Actor Ewan McGregor joins survival expert Ray Mears for a tramp through the rainforests of Honduras - a trip many people would pay to avoid.

By the end, McGregor has “left lots of troubles behind”, everyday worries seeming small by comparison with the discomforts of the jungle, where the ants are as big as your thumb and your clothes never dry. In the course of the journey, they manage a spot of archaeology, a tropical disease and a disaster with the sound equipment, when the recordist and his gear end up in the river. Until then, this could have been a documentary in which the viewer is supposed to forget about the camera and its crew. Here, the filming becomes part of the film.

Best for schools. AS Guru: English. BBC2, Sunday, October 7, 3-5am; Monday, October 8, 2-4am

This week’s programme in the series that is designed to help the transition from GCSE to A-level deals with English: language, literature and the integration of the two. The language unit studies genre, language in context and language “frameworks” (linguistic structures). The literature unit examines interpretation, Shakespeare and a prose set text, and the combined unit suggests ways of approaching original writing. All three parts have sample exam answers.

Middle English: Henry V - England’s captain. C4, Wednesdays, October 10 and 17, 10.30-10.50am.

Intended for 11 to 14-year-olds (of both sexes), these two new units of Middle English associate Shakespeare’s Henry V with football, using clips from Kenneth Branagh’s film of the play and interviews with well-known figures from the world of football.

The collision between these two very different contexts suggests contrasts and comparisons in the way that language is used and how it has varied over time. Whether Scottish and Welsh viewers will be so enthusiastic about England’s captain and his call to arms is another matter.

Best of the rest

Class Act. BBC1, Monday, October 8, 7.30-8pm

The fascinating documentary series following a group of trainee teachers continues as three of them face their final assessments and look for jobs.

Lee, the young geography teacher, shows his skills in class management, and is clearly heading for success. Ian, who has decided to teach science after 10 years as an industrial chemist, is having a less easy time: the environment is not what he expected.

Meanwhile the art teacher, Lisa, is applying for a post in what is not a shortage subject. A rare television glimpse of the reality of the profession.

Best on radio

Professional Strangers:a history of anthropology. Radio 4, From Thursday, October 11, 8-8.30pm

Anthropologist Nigel Barley takes a fresh look at his profession in this four-part series, which starts by examining the connection between anthropology and empire, in a programme that might help those teaching the history of colonialism. In the 19th century, the study of racial differences was used to provide justification for the subjection of colonial peoples, and encouraged in the hope that a better understanding of native customs would lead to more efficient government.

In later programmes, Barley shows how ethnography was applied in the Second World War and the Cold War, and he ends with an account of some ways in which it is used today.

ROBIN BUSS

Full educational programme schedules can be found online at www.bbc.co.ukeducationlzonesched.shtmlwww.bbc.co.ukwhatsonwww.4learning. co.ukprogrammesautumn2001.cfm