Race Across The World

Wednesday

BBC One, 9.00pm

No phones. No credit cards. 15,000 kilometres. How hard can it be?

Five duos compete to get from Sapporo in northern Japan to Indonesian paradise Lombok. Best mates Owen and Alfie have nothing but their wits and an uncle’s playlist on an iPod. Brother and sister James and Betty are fit and healthy, with confidence to boot. Mother and daughter Eugenie and Isabel can’t wait to get closer, and retired couple Viv and Stephen are looking forward to the scenery. Brydie and Sharon – another mum and daughter team – are just trying to get used to the lack of smartphones. Let the games begin.

Fallout

Thursday

Prime Video

The butt of relentless jokes in the noughties and 2010s, video game adaptations have since turned themselves around to become a bonafide TV phenomenon. After The Witcher, Arcane and The Last Of Us had naysayers sit up and pay attention, it’s Fallout’s turn for the big-budget treatment.

The future has not been kind to Los Angeles. An irradiated wasteland inhabited by post-apocalyptic cults, the only thing harder to find on the East Coast than shelter is hope. Enter Lucy (Ella Purnell), an idealistic ‘Vault-dweller’ determined to locate her father amidst what’s left of humanity.

Baby Reindeer

Thursday

Netflix

Comedian Richard Gadd (Clique) adapts his 2019 Edinburgh Fringe play of the same name into a compelling seven-part series.

Donny Dunn (Gadd) is a struggling stand-up comic who meets Martha (Jessica Gunning) at the pub where he pulls pints. Their relationship starts off innocent enough, until Martha begins sending him thousands upon thousands of emails and hours of voicemail. 

Donny realises he is falling victim to a stalker, but is far from perfect himself. To begin with, he enjoys the attention, and at one point follows Martha home. What results is a complicated web of compulsion and obsession.

Late Night Lycett

Friday

Channel 4, 10.00pm

Comedian Joe Lycett (8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown) returns to terrorise the airwaves with spoofs, sketches and interviews.

As part of the runup to this series, the Birmingham native and his team disseminated fake news across major press outlets. The false stories made their way into The Sun, The Daily Mail, BBC News, ITV News, Sky News, The Independent, Metro and Ladbible. Now, fans are invited to spot bogus reports with the hashtag #IsThisJoe, providing just a taste of what’s to come this series.

Franklin

Friday

Apple TV+

The story goes that Benjamin Franklin was not allowed to write the Declaration of Independence for fear that he’d sneak in jokes. Today, he’d probably have a podcast. Thankfully, he was instead alive in the 18^th century, when America needed him most.

Michael Douglas (Behind the Candelabra) stars in this period drama as the charismatic Founding Father. The diplomat and kite-flyer is dispatched to Paris to secure aid from the French, against the backdrop of war with the British.