BBC One

Crossing Swords

Monday

ITV2, 10.00pm

As its title implies, Crossing Swords is a sitcom medieval in setting and toilet in humour.

Filming for the new series started up again in September and is still ongoing, with Adrian Dunbar, Vicky McClure and Martin Compston reprising their roles as detectives Superintendent Ted Hastings, DI Kate Fleming and DS Steve Arnott.

AC-12, the anti-corruption unit, will be met with a new, inscrutable adversary called DCI Joanne Davidson, played by Kelly Macdonald (Giri/Haji),

The series will pick up a year and a half after the closure of Operation Pear Tree, with Hastings returning to head up the unit after his exoneration at the end of series five.

The Truth About… Improving Your Mental Health

One in four of us will experience mental health difficulties in our lifetime, and that’s without the added pressures of the pandemic.

The programme will discuss the findings of Imperial College London and the BBC’s national survey of our mental health, which, with over 350,000 participants, provides a unique insight into the impact of COVID-19.

With three ten-minute episodes, the vicar will be reflecting on the past extraordinary year, giving sermons on everything from making home-made wine to the danger of having Owen Newitt cut your hair. Geraldine will be joined by Hugo Horton (James Fleet) and some local primary school children.

The three sermons will then be compiled into a thirty-minute compilation which will air over Christmas on BBC One.

Dawn French said: “Back in the dog collar, back in Dibley and back on your telly at Xmas. I couldn’t be happier. Bless you.”

Rather than the usual eleven-episode run, the upcoming series will have eight episodes due to the added protocols to ensure the safety of all cast and crew.

In 2010, Tracey Scoffield, co-founder of Turbine Studios and executive producer of the Emmy-winning movie The Gathering Storm, received an email that would change not only the course of her next 10 years, but the boundaries of television drama.

It was from Steve McQueen’s agent. At the time, the London-born director had just made a name for himself with his debut feature film, Hunger, the story of Bobby Sands and the IRA hunger strikes.

The true crime drama explores the death of Peter Farquhar in the Buckinghamshire village of Maids Moreton, and the remarkable events that followed over the next three years.

The series will follow the story of the seeming friendship between the teacher Peter Farquhar and a charismatic young student, Ben Field, which turned into one of the most complex murder cases in recent history.

Suranne Jones will be reprising her role of Anne Lister, with Sophie Rundle returning as Ann Walker.

The series will pick up in Yorkshire, 1834, where Anne Lister and Ann Walker are enjoying married life together at Shibden Hall. Determined to combine their estates, Anne Lister’s entrepreneurial zeal when paired with her unconventional love life begins to stoke fear and fury in the locals.

With Halifax on the brink of revolution, Lister’s refusal to fade into the background becomes dangerous and provocative.