Race Across the World returns with a sprint from China to India, Joe Lycett creates a collective of Birminghams, and four more celebs submit to the challenge of The Assembly.
Andor
Tuesday
Disney+
Cassian Andor (Diego Luna, Y tu Mamá También) is back, and ready to fight.
The previous series of this Star Wars show – a prequel to 2016 film Rogue One – was unflinching in its depiction of life under the fascistic Empire. The second and final series features multiple time jumps to show how disparate resistance groups devote their lives to forming a fully-fledged Rebel Alliance. As always, the cause is just, but the personal costs staggeringly high.
Joe Lycett’s United States of Birmingham
Tuesday
Sky Max, 9.00pm
The Bullring. Cadbury World. Broad Street. Birmingham has it all, but enthusiast and resident Joe Lycett feels it’s under appreciated. Having made a name for himself with his unique comedy style - often involving official documents and pestering government bodies - Lycett will be taking it a step further by visiting Birminghams across America and having them sign “official Friendship Agreements.”
In the final episode, Lycett will bring his newfound American Brummies back to Birmingham, UK for the International Day of Birmingham, something he hopes will become a landmark event.
I, Jack Wright
Wednesday
U&Alibi, 9.00pm
As creator Chris Lang says in Television magazine: “everybody has a will story.” For his fictional Wright family, their will story is being frozen out, upon the death of their tycoon father, Jack Wright (Trevor Eve, Waking the Dead).
Although presumed suicide, DCI Morgan (Harry Lloyd, Arcane) and DC Jones (Liz Kingsman, Borderline) start poking around for clues, and soon find there’s more to the story than first appeared. Playing the slighted family members are Nikki Amuka-Bird (Hard Sun), John Simm (Life on Mars) and Daniel Rigby (Flowers)
Race Across the World
Wednesday
BBC One, 9.00pm
A competition show that does what it says on the tin. Five pairs race across the world in an effort to win £20,000. The twist: they’re not allowed phones, bank cards or, crucially, to take any flights.
This year’s race begins at the Great Wall of China and finishes at the Southern-most tip of India in Kanniyakumari. The five duos taking part include the usual parent-child, sibling, and couple teams – but surprisingly two exes have decided to put their amicability to the test.
The Assembly
Saturday
ITV1, 10.00pm
After Michael Sheen acted as the guinea pig for this unusual interview format last year, four more celebrities have chosen to step up to the plate.
Danny Dyer, Gary Lineker, David Tennant and Jade Thirlwall will face a room of neurodiverse interviewers, for whom “no questions are off the table.” For Sheen, he was queried on how it feels to be dating someone five years older than his daughter, and whether he knows anything about “the long-term celebrity Tom Jones?”
