This week's top TV: 6 - 12 July

This week's top TV: 6 - 12 July

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Tuesday, 7th July 2015
Emma and James get Married at First Sight
Emma and James get Married at First Sight

Idris Elba leaves the silver screen behind to hit the race track and strangers say 'I do'

Monday

Idris Elba: No Limits

Discovery, 9pm


Idris Elba (Credit: Discovery UK)

Drag racing, aerobatics, rally driving and land speed record attempts might seem like the perfect training ground for a would-be James Bond, but Luther star Idris Elba has denied that he will be taking that baton from Daniel Craig.

Instead, Elba is fuelled by a long-standing passion for speed. No Limits sees Elba progress from racing homemade go-karts in London's Finsbury Park as a boy to taking part in the Circuit of Ireland rally, one of the oldest in the world.

Tuesday

Virgin Atlantic: Up in the Air

ITV, 9pm

Virgin Atlantic: Up in the Air
Virgin Atlantic crew (Credit: ITV/John Rogers)

ITV's new behind-the-scenes look at one of Britain's most iconic airlines sees its founder Richard Branson trotted out to celebrate Virgin Atlantic's 30th anniversary.

Air travel is a notoriously fickle business, which has led to a two-year recruitment freeze. Now that has finally thawed, we meet 58-year-old grandma Katrine. She's attempting to fulfil her lifelong dream to become a trolley dolly, but how will she fare against the 1999 other candidates?

Wednesday

This World - Children of the Gaza War

BBC Two, 9pm

Children of the Gaza War
Agam, (left) aged 10, and Eilan, aged 13, who live in Sderot, one of the most bombed places on earth (Credit: BBC/David Langan)

The BBC's Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet meets children from Israel and Gaza who have lived through three major conflicts in the last six years.

"It's so not fair," says 10-year-old Michael, who lives less than a mile from the Gaza border. "Your home is supposed to be the safest place in the world for you. But it's just not true."

Doucet also meets 12-year-old Samar, who took refuge with her family in a UN school after the Israeli army told them to leave their home. Samar lost her father when a rocket hit the school.

"The whole building collapsed on top of us," says Samar, "They had to pull us out of the rubble. What does all this have to do with us?"

The film follows Samar as she tries to build a life with no father, no home and with her mother in intensive care.

Thursday

Married at First Sight

Channel 4, 9pm

Emma and James get Married at First Sight
Emma and James get Married at First Sight (Credit: C4)

If you've ever sat at home thinking that Take Me Out lacked gravitas or that Blind Date didn't go far enough, then boy-oh-boy will you love Married at First Sight.

The show does what it says on the tin. A panel of experts will match couples based on a range of scientific and sociological criteria, while the couples themselves won't meet until they're moments away from saying "I do" in front of their friends and family.

Many of the candidates, who are mostly in their thirties, say that work and travelling has got in the way of meeting 'the One.'

Jerome, 30, says he will do "will do anything to meet the one even if that means embarrassing myself on national television."

Friday

The Last Leg

Channel 4, 10pm

The Last Leg
Josh Widdicombe, Adam Hills and Alex Brooker (Credit: C4/Adam Lawrence)

The lovely Joanna Lumley joins Adam Hills, Alex Brooker and Josh Widdicombe for a comic dissection of news from the last week.

If you want even more Lumley in your life, tune into Joanna Lumley's Trans-Siberian Adventure on Sunday at 9pm on ITV.

Saturday

Wimbledon Ladies' Singles Final

BBC One and BBC Two, 1pm

Sue Barker with the Wimbledon women's singles trophy
Sue Barker with the women's singles trophy (credit: BBC)

All eyes will be on SW19 this weekend for the Wimbledon finals, with the women's singles final on Saturday followed by the men's on Sunday (from 1.50pm on BBC One).

With defending women's champion Petra Kvitova being knocked out by 28th seed Jelena Jankovic, Saturday's match is bound to be thrilling.

Sunday

The Outcast

BBC One, 9pm

The Outcast
Lewis Aldridge (Credit: BBC/Blueprint Pictures/Nicola Dove)

Set in a picture-perfect English village during the 1950s, The Outcast follows Lewis Aldridge, who is pushed to the fringes of village society after a tumultuous childhood.

The two-part drama, adapted from Sadie Jones's award-winning novel, sees Aldridge attempt to overcome his demons to expose the darkness in his village.

the_outcast_trailer_on_bbc_one

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Idris Elba leaves the silver screen behind to hit the race track and strangers say 'I do'