Monday 1 April 2013

TV Picks: 1-7 April 2013 (Chalk N' Cheese, Find the Chair, Game of Thrones, Murder She Blogged, Once Upon A Time, Touch, United States of Cakes, etc.)

Monday 1 April 2013

Below are my picks of the week's most notable TV shows, premiering/returning to UK screens this week...

MONDAY 1st
Africa: The Greatest Show on Earth (BBC1, 7pm) Highlights of the BBC landmark wildlife documentary series, including footage of the three animatronic giraffes used for some key scenes. Narrated by Richard Attenborough.
Jonathan Creek (BBC1, 8.30pm) Easter special of the long-running detective series. Starring Alan Davies, Sheridan Smith & Rik Mayall.
PICK OF THE WEEK Game of Thrones (Sky Atlantic, 9pm) Season 3 of the medieval fantasy drama. Starring Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Iain Glen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Charles Dance & Maisie Williams. (1/10)
Ebony & Ivory (Channel 4, 9pm) Two married couples, one of whom are white supremacists, swap life partners for a week. Can they live together in perfect harmony? Narrated by Hugh Dennis. (1/2)
The Brothel (Channel 5, 10pm) Fly-on-the-wall documentary about a brothel in Louisiana experiencing a boom in trade. (1/8)


TUESDAY 2nd
PICK OF THE WEEK Touch (Sky1, 8pm) Season 2 of the US drama about an autistic child with the ability to discern the future. Starring Kiefer Sutherland.
Love Is Blind (Channel 5, 8pm) Seven unsightly men are partnered with blindfolded glamour models and have to impress them enough to continue seeing them after the blinds come off in two days. (1/16)
Celebrity Dog's Fight (Channel 4, 10pm) Famous dog owners enter their pampered pooches in a series of violent knock-out animal challenges. (1/6)

WEDNESDAY 3rd
Hillsborough: Never Forgotten (BBC2, 9pm) Documentary looking at the infamous football stadium disaster of 1989.
History of the Toothbrush (BBC4, 9pm) Documentary about the invention and fascinating evolution of the household toothbrush. Narrated by Tony Slattery. (1/2)
PICK OF THE WEEK Scott & Bailey (ITV1, 9pm) Series 3 of the crime drama about two female detectives. Starring Suranne Jones & Lesley Sharpe.
Wonkaworld (Channel 4, 10pm) Crime drama about a serial killer who bases his crimes on the works of author Roald Dahl. Joseph Sweet is the librarian and former-detective called in to assist when a young girl is found inflated with blueberry juice. (1/3)


THURSDAY 4th
United Cakes of America (ITV2, 7pm) US baking reality show. Hosted by David Hasselhoff. (1/14)
Horizon: The Age of Big Data (BBC2, 9pm) Documentary on the data revolution and what the future might hold.
PICK OF THE WEEK The Intern (Channel 4, 9pm) New series where entrepreneur Hilary Devey helps three people work as an intern in their dream job.
Peter Andre: My Life (ITV2, 9pm) Return of the fly-on-the-wall documentary series.
True Stories: Dogging Tales (Channel 4, 10pm) Documentary on the clandestine pastime of watching strangers have sex in public areas, at night.

FRIDAY 5th
Murder, She Blogged (Sky Living, 8pm) Revival/update of classic whodunit Murder, She Wrote; now focusing on the blogging granddaughter of Angela Lansbury's elderly sleuth. Starring Christina Hendricks as Jess Fletcher. (1/12)
How to Win the Grand National (Channel 4, 8pm) Documentary examining the famous horse race.
PICK OF THE WEEK Have I Got News For You? (BBC1, 9pm) Return of the satirical comedy panel show. Guest host is Roland Rat.
Alan Carr's Grand National Specstacular (Channel 4, 9pm) Entertainment mix to celebrate Channel 4's first broadcast of the Grand National, featuring Jonathan Ross, Paddy McGuinness, Kimberley Walsh, Louis Walsh, James Nesbitt, Abbey Clancy, Rylan Clark, Miranda Hart & Alex Brooker.
Not Going Out (BBC1, 9.30pm) Series 6 of the sitcom. Starring Lee Mack.

SATURDAY 6th
Find the Chair (Challenge, 7pm) Japanese gameshow where blindfolded contestants have to find a chair in a chequered floorspace. (1/215)
PICK OF THE WEEK The Great British Sewing Bee (BBC1, 8pm) New series aiming to find the UK's best amateur sewing enthusiast. Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, with judges Patrick Grant and May Martin. (1/4)


SUNDAY 7th
Catchphrase (ITV, 6.45pm) Revival of the gameshow. Hosted by Stephen Mulhern.
Off their Rockers (ITV, 7.30pm) Hidden camera prank show focusing on the elderly.
Nautical But Nice? (Channel 4, 9pm) Expose of the sexier side of seafaring through the ages. Presented by Brian Blessed. (1/3)
Chalk 'N Cheese (ITV1, 9pm) New crime drama about two mismatched inner-city cops, PC Alex Chalk and WPC Georgina Cheese. Starring Rob James-Collier & Andrea Riseborough. (1/4)
PICK OF THE WEEK Once Upon A Time (Channel 5, 9pm) Season 2 of the US fairytale drama. (1/22)