Here are my picks of the best British TV, premiering between 24-30 September 2012...
MONDAY 24th
Nigellisima (BBC2, 8.30pm) Brand new series where Nigella Lawson presents a guide to Italian cookery. (1/6)Health Before The NHS (BBC4, 9pm) Documentary exploring how the sick were treated before the creation of the UK's National Health Service. Presented by Dr Robert Winston. (1/2)
PICK OF THE DAY Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC2, 10pm) Series 26 of the music panel show, with guest host Kathy Burke and captains Noel Fielding & Phil Jupitus. Guests are N-Dubz's Fazer, Olympic long jump champ Greg Rutherford, Blink 182's Mark Hoppus & Sarah Millican. (1/12)
TUESDAY 25th
The Paradise (BBC1, 9pm) Drama set in 1875 about a country girl who arrives in a prosperous Victorian city to work in her uncle's drapery shop, only to discover it's close to collapse, so finds employment in a far grander local business. Starring Joanna Vanderham, Emun Elliot, David Hayman, Laura Powerr, Peter Wight & Matthew McNulty. (1/8)The Boy Who Can't Forget (Channel 4, 9pm) Documentary about people who have superior autobiographical memory, which enables them to remember a surprising amount of detail about their own lives.
PICK OF THE DAY Cuckoo (BBC3, 10pm) Brand new sitcom about an ordinary couple living in Lichfield who are shocked when their daughter brings her hippy American fiancé home with her to stay. Starring Greg Davies, Andy Samberg, Helen Baxendale, Tamla Kari & Tyger Drew-Honey. (1/6)
WEDNESDAY 26th
Room At The Top (BBC4, 9pm) Drama about an ambitious Yorkshireman trying to make a success of himself in post-war Britain. Starring Matthew McNulty, Maxine Peake, Jenna-Louise Coleman, Peter Wight, Kevin R. McNally, Julia Ford & Kevin Doyle. Concludes tomorrow. (1/2)Girlfri3nds (ITV2, 9pm) Brand new dating series where three women try to find love by selecting eight single men to live with them in a mansion. Hosted by Emma Willis. (1/8)
Drugs: The Ecstasy Trial (Channel 4, 10pm) Live study into the effects of drugs on the human brain, featuring scenes of people taking drugs for real. Presented by Jon Snow & Christian Jessen. Featuring Keith Allen & Lionel Shriver, who agree to take MDMA (pure Ecstasy). Concludes tomorrow. (1/2)
THURSDAY 27th
PICK OF THE DAY Homefront (ITV1, 9pm) Drama about four women related to soldiers serving in Afghanistan. Starring Claire Skinner, Clare Higgins, Nicola Stephenson, Antonia Thomas, Warren Brown, George Costigan, Rosie Day, Dean Anthony Fagan & Daniel Francis. (1/6)Russell Howard's Good News (BBC2, 9pm) Series 7 of the show where comedian Russell Howard offers his take on the week's news. (1/12)
True CSI (Channel 5, 10pm) Reconstructions of old crimes, solved using modern-day forensic techniques.
Continuum (Syfy, 10pm) Season 1 of the Canadian sci-fi drama about a female law enforcer from the future who finds herself in our present, tasked with capturing a group of terrorists fro her own time. (1/10) [pilot review]
FRIDAY 28th
PICK OF THE DAY Servants: The True Story Of Life Below Stairs (ITV1, 9pm) Documentary about Britain's domestic servants and their lives in the 19th and early-20th centuries, which is very different to the one presented by Downton Abbey. Presented by Pamela Cox. (1/3)SATURDAY 29th
PICK OF THE DAY Boardwalk Empire (Sky Atlantic, 9pm) Season 3 of the US gangster drama set in the 1920s. Starring Steve Buscemi, Kelly Macdonald, SUNDAY 30th
Nothing. Go rent a Coen Brothers movie.
