Sunday
Critics’ choice
The Great British Bake Off (Tuesday, C4, 8pm)
“The last time I felt this nervous was either before my A-level results or in the queue to get tickets for the Taylor Swift concert,” says one of the new contestants as series 15 of The Great British Bake Off begins. No matter how many changes this show has survived — any one potentially fatal to a programme so dependent on an unchanging quaintness for its appeal — the first day in the tent still feels momentous, full of promise for ten weeks of preposterous biscuit sculptures and unlikely flavour combinations. Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond will be trying to keep the bakers steady while Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood undermine them by looking askance at their jam. Cake week begins the action for a new intake that includes a dentistry student, a midwife and a fashion designer. Victoria Segal
Entertainment choice
Celebrity SAS — Who Dares Wins (Sunday, C4, 9pm)
Another 16 celebrities head for New Zealand’s South Island to undergo warfare training in a new series of this compelling reality programme. There’s no Matt Hancock this year, but among the recruits are the Torchwood star John Barrowman, the former England rugby captain Chris Robshaw and the journalist Rachel Johnson. Tim Glanfield
Daytime choice
Dermot O’Leary’s Taste of Ireland (Monday-Friday, ITV1, 2pm)
The presenter heads back to his ancestral home in a culinary travelogue series that explores the rich history of gastronomy on the Emerald Isle. From Michelin-starred restaurants in Kinsale to fishing for oysters in Cork, Dermot cooks up a daytime treat. TG
Film choice
A Star Is Born (Tuesday, BBC1, 10.40pm)
Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga may be the fourth couple to appear in a version of this story on the silver screen, but they certainly make it feel fresh and interesting. Directed by Cooper, this 2018 film beautifully tells the story of a young up-and-coming singer’s relationship with a troubled, alcoholic fading star. TG
Sunday
Critics’ choice
Gone Fishing (BBC2, 9pm)
“You’re in a good mood, aren’t you,” Bob Mortimer says to Paul Whitehouse as they arrive at Rocklands Mere in Norfolk to fish for tench. There’s no reason not to be as this new series of the comedians’ show begins: there’s a beautiful location, good company and, in their companion dog, Ted, one of the canine world’s all-time great faces. Yet there is, as ever, a strong undercurrent of melancholy here — age, illness and death are constant conversational spectres. There’s even a lakeside visit from Dr Anand Patel, who comes along to discuss Mortimer’s recent traumatic brush with shingles. Even at their bleakest, though, there’s a sense of absurdity — listen out for Mortimer’s flamboyant ideas about open-casket make-up — while a stunt with a hot dog always lightens the mood and proves the pair’s comic rapport will never grow old. VS
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Celebrity SAS — Who Dares Wins (C4, 9pm)
Those whose adrenaline requirements run higher than the new series of Gone Fishing (see Pick of the Day) should make a beeline for this show — reality TV that exists in an entirely different universe to the bumbling pastoral of Mortimer and Whitehouse’s delightful show. For series 15 more celebrity recruits have inexplicably signed up to undergo special forces training in New Zealand, among them the journalist Rachel Johnson, the comedian Shazia Mirza and the reality TV star Bobby Norris. Most attention-grabbing, however, is the presence of the actor John Barrowman, who hopes to set the public straight about the allegations of “putting my dick on everybody’s shoulders”. It’s not just the metal bars 335ft above a canyon that’s a tricky balancing act. VS
The Best Man — The Final Chapters (BBC2, 10pm/10.50pm)
First there was a 1999 movie in which Taye Diggs’s Harper, a black writer, is reunited with friends at a wedding but embarrassed when they get hold of a copy of his novel. Next came a Christmassy 2013 follow-up, and now this mini-series starring Morris Chestnut rounds things off. Harper is the best man again as the gang reassemble in Martinique for Quentin’s wedding. Inevitably there are midlife crises. John Dugdale
Kate Middleton — Her Life in Pictures (C5, 9pm)
Some newspapers appear to believe you can never have too many front pages featuring the Princess of Wales, and Channel 5 evidently takes a similar view on documentaries. But at least a pretence of a fresh angle is needed, and here it’s charting her life yet again — the familiar crew of experts are reassembled — but as seen through her own “iconic” photos. Why the title impertinently uses HRH’s maiden name is unclear. JD
BBC Young Musician — Audition 2 (BBC4, 7.30pm)
Jess Gillam presents highlights of the live auditions, in which the judges have to pick 12 musicians to advance to the later stages. The competition was won in 2022 by the percussionist Jordan Ashman, and in the past by Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Nicola Benedetti. JD
