This Week’s Top TV: 21-27 September

This Week’s Top TV: 21-27 September

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Monday, 21st September 2015
Doc Martin
Doc Martin

Strictly Come Dancing, quiz shows and brand new drama arrive just in time for autumn viewing

Monday

Doc Martin

ITV

9pm

As his marital problems continue, the doc (Martin Clunes) decides to move out to give his wife Louisa (Caroline Catz) some space.

Cue Mrs Tishell (Selina Cadell), the doctor-loving pharmacist, and her mission to become Dr Ellingham’s new right-hand woman.

 

Tuesday

Britain’s Biggest Adventures with Bear Grylls

ITV

9pm


Bear meets a peregrine falcon (credit: ITV/Nutopia TV)

After surviving jungle, desert and mountain, adventurer Bear Grylls this week takes on a new challenge: Yorkshire.

Though sites such as Malham Cove and Gordale Scar may seem less treacherous than the mangrove swamps and rough seas we’ve grown used to seeing him in, Grylls still finds adventure in the Dales.

He faces his fear of claustrophobic caves, heading down into the flood-prone passages at Long Churn with Dr Phil Murphy, and challenges professional rock climber Steve McClure to a finger-holding contest.

 

Wednesday

Don’t Panic – How to end poverty in 15 years

BBC Two

8pm


Professor Hans Rosling (Credit: BBC/Wingspan Productions/Brian Ritchie)

Statistician and bubble graph guru Professor Hans Rosling returns to explain how it’s possible to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030.

With an estimated one billion people live on less than $1.25 a day, Rosling will use his holographic-style projection technology to present an upbeat assessment of how to beat poverty in the next 15 years.

 

Thursday

Charlie Hebdo: Three Days That Shook Paris

More4

10pm

New and exclusive to More4, Ursula Macfarlane’s film goes behind the story of the deadliest acts of terrorism in France for over 50 years.

Featuring powerful testimonies from witnesses, survivors and the bereaved, the documentary explains not only the three days of national panic, but the trauma left behind.

Friday

Strictly Come Dancing

BBC One

9pm


2015's Strictly Contestants: Daniel O'Donnell, Anita Rani, Iwan Thomas, Kellie Bright, Jeremy Vine, Georgia May Foote, Jay McGuiness, Jamelia, Peter Andre, Katie Derham, Kirsty Gallacher, Anthony Agogo, Helen George, Carol Kirkwood, Ainsley Harriott (Credit: BBC/Ray Burmiston/Matt Burlem)

The sequined celebrity dance show is back with a live two-part spectacular this weekend.

After just three weeks of training, nine new dancing couples will perform in front of the nation and judging panel Darcey Bussell, Craig Revel Horwood, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli.

Tune in on Saturday at 6.15pm to see how the other six celebs will fair as they hit the dancefloor.

Saturday

Celebrity Benchmark

Channel 4

7pm


Paddy McGuinness with the contestants (credit: C4/Victory Television)

The mathematical skills of a group celebrities take centre stage in Paddy McGuinness’s latest Saturday night show Celebrity Benchmark.

Of the 11 celebrities, including Jimmy Carr, Edwina Currie and Joey Essex, 10 will answer a series of tricky numerical general knowledge questions and their answers will set the benchmark.  The main contestant, selected from a head-to-head battle, at the beginning of the show, must then decide if the correct answer is higher or lower.

Confused? At least you’re not the one having to answer the questions.

Sunday

Cider with Rosie

BBC One

8.30pm


Newcomer Georgie Smith plays the young Lol (credit: BBC/Origin/Laurence Cendrowicz)

‘I was set down from the carrier’s cart at the age of three; and there with a sense of bewilderment and terror my life in the village began.’

So begins Laurie Lee’s book Cider with Rosie – a loosely autobiographical account of his upbringing in rural Gloucestershire.

While the tale is often mistakenly referred to as an idyllic childhood, Lee’s early years were dogged by illness, poverty and an absent father.

Set in the years after the First World War, it provides a fascinating insight into a world on the cusp of dramatic change, as ancient rural life gives way to modern developments.

In this new adaptation, directed by Philippa Lowthorpe, Samantha Morton stars as Lee’s mother, battling to bring up a family in tricky situations.

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Strictly Come Dancing, quiz shows and brand new drama arrive just in time for autumn viewing