Friday 8pm,
BBC One With the latest series of Death In Paradise ending this weekend, there’s a nice segue for cosy-crime fans as its West Country spin-off returns. And the show has gone full Midsomer Murders with its opening storyline. DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall) and DS Esther Williams (Zahra Ahmadi) board a steam train, having been recruited by office manager Margo (Felicity Montagu) to perform in her production of a Shipton Abbott Players’ murder-mystery play. As the train enters a tunnel, the play’s victim is murdered in real life. Elsewhere, PC Kelby Hartford (Dylan Llewellyn) has his own case to crack – an alleged peeping Tom. 7pm, BBC Two Andi Oliver joins the chefs as they finally cook that banquet at the
British ambassador’s residence in
Paris (presumably no Ferrero Rocher served with the post-dinner coffee). It’s to celebrate the Olympics and Paralympics, so expect a slew of Olympians to be tucking in their napkins before 2024’s overall winner will be decided. 8.30pm, Channel 4 Joe Lycett kicks off another series of the hectic travel show by joining Alan Davies in the northern Italian city of Trieste. The city is famous for the Bora, the north-easterly wind said to shape the city and its inhabitants. Joe and Alan discover this at the Wind Museum, where curator Rino presides over a collection of “wind samples” (don’t ask) donated from all over the world. A few miles north, the pair enjoy a food and fizz pairing in the village of Prosecco (yes, that Prosecco). 9pm, BBC Two Meanwhile, 1,600 miles north of Trieste, Martin Compston and Phil MacHugh drive through the epic scenery of one of the world’s most famous roads and explore modern Norwegian culture in Trondheim. They make their way along the Atlantic Ocean Road and across Storseisundet Bridge, seen in the Bond film No Time To Die , and also visit the Michelin-starred restaurant Credo. It would be rude not to. 9pm, ITV1 AJ Odudu and Will Best announce the person who will become ITV’s first Celebrity Big Brother winner, and also look back over some of their “best bits”. 9pm, Channel 5 The comedian continues her gentle urban ramble in Cambridge, and no surprise to find Calman steering a punt down the River Cam. She also finds out why free-roaming cows live in the city centre, and learns of an unusual turf war between well-heeled students and townies. Finally, she heads to Fitzbillies, an iconic Cambridge bakery that has fed the city’s students and local residents for more than 100 years. 11.05pm, BBC Two “How To Watch Birds” is the latest of Wilson’s discursive comic guides, which somehow manages to go from ornithology in New York’s Central Park to a car park lot in Tennessee, by way of conspiracy theories about the sinking of the Titanic, polygraph tests and a man who claims to have been abducted by
aliens. Genius. Saturday 8.25pm, BBC One There’s no time to miss Charlie Fairhead (or to ponder the now officially denied rumours that Casualty is going to be axed) as it is straight back into the action at Holby General. Rash (Neet Mohan) hogs the story line in the latest double bill. Is he fit to return to work following the death of his father after being hit by a bus? 6pm, Channel 4 The international break means a brace of friendlies for
England, starting with
Brazil at Wembley Stadium (kick-off at 7pm). The hosts are unbeaten in their last three meetings with the Brazilians (all, incidentally, also friendlies), but the last two contests have ended in draws. Joining Joe Cole and Jill Scott on punditry duties is former
Arsenal and Brazil midfielder Gilberto Silva. 7.15pm, Channel 5 The chosen title of this repeat documentary seems to be a lot more prescient than it first appeared in 2023 as it compares the lives and styles of the two most recent Princesses of Wales. The programme has been given a quick dusting down (and perhaps a spot of updating) following the events surrounding Catherine over the past two weeks. 9pm, BBC Four “I’m a tax-paying businessman… all above board,” Derry Fallon (Aaron Monaghan) tells our sceptical Irish-Maori cop duo Theo Richter and Diane Huia (Richard Flood and Acushla-Tara Kupe). Never mind that he has just kidnapped a journalist who has been writing about his affairs and told her to dig her own grave. Meanwhile, Theo and Diane have been forced to release their prime suspect in the abduction of the
Irish couple. 9.15pm, BBC Two The latter part of the evening on BBC Two is dedicated to the Motown legend , starting with a selection of the singer’s visits to the BBC on programmes such as Top of the Pops , Wogan and the The National Lottery , both as the frontwoman of The Supremes and as a solo artist. Featured songs include “Baby Love”, “Why Do Fools Fall In Love?”, “Upside Down” and “Love Hangover”. 9.15pm, Channel 5 A look at the exiled royals’ little-known years in the Caribbean during the Second World War, where, as colonial governor and wife, it was hoped they would be far from danger and the machinations of German agents in Europe. Using British government and
FBI documents, this film uncovers in detail the Windsors’ disastrous stay in the Bahamas, which included extravagant spending, prejudice and murder. 9.35pm, ITV1 Jonathan Ross’s pre-Oscars coverage a fortnight ago was widely criticised for being “amateurish”, although it seemed to me to be entirely in line with Ross’s approach to his chat show – informal and a bit cheeky. Anyway, he is joined this week by Paul Rudd, Mel B, Billie Piper and stand-up comedian Leo Reich, while singer-songwriter Cat Burns performs. Sunday 9pm, ITV1 Former Broadchurch star Andrew Buchan makes his screenwriting debut – and there is a touch of Broadchurch in his script’s theme of a small, tight-knit community being ripped apart. Here it is the return of a violent offender that provides the catalyst for the implosion of a Lancashire village. Misleadingly described as a “darkly comic” thriller, there is an element of the occult as well as a subplot about fracking, while Wunmi Mosaku leads the cast as a former Met detective now habitually assigned to menial tasks. 5.15pm, Channel 4 “People think it’s a scam,” says the probate researcher in this returning series as his team of “heir hunters” go looking for more people who have unknowingly inherited property – with the potential to substantially change their lives. First up is a dilapidated Welsh farm set amid 50 acres of idyllic countryside, whose new owners seem frankly underwhelmed by this unexpected gift and are not sure whether they really want to keep it. Property expert Kunle Barker is on hand to advise them whether to “keep it in the family or sell”, while Jean Johansson from property hunting series A Place in the Sun hosts. 7.40pm, Channel 4 So, Prue Leith has decided she has had enough of this version of the show, and you can’t really blame her. She will no longer have to wince as Danny Dyer says “I love West Ham more than my children,” Leigh Francis admits his baking experience is limited to baked potatoes and Yinka Bokinni makes “Expressionist” Beyoncé-themed biscuits. At least Rhod Gilbert has something to offer – sharing his own recent
cancer journey. 9pm, BBC One A passenger disappears from a flight to Dominica, only to be found dead in Saint Marie , while the pilot and flight attendant deny ever having seen the victim on the plane. Also in this final episode of the current series, the return of a familiar face (Neville’s unrequited love interest, Florence) presents Ralf Little’s character with a big decision to make. 9pm, BBC Two Firearms officers from West Midlands
police receive a tip-off about a local man with an unexpected arsenal of firearms. Inside a bedroom wardrobe they find six guns, two of which they believe are 3D-printed assault weapons. The 30-year-old resident is arrested and taken into custody, but he has no criminal record and no obvious links to organised crime, leaving police teams to ask whether he is an extremist, an arms dealer or simply (as he claims) a gun collector. Either way, as one firearms officer says here: “3D guns are an emerging threat.” 9pm, Channel 4 We left off last week with the hunters having tracked the two young posh fugitives to a grand family estate in Essex. Cue a chase through the woods, while elsewhere
prison officers Jaxon and Nicola make a foolhardy phone call and Steve wants to teach daughter Beth some life lessons, starting with camping.