Sunday best: a saucy costume drama
Tom Jones (ITV1, 10.20pm/11.20pm)
Henry Fielding’s tale just tips over the watershed in terms of sexiness, otherwise it would be a classic Sunday-night drama for all. Fielding’s role as narrator is handed to the heiress Sophia Western (Sophie Wilde), whose character, now complicated by her mother’s enslaved background, is rounded out in winning fashion. Solly McLeod is pleasingly priapic as Tom. VS
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Monday
Critics’ choice
My Mum, Your Dad (ITV1, 9pm)
This novel twist on a dating format is actually far less tacky than you might fear. Davina McCall oversees the wooing as a second week of nightly episodes begins at a sun-kissed mansion where the housemates are single parents awkwardly learning how to date again, and their kids surveil them. Two promising couples have been established so far: Paul and Steph are awarded the treat of a trip to the seaside, with their daughters covertly tagging along; while Danny and Jenny have such a rapport that they’re awarded time in a “special” room “away from prying eyes” — which turns out only to mean without anyone else physically there, as inevitably there’s a camera and their children are still watching them live. David and Vicky, meanwhile, are doing less well: a premature mini-snog is followed by mutual uneasiness. JD
In My Own Words (BBC1, 10.40pm)
After celebrations of Billy Connolly and Alison Lapper, this profile of the poet Jackie Kay is the first in which the title In My Own Words actually makes sense. As there are relatively few TV clips of her — mainly glimpses of a trip to Africa, and her induction in 2016 as makar, or poet laureate of Scotland — it’s often writing (as well as photos) that she relies on to trigger memories as she warmly guides us through her remarkable life. It’s a story that begins with Kay’s childhood; a mixed-race baby, she was adopted by left-wing activists in Glasgow. She came out to them as gay at 16, and after moving to London found success as a poet and non-fiction author. Along the way there are many life-altering points, from a road accident to motherhood and meeting her biological father in Nigeria. JD
What to Eat This Week (C4, 8pm)
Jamie Oliver waves goodbye to a plentiful season with some recipes designed to make the most of his garden harvest and get him through the winter. Jams, chutneys and pickles readied for the store cupboard, he heads out to dig up some celeriac. He says it’s delicious when turned into a coleslaw-like remoulade and served with ham. To sign off, he’s talking cobblers (some might say not for the first time), with stewed apples and blackberries under a biscuit dough. Helen Stewart
Dermot O’Leary’s Taste of Ireland (ITV1, 2pm)
“I always say I’m Irish but I’m not from Ireland,” says the sometime This Morning presenter, as a drone swerves round him on a Co Wexford beach. Although his fondest memories are of sand-speckled banana sandwiches, he embarks on a week-long gastronomic journey, starting with some crab processing (unflattering hairnet obligatory) and pâté-making at his mum and dad’s favourite restaurant. HS
Mozart — Rise of a Genius (BBC2, 9pm)
We catch up with Mozart aged 25 in 1780s Vienna where the composer has few friends and an uncertain future in the city. He finds solace with the Weber family and finds love with Constanze. Despite challenges, they marry and have a child, but it’s not an easy road. HS
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A comedy-drama with soul wraps up
We Might Regret This (BBC2, 10pm)
This series about love, friendship and disability concludes. It’s clear that the writers Kyla Harris and Lee Getty have created characters who are going to be missed. The series ends on a significant day for Abe (Darren Boyd) and his family, a difficult moment for his partner, Freya (Harris), to navigate, and one her personal assistant, Jo (Elena Saurel), fails to improve. VS
Tuesday
Critics’ choice
Into the Jungle (C4, 9.30pm)
Ed Stafford is the chap you want to be with in a crisis. Drop him naked in a desert or make him down and out in Glasgow and he thrives. He’s moved his family to live, albeit fully clothed, in the jungle in Belize but he’s still got a living to make, so his latest series offers six dads and their kids the chance to join him in this “challenging environment”. To his credit he’s a kindly leader; despite his military background, his methods don’t rely on the screaming hostilities of SAS: Who Dares Wins. Instead he encourages obedience with blood-curdlingly terrifying stories. “Jaguars are a real threat,” he explains to his wide-eyed new gang. “And they like children more than they like adults cos they’re easier to eat.” Real dangers are presumably mitigated by everyone’s ability to outrun the poor sod lugging the camera equipment, but it’s highly entertaining all the same. HS
Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly Australia (C5, 7pm)
