low Show of the week: John Adams SBS One, 9.30pm Quiz games are in vogue. The best of recent times was Stephen Fry's QI which modestly stands for Quite Intelligent but could alsoembrace Quite Indulgent. The hum our was scarcely restrained as it descended into erudite vulgarity, the best and naughtiest exponents of which were rewarded the lowest marks and loudest applause. QI has just finished up on the ABC so here's a quiz question tokeep the pot boiling. Who was the first vice-president of the US,eventually succeeding George Washington in the top job by a mere three votes? The title of this absorbing series and wondrous love story from HBO gives the game away. Its chubby hero, John Adams, apassionately honest Boston lawyer and orator, would eventually bindtoge ther the emerging 13 United States and establish a lastingrelationship with a defeated Britain and its detested redcoats. Adams was a forgotten pinnacle of US politics until this seven-part series, based on David McCullough's book, won 13 Emmy Awards. Frugal in everything apart from the flowing language with which he notably defended British troops during a hostile courtroomappearance, Adams is played with magnetic perfection by Paul Giamatti. His skill is matched by Laura Linney, as his beloved and influential wife Abigail. Their partnership offers a warm glow, asanctuary from the horrifying happenings on the streets as the Boston Tea Party brews open rebellion. The first episode contains a horrendous scene of mob law that starts powerfully and grows in intensity to its distressingconclusion. The episode opens in 1770 with Adams plodding home on his horse to snowbound Boston. It ends with him clip-clopping off to Philadelphia, an elected member of the short-lived Continental Congress.

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