Channel 4

First Dates

Tuesday 19 January 

Channel 4, 10pm 

Despite the pandemic making it harder to find love, the First Dates team are back to help singletons find the joy in dating again. 

The three-part series includes I Am Maria, I Am Victoria and I Am Danielle, with Savage collaborating with the lead actors to create stories with personal resonance and improvised dialogue. 

Manville stars in I Am Maria, which uncovers the cracks that can appear in long-term relationships and the dilemma of being at a crossroads in life and navigating the opportunities and doubt that can bring. 

The award-winning series follows a group of friends and family whose comfortable lives are upended when an outsider arrives at their wealthy oceanside community of Newport Beach in Orange County.

Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie) is taken in from the streets of Chino by Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher), a public defender, and his wife Kirsten (Kelly Rowan). The Cohen’s lives are transformed by Ryan’s arrival and integration into their family.

Series 11 will once again see comedic minds put together all their skills and wit to master the absurd and wacky tasks presented to them, in the hope that they will be crowned Taskmaster champion. 

Greg Davies will preside from his throne determining the scores given to the comedians, joined by his sidekick and show creator Alex Horne. 

On the eve of the publication of Ofcom’s much-­anticipated review of public service broadcasting (PSB), big names from the BBC and Channel 4, past and present, discussed whether British broadcasting was in crisis. 

Ofcom warned that PSB is unlikely to survive in the online world without an overhaul of broadcasting regulation. It said that the public service broadcas­ters – the BBC, ITV, STV, Channel 4, S4C and Channel 5 – could also fulfil their obligations online, and that the public service remit could be extended to the big streamers. 

Google the words “public service broadcasting” and you’ll see that the first few links relate to a well-known band that has played at Glastonbury, the Royal Albert Hall and Brixton. Its first album was called Inform – Educate – Entertain. 

Only after that will you find links to Ofcom’s page on public service broadcasting and the Government’s new Public Service Broadcasting Advisory Panel. 

The celebrities will be taking part in the week-long challenge to raise funds for Stand Up To Cancer.

In a game where anyone can be anyone, the celebrities taking part are drag queen Baga Chipz, reality star Charlotte Crosby, actress Denise Van Outen, singer Duncan James, rapper Lady Leshurr and YouTuber Saffron Barker.

There will also be celebrities playing the game as a double act, including Loose Women presenters Kaye Adams and Nadia Sawalha, radio DJs Rickie Haywood-Williams and Melvin Odoom and reality stars Sam Thompson and Pete Wicks. 

The two-part series will follow the castles as they get ready for their biggest time of year, Christmas.

Highclere is famous for featuring as the family house in Downton Abbey and is home to the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon. 

Viewers will discover what life is really like at the castle and go behind the scenes with the small team who keep everything running as they prepare for the festive period.

Warwick Castle dates all the way back to 1068 and was built on the order of William the Conqueror. 

The three comedians will be locked in the world-famous toy shop on London’s Regent Street overnight, with no security guards to hinder their fun. 

The trio will have all night to do what they imagined and dreamed of doing in a toy shop when they were kids, with the only rules being no sleeping, that’s cheating, leave everything where you found it, and if they break something, they have to pay for it. 

Jo Brand’s How to Stay Sane in a Mad World (w/t) will see the comedian take an alphabetical journey through all the best, Covid-safe ways to stay sane over the coming winter months.

While the banana bread and sourdoughs of last March may not be sparking the same levels of inspiration, Brand is on hand to offer creative ways to cure the impending boredom.

From horticulture to hibernation, QR Codes to UV rays, the programme will give you a host of ideas to pass the time.