The genial Dogfather Graeme Hall has tied on his cravat once more — all the better to convince desperate Australians of his authoritative Englishness as they parade their unruly pooches before him. Quite why it’s so fascinating to watch him examine flashpoints from the doggies’-eye view is hard to say (programmes such as these frequently garner more viewers than there are dog-owners, after all), but his skills are undeniable. Unlike Leanne, the owner of an overprotective Maltese terrier in Melbourne that barks incessantly at passers-by, Hall can discern that the little yapper simply doesn’t realise the limits of his powers. Likewise, swotting up on Australian cattle dogs helps the tame lead-puller Clyde, but as persuasive as he is with canines, sometimes Hall finds humans less easy to bring to heel. HS
Corridors of Power — Should America Police the World? (BBC4, 10pm)
Narrated by Meryl Streep, this series concludes with a sombre look at America’s response to the war in Syria. It encompasses the dangers of issuing “red lines”, the brutal rise of Isis, the slaughter of the Yazidi people and the murder of the journalist James Foley. Samantha Power, the former US ambassador to the UN, and the former secretary of defence Leon Panetta bear witness.VS
Mafia and Britain (Sky History/Now, 9pm)
Europe’s voracious appetite for cocaine is only matched by broadcasters’ appetite for programmes about South American drug cartels. In his investigative series Ross Kemp has reached the inevitable stage when he heads to Colombia, putting on body armour and joining army raids on drug labs. It’s all part of connecting the country’s cartels, the Italian mafia and the UK narcotics market.VS
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M&S — Dress the Nation (ITV1, 8pm)
It’s lingerie week in this fashion competition — quite a challenge when the prize is a job at Marks & Spencer. The model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who has her own range of lingerie at the store, offers support to the judging panel. VS
Some first-class in-flight entertainment
The High Life (BBC4, 9pm/9.30pm)
“Mile-high camp” is how the BBC describes this Nineties sitcom, written by and starring Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson. They play Sebastian and Steve, junior air crew on Air Scotia’s short-hop flights, with most of the mirth stemming from their bitchy asides about their colleagues — Siobhan Redmond’s bossy chief stewardess and Patrick Ryecart’s possibly bonkers captain. JD
Wednesday
Critics’ choice
Ludwig (BBC1, 9pm)
Crosswords, Cambridge, David Mitchell — on paper, this new crime drama could only be cosier if it was about the theft of a pair of mittens from a mid-century teashop. Mark Brotherhood’s gentle comic thriller stars Mitchell as John “Ludwig” Taylor, the “Elvis Presley of puzzle setters” who is in retreat from a world that refuses to fit neatly into a 15 x 15 grid. When he is summoned by his sister-in-law Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin), he discovers his twin, a DCI in the Cambridgeshire police force, has mysteriously disappeared and he is expected to impersonate an officer in a particularly dangerous way. Fans of Shakespeare and Hathaway, Only Murders in the Building or the cheerier end of the Agatha Christie spectrum will enjoy filling in the blanks in a show that’s perfect for warding off the autumn chill. VS
Grand Designs (C4, 9pm)
It’s easy to imagine the Grand Designs team’s delight on hearing about the project featured in tonight’s show. An old coastguard station on a Yorkshire headland? Reimagined as a glass and steel box that must withstand high winds? Without any detailed construction drawings? And a family member as project manager? Kevin McCloud must have been on site before anyone could say “freestanding cantilevered structure”. Now celebrating its 25th year, this show has lost none of its ability to create drama out of self-levelling concrete, and this build — a striking family home dreamt up by Zahid, an expert in retail construction, and his wife, Ferzana — is a classic: all troublesome planning, financial strife and eccentric mishaps involving birdproof glass. It might be a show about profound changes, but long may Grand Designs stay the same. New series. VS
Parole (BBC2, 9pm)
The return of the series showing prisoners’ parole application hearings, with parole board members asking the questions via video link. With Martin, who committed murder 18 years ago, they have to decide if his adoption of Buddhism and meditation has helped him to change — or does an incident in jail show he’s still a threat? Similarly with Kevin, the issue is whether the aggression that led to assault convictions is now under control. JD
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Luther (BBC4, 10pm)
Neil Cross’s series was doubly groundbreaking in 2010: as a British primetime show with a black lead, and a detective drama whose hero has mental health issues. In an opening episode that introduces Ruth Wilson’s enigmatic Alice Morgan, DCI John Luther (Idris Elba) returns from suspension after a breakdown and investigates how a middle-aged couple came to die. Look out for the future stars in minor roles. JD
