Charlie is my darling

SMALL SCREEN

Charlie is my darling

There he is, the Prince of Wales (right), looking a bit worried lest a grand piano should fall on top of him. Or maybe he's looking hard for that serendipitous bolt of lightning which might accidentally sort of strike the Queen and clear the way for his own scintillating kingship. The prospect of Charles becoming king, indeed, is one which is exercising minds other than Charles's own these days. Journalist Christopher Hitchens is to chair a special programme, The King and Us (Sun 8pm C4), which plans to take a look at the moral and religious issues at the heart of the current crisis facing the British monarchy. The basis of the debate is: will we still need a Royal Family in the 21st century? And, if we don't, what exactly happens to the Church of England? In the company of Helena Kennedy, QC, chair of Charter 88, historian Jonathan Clark, and Baroness Flather, Hitchens will set out for our perusal some alternative forms of monarchy and republic which might just come in handy. It's all harmless tinkering, of course, but Hitchens always represents good value for money.