ITV

There has long been a technology skills gap in TV due to the competitive recruitment of graduates in related fields, and despite the best efforts of employers, that gap remains.

As Freeview’s Head of Technology Partnerships, Alex Russell, acknowledged, “It’s certainly true that companies like Google and other tech giants can pay higher graduate salaries. As a smaller company though we offer a different sort of environment with the same benefits around flexible working, an exciting range of projects, a great pension. It’s just about getting ourselves noticed.”

Dynamic duo Ant and Dec will return with the promise of giving viewers the “happiest ninety minutes of the week”.

The trailer shows the pair whiz through a series of fun outfit changes, plus the return of host Stephen Mulhern. 

The new series will be filmed in the studio without a live audience in order to adhere to social distancing guidelines. 

Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway will air on ITV this February. 

Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby will once again host the proceedings, with John Barrowman joining the judging panel of Christopher Dean, Jayne Torvill and Ashley Banjo.

Here are the confirmed contestants.

Meerkat: A Dynasties Special

BBC One, 7.30pm

The award-winning documentary series, Dynasties, returns for another animal family drama narrated by nature’s spokesman, Sir David Attenborough.

Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse

Sky One, 8.15pm

A cosy Christmas film inspired by the true story of a six-year-old Roald Dahl (Harry Tayler) meeting his favourite author, Beatrix Potter (Dawn French).

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. 

The weekly pod invites celebrity guests to discuss their own lives on television, from favourite TV moments to their childhood on-screen inspirations. 

The likes of Mo Gilligan, Emily Atack and AJ Odudu choose the shows they would “bin, binge or bring back” and share their personal career journeys in television. Hammond’s own path to success started with a much-loved stint in the Big Brother house, after which she established herself as a permanent fixture on daytime TV. 

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. 

JANUARY

“Great fears of the Sicknesse here in the City, it being said that two or three houses are already shut up. God preserve us all.” The very first mention of the plague in The Diary of Samuel Pepys, on 30 April 1665. Fast forward 355 years and there’s this on 11 January on the ITV News site: “Health authorities in the central Chinese city of Wuhan are reporting the first death from a new type of coronavirus.”

Inspired by his mother’s stories of leaving Jamaica in the 1950s for Great Britain, Henry has created six fictional episodes charting the adventures of two outgoing sisters, Leah and Chantrelle, and their virtuous acquaintance Hosanna.

When the trio, from St Anne’s district in Jamaica, board a cruise ship heading for Great Britain, they leave their family, friends and old lives behind to forge new horizons on the other side of the Atlantic.