Colin from Accounts (BBC2, 10pm)
Tonight we bid farewell to the second series of this hit comedy about a couple bonding over their injured dog. In the finale Gordon and Ash’s relationship is once again put to the test at a surprise pop-up wedding, but how will the antics end? Jake Helm
An unsettling true-crime mystery
Jailbreak — Love on the Run (Netflix)
For 17 years Vicky White worked at the Lauderdale County Detention Center in Alabama. On April 29, 2022, immediately after her retirement party, White told fellow officers that she was taking an inmate, Casey White (no relation), for a mental assessment. They never returned, and a nationwide manhunt began. This fascinating series explores the story and what happened next. TG
Thursday
Critics’ choice
Nobody Wants This (Netflix)
After the superb long-running afterlife comedy The Good Place, a new Kristen Bell sitcom was always going to get attention. And in the case of this well-paced and quirky odd-couple affair, fans of her previous work certainly won’t be disappointed. Bell plays Joanne, an agnostic sex podcaster on the cusp of greatness, who meets and becomes romantically involved with an unconventional rabbi, Noah (played by Adam Brody, who starred as the teen heart-throb Seth Cohen in The OC) who just so happens to have become newly single. A charming romantic comedy with a decidedly indie film feel, the show co-stars Succession’s Justine Lupe (remember Willa?) as Joanne’s sister and podcast partner. You’ll struggle not to be drawn into the story and root for the pair as two worlds collide and their relationship is severely tested. TG
Fake or Fortune? (BBC1, 8pm)
According to the artist Jeffrey Kroll, a flower painting he owns is by Piet Mondrian — who’s best known as a pioneer of linear abstraction, but did apparently have a figurative sideline. Yet Dutch authorities on all things Mondrian have so far refused to accept the picture is genuine, so Fiona Bruce and Philip Mould talk to experts in archives, museums and studios as they conduct their detective work: technical and handwriting analysis, stylistic comparison and provenance research (in a lone populist touch, Mould asks a florist if it’s a good image of a chrysanthemum). With arcane, fussy, scholarly investigations like this, Fake or Fortune? belongs more naturally on BBC4 alongside Britain’s Lost Masterpieces. So it says a lot for Bruce and Mould’s charm and chemistry that this is the start of its 12th series in prime time on BBC1. JD
Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC1, 9pm)
Gemma Collins is clear that it is not her loud and overbearing “GC” character investigating her family tree tonight, but even a toned-down version of the diva telegraphs her feelings for the viewing public. (“Oh, he’s dead,” she says of one long-deceased ancestor. “That’s really sad. I feel touched.”) Her mum, Joan, was fostered as a little baby and has always struggled with the knowledge that she was given up, so the stakes are high. JD
The Great British Bake Off — An Extra Slice (C4, 8pm)
Jo Brand and Tom Allen are back for more crowd-sourced cake-related entertainment as Channel 4 wrings every ounce of value out of their Bake Off franchise. With casting as important as baking to the parent show, the pair pick Alison Hammond’s brains as to the standout competitors while Junior Bake Off’s Harry Hill interprets previously unseen footage from the tent. But who will win? There’s only one way to find out. JD
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (BBC3, 9pm)
RuPaul Andre Charles and his best mate, Michelle Visage, are back in Blighty for the sixth series of this UK-specific version of their global drag behemoth. There can scarcely be a queen in the land who hasn’t auditioned already, so one can understand if desperation sets in. JD
Plenty of madcap fun for the Brassic gang
Brassic (Sky Max/Now, 10pm)
The lively comedy-drama created by Danny Brocklehurst and Joseph Gilgun returns for a sixth series. The Bafta-nominated show about petty criminals in the fictional Lancastrian town of Hawley is an acquired taste, but those looking for smut, crudity and chaos will enjoy this season. Adventures include a stolen FA Cup trophy, waxed eyebrows and a life-drawing class, mixed in with skits involving changing nappies and strong accents. JH
Friday
Critics’ choice
Elizabeth Taylor — Rebel Superstar (BBC2, 9pm)
There’s some sense, perhaps, in signalling to younger viewers that Elizabeth Taylor was rather a big deal in her day with the addition of the nonsensical descriptor “Rebel Superstar”, but just to seal the deal the director James House has placed an interview with one of the executive producers up front in the piece. Kim Kardashian, for it is she, preens as she tells the camera that Elizabeth Taylor “lived several lives: actor, businesswoman, activist, badass”. Thereafter the three-part documentary returns to more standard biographical territory, charting the life of the famously violet-eyed badass, whose sharp-elbowed mother touted her as a child at Hollywood parties. Taylor’s friends Sharon Stone, George Hamilton and Joan Collins appear, as does her goddaughter Paris Jackson and — an exclusive — her son Chris Wilding. HS
