Below are my picks of the week's most notable TV shows, returning or premiering in the UK...
MONDAY 11th
Country Show Cook Off (BBC2, 6.30pm) New series where chefs go on a nationwide road trip, participating in various cookery contests. (1/20)This World: A History of Syria with Dan Snow (BBC2, 9pm) Documentary on the Middle East country, explaining the onset of civil war by looking at its turbulent history.
PICK OF THE DAY Oscar Pistorious: What Really Happened? (BBC3, 9pm) Documentary on the world-famous Paralympian who was recently involved in a domestic incident that claimed the life of his model girlfriend.
Bomb Patrol (Channel 5, 10pm) Documentary on the US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit in Afghanistan. (1/10)
Toughest Place to Be (BBC2, 9pm) Series 4 of the show where British people try to do their jobs in dangerous or tough places around the world. (1/3)
TUESDAY 12th
Whale Adventure with Nigel Marvin (Channel 5, 8pm) New series following grey whales traveling 5,000 miles along the Pacific coast of North America from Mexico to Alaska. (1/4)PICK OF THE DAY Masterchef (BBC1, 9pm) Series 9 of the culinary challenge show. Presented by John Torode & Gregg Wallace.
Planet Ant: Life Inside the Colony (BBC4, 9pm) Nature documentary on the leafcutter ant.
WEDNESDAY 13th
A Very British Wedding (BBC2, 8.30pm) New series following various couples getting married. (1/4)Insect Worlds (BBC4, 8.30pm) New nature series about the connections between us and insects, arcachnids and crustaceans. Presented by Steve Backshall. (1/3)
PICK OF THE DAY The Mimic (Channel 4, 10pm) New comedy about a maintenance worker with the uncanny ability to mimic voices. Starring Terry Mynott, Jo Hartley, Neil Maskell & Jacob Anderson. (1/5)
Fabrice Muamba: Sports Life Stories (ITV, 10.35pm) Documentary on the former Bolton Wanderers football player, who survived a near-fatal heart attack during a match in 2012.
THURSDAY 14th
Comic Relief: Through Hell & High Water (BBC1, 8pm) Coverage of a recent charity challenge, where six celebrities rowed down the Zambezi River. Starring Jack Dee, Dara O'Briain, Mel C, Chelsee Healey, Greg James & Phillips Idowu.PICK OF THE DAY Prisoner's Wives (BBC1, 9pm) Series 2 of the drama following a group of women struggling to cope while their men are in jail. (1/4)
Horizon: The Creative Brain – How Insight Works (BBC2, 9pm) Documentary on the human brain and how inspiration comes about.
Born to Be Different (Channel 4, 9pm) Documentary update on six disabled children as they start secondary school.
Lee Nelson's Well Funny (BBC3, 10pm) New sketch show with a variety of comic characters including cheeky chav Lee Nelson and dimwit footballer Jason Bent. Starring Simon Brodkin. (1/7)
FRIDAY 15th
PICK OF THE DAY Comic Relief 2013 (BBC1, 7pm; BBC2, 10.30pm) Live telethon raising money for Comic Relief. Featuring Lenny Henry, Dermot O'Leary, Claudia Winkleman, Rowan Atkinson, One Direction, a Call the Midwife sketch, Miss Piggy, Rob Brydon, a Masterchef special with Micky Flanagan versus Jack Whitehall, Peter Kay, an EastEnders short, John Bishop, Davina McCall, Miranda Hart, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, and the return of Ricky Gervais as David Brent from The Office.Treme (Sky Atlantic, 9pm) Season 3 of the US drama.
SATURDAY 16th
PICK OF THE DAY Churchill and the Fascist Plot (Channel 4, 7pm) Documentary on the threat to the UK during WWII from clandestine organisation the "Fifth Column"—who sympathised with fascism.SUNDAY 17th
The Lady Vanishes (BBC1, 8.30pm) Adaptation of the classic novel about a woman's disappearance on a train. Starring Tuppence Middleton, Keeley Hawes, Tom Hughes, Gemma Jones, Stephanie Cole & Julian Rhind-Tutt.Perspectives (ITV1, 10pm) Series 3 of the show where famous people give their views on subjects that have always interested them, beginning with David Suchet on Agatha Christie. (1/7)
PICK OF THE DAY In the Flesh (BBC3, 10pm) New supernatural drama about a post-zombie apocalypse, where the undead are being reintegrated back into normal society. Starring Luke Newberry, Steve Evets, Ricky Tomlinson, Kenneth Cranham, Riann Steele & Harriet Cains. (1/3)
It's Kevin (BBC2, 10.30pm) New sketch comedy from writer and performer Kevin Eldon, a recognisable but unheralded face in British comedy since the 1990s. Co-starring Bill Bailey, Julia Davis, Simon Munnery, Dan Skinner & James Fleet. (1/6)
