BBC Two

Race Across the World lands celebrity series for BBC One

Celebrity Race Across the World (Credit: BBC)

The first series originally aired on BBC Two earlier this year and the finale became the channel’s highest rated episode for a new factual entertainment programme since 2016.

Celebrity Race Across the World will follow four famous faces as they embark on a journey across the world with no mobile phones, internet access or access to air travel.

Joined by a loved one, the celebrities will be expected to travel thousands of miles with only the cash equivalent of a one-way flight to their last destination.

BBC commissions documentary Inside The Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming

Credit: BBC

The series gives unprecedented access, granted by Glasgow High Court, to a high-profile murder trial that has gripped Scotland and solves a 20-year old disappearance.

The exclusive access documented suspects Edward Cairney and Avril Jones as they faced trial for the murder of Margaret Fleming.

When a Personal Independence Payment application – a welfare benefit for someone with a disability – was submitted in 2016, suspicions were raised when authorities couldn’t contact the claimant.

BBC Two announces new travel series with Simon Reeve

Simon Reeve (Credit: BBC)

The challenging journey will take place over two series exploring the diverse landscape of the two continents that make up a quarter of the Earth’s land space.

Reeve will start in the icy mountains of Alaska and journey down to the hot plains of Argentina.

The first five-part series follows Reeve as he travels from Alaska down to Costa Rica, with the second series – set to be filmed next year –set to showcase his travels through South America.

During his journey, Reeve delves into areas of the Americas few outsiders, or even locals, get to experience.

Tom Allen announced as the new host of The Apprentice: You’re Fired

The Apprentice: You’re Fired is the companion show to The Apprentice, during which the most recently fired candidate is joined by comedians, celebrity fans and business gurus to discuss their recent elimination.

Each week, Allen will attempt to find out what went wrong for the unsuccessful candidates, giving his own unique take on events with his signature acerbic wit.

A self-confessed Apprentice super-fan, Allen and the panel will look at the week’s biggest wins and fatal mishaps in front of a live studio audience.

Louis Theroux investigates the UK sex trade in new documentary

Louis Theroux: Selling Sex (Credit: BBC)

The BBC Two documentary follows Theroux as he learns of the legality of the service and learns how social media and websites have fuelled new opportunities for the business of selling sex, making transactional sex more accessible to individuals who possibly wouldn’t have considered it previously.

The filmmaker will meet with people in the industry and explore the reasons behind their choice to sell sex, such as to supplement their income or make a living, potentially earning a lucrative income.

David Harewood: Britain is very dynamic but, sometimes, I watch TV and I don’t see that

David Harewood (Credit: CBS)

Actor David Harewood spoke about his bumpy road to success – including the tough life lessons he learned from Spike Lee and from Erik Estrada of CHiPs – in a candid and entertaining homecoming evening in Birmingham.

During the RTS Midlands’ “In conversation with…” event, the Homeland star enthralled the audience in the prestigious surroundings of the Council House’s Banqueting Suite.

Gurinder Chadha: The relationship between Britain and India didn’t just start in the 1960s

Gurinder Chadha (Credit: Rex Features)

It’s 4pm on a Friday afternoon, a time of the week when most of us are preparing to wind down the working week. Not Gurinder Chadha, co-creator and director of ITV’s new period drama, Beecham House, otherwise known as “Downton in Delhi”.

She’s at work in a Soho edit suite, putting the finishing touches to another project, her latest movie, Blinded by the Light. The film is based on journalist and broadcaster Sarfraz Manzoor’s memoir, Greetings from Bury Park.

Mum writer Stefan Golaszewski: Loss of self seems to be an essential component of becoming a mother

Stefan Golaszewski (Credit: RTS/Richard Kendal)

If anyone ever doubted that comedy and tragedy go hand in hand, look no further than the much-garlanded BBC Two sitcom, Mum, starring Lesley Manville as Cathy, a late-­middle-aged mother coming to terms with the death of her husband.

Making a TV audience laugh is among the most difficult skills for any screenwriter to learn, but to make them laugh one minute and almost cry a few moments later is the hallmark of a very special talent.

From acting to writing: Toby Jones talks Don't Forget the Driver

Barry Green (Toby Jones) in Don't Forget the Driver (Credit: BBC Two)

You wait years for a TV comedy centred on the disruption caused by the sudden arrival of a foreign migrant in a settled world and, suddenly, two come along at once.

This spring, Channel 4 has showcased Home, Rufus Jones’s well-­received show in which his uptight character, Peter, and partner return from holiday to find a Syrian man called Sami (Youssef Kerkour) living in the boot of the family car.