Our Lives: The Omagh Hum (BBC1, 8.30pm)
“I just sleep on me good ear so I can’t hear,” says one elder in this good-hearted documentary from Alex Fegan that plays into the sort of quirky smalltown Northern Irishness that television and film find entrancing. There is a noise in Omagh and it is disturbing people at night. Or there isn’t a noise and everyone is experiencing some sort of mass hallucination. “There’s a lot of talk about UFOs,” one wag offers, “but I don’t know what would draw them to Omagh.” The nice lady in the tourist information office is just pleased to have something other than the Troubles to talk about. “We will milk it for as long as we can,” she says brightly. Can a sound engineer triangulate the source of the maddening hum with some homemade equipment? Who, more to the point, will play him in the movie? HS
The Graham Norton Show (BBC1, 10.40pm)
Norton’s red sofa is the glittering red carpet of chat shows. This week’s galaxy of stars includes a first-time welcome for Demi Moore, star of the new body horror The Substance; Lady Gaga, singer and star of Joker: Folie à Deux; the actor Colin Farrell, who will be talking about his new series, The Penguin; and Richard Ayoade, who will chat about his new book, The Unfinished Harauld Hughes. JH
Gardeners’ World (BBC2, 8pm)
It’s not just keen gardeners who should be concerned about the decline of butterflies and bees: everyone needs to consider the ways pollinators, which are vital to our ecosystem, can be helped to thrive. On a visit to Powderham Castle in Devon, Frances Tophill has the vital information. Elsewhere, Carol Klein is on a mission to find late summer colour and Joe Swift meets a couple who have created a green space in their urban home. VS
The Chateau Murders (More4, 9pm)
The quaint title masks the fact that this French-Canadian series began with a murder in a Quebec City hotel. Detective Sergeant Céline Trudeau (Isabel Richer) investigates, finding links between guests and a disaster a few years earlier. Is revenge the key? VS
More than the usual road trip by buddies
Will and Harper (Netflix)
The comedian and actor Will Ferrell received a surprising email that revealed a close friend of 30 years, a writer on Saturday Night Live, was coming out as a trans woman. We join them on a road trip across the US to come to terms with this new stage of their friendship. Harper Steele wants to ask Ferrell “what being trans means to him?” Ferrell wants to know: “Does she still like beer or is she totally into wine now?” JH
Readers’ views on recent TV
We have just watched the second part of Doctors (September 3 and 4). It tells of the return of one of the doctors from the series 20 years ago who now has Alzheimer’s but believes he is still part of the practice. An amazing piece of writing handling a very sensitive topic. Christopher Timothy was a convincing “Mac”. Such a pity this BBC1 programme is finishing. It never shies away from difficult subjects.
Elizabeth Bradley
I watched Chris Packham’s Earth (BBC) with great interest but increasing frustration at the awful background music. It’s enough to make me reach for the mute button. Do its producers ever watch their programmes?
Nick Bygrave
This year’s BBC television has been totally appalling for sport; the only sport worth watching has been the Tour de France.
Keith Apps
I have just watched The Hour again. I lived through that time and it is spot-on. The acting was magnificent — such talented actors. The BBC continues to give us repeats. Please make another series.
Jenny Butcher
Congratulations to The Archers. Everyone’s acting has been superlative over the past few weeks, during the George Grundy story.
Leseley Woodfield
Does the BBC ever “audit” the value of the “experts” guiding the contestants on Bargain Hunt? In most episodes they actually lose money despite this expert guidance! Add to this the “auctioneers’ estimates” of likely sale value, which frequently do not have the remotest resemblance to the actual sale price, and it makes the whole programme pointless.
Martin Garvey
Has the BBC forgotten that the Proms is supposed to be “the world’s greatest classical music festival”? To judge by TV broadcasts this season, most of it was anything but — and not exactly enhanced by celebrity guests giving their totally irrelevant opinions!
Paul Seeleyd
Is there an FAQ site for the recent Sherwood series to help me figure out what was happening?
Dianne Sykes
Secrets of the London Underground was informative as ever, but the recent series lacked the chemistry of previous series by having Tim and Siddy investigating the stations separately rather than together.
David Ribbans
How wonderful to round off BBC “quiz Mondays” with BBC4 showing reruns of the fabulous Call My Bluff after we’ve enjoyed Only Connect and University Challenge on BBC2!
Quentin Lott
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Have your say
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