IT takes a rebel to know a rebel, and sure enough, who should be the first talking head to appear in the documentary, Bridget Riley: Painting the Line (BBC2, Friday, 9pm), but Tracey Emin.

“Absolutely revolutionary,” is how the Young British Artist turned 50-something national treasure, describes her fellow Englishwoman’s work.

“She moved art forward about 500 years, 1000 years? And no-one ever gave her the right credit for it.”

While Riley has been recognised in terms of honours and prizes, and her paintings sell for millions at auction, Emin is right. If Kirsty Wark’s engaging film can introduce more people to Riley’s work, so much the better.

Many people will recognise a Riley painting even if they are unfamiliar with her name. She is the “stripes woman”, the “disc lady”, whose works shimmer and come alive as the viewer stands before them. The actor Martin Freeman, another talking head and Riley admirer, says of her work: “It’s a crass thing to say but it makes your eyes go funny.”

Wark visited the now 90-year-old in her studio for a rare interview with the artist.

“Many think of [Riley] as a poster girl for the swinging Sixties,” says Wark. “Others hail her as a titan of abstract art. Bridget herself tells a very different story.”

The two trace Riley’s life from a childhood spent in Cornwall as an evacuee, through to her schooldays and training at Goldsmiths and the Royal College of Art, where classmates included Peter Blake and Frank Auerbach.

From there it is on to her breakthrough exhibition, internationally at least, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Riley became a mainstream hit, her designs referenced in the fashion of the time (much to her dismay). From there her fame grew but she remained rooted in her work, feeling there was so much more to explore. Sixty years into her career, she still feels the same.

Wark is clearly a fan, but a fan who knows what she is talking about. She stays away from the obvious questions, preferring to dig deeper where she has a hunch that there is something new to be revealed. The two obviously enjoy their time together.

Typical spend, spend, spend BBC. Auntie’s Scottish relation has only gone and commissioned a six-part search for Scotland's Best Dog (BBC Scotland, Thursday, 8pm), when they could have simply knocked on my door. I cannot personally lay claim to the title, but I know a little yellow Lab who could.

Anyway, the money has been spent now so we may as well enjoy it.

Every week, a trio of dog-owner partnerships are tested on the strength of their bond, recall skills, and agility. Putting the scores on the doors are the judges: presenter Kaye Adams, animal behaviourist River McDonald and Scottish SPCA veteran, and dog trainer, Alan Grant.

The overall heat winner earns a place in the final, competing for the coveted Golden Bone trophy and the title of Scotland’s Best Dog 2021.

In the first week the contestants are Jo from Aberdeenshire and her Husky Pomeranian cross, Miller; Shiny from Glasgow and her mixed breed rescue dog, Picco; and Kaylee and her two-year-old Dalmatian, Poppet, from Edinburgh. Poppet is deaf and was trained using “sign language” her humans created themselves.

Despite some shameless partisanship from family and friends, much fun is had by all, with top tips (what your dog should not eat, for example), sprinkled here and there.

Highly enjoyable but, as I say, a lot of fuss that could have been avoided. Fortunately I don’t like to cause a fuss so we’ll let snoozing hounds lie. This time.

If you have been inspired by COP26, Kate Humble: Good Life, Green Life (Channel 5, Monday, 8pm) will be right up your 20’s plenty street.

Having relocated from the city to country and built a successful working farm and rural skills centre in the Wye Valley, Humble and her husband Ludo have lived what to many would be the ultimate dream of going green. She believes everyone can do their bit for the planet, no matter the size of their garden or balcony.

The emphasis is on small, doable tasks at first, such as creating a wildlife pond using an old agricultural tank or sink. By the end of the hour she has moved on to the more ambitious job of building a willow pergola. In between she covers how to encourage bees into your garden, growing your own salad stuff, and foraging. The hunt for honeysuckle, nettles, dandelion and elderflower, done with an expert in tow as in the other tasks, ends in gin cocktails. As Humble says, looking after the world can be a joy, not a chore.