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Friday
Pick of the day: Hidden Treasures of the National Trust
9pm, BBC Two
As interesting as the building featured in this now-returning docu-series about National Trust properties are the stories of their previous owners. A La Ronde on the Devon coast is a 16-sided Georgian house built by tough-minded yet playful unmarried cousins Mary and Jane Parminter. One of the most unusual rooms is the shell gallery, decorated with 26,000 sea shells and now in need of repair. Meanwhile, in Dorset, Kingston Lacy was the passion project of MP William John Bankes, who continued contributing to its upkeep while exiled abroad. He was disgraced after being caught in “an indecent act with a soldier”.
Unreported World
7.30pm, Channel 4
In some predominantly Muslim countries, divorce can be challenging for women to initiate. However, in the West African country of Mauritania, which is steeped in Islamic heritage, local traditions have normalised the practice of women ditching their husbands. In fact, it’s thought that half of the women in Mauritania get divorced at least once. Ayshah Tull reports.
Granite Harbour
8pm, BBC One
It’s good to see Scandi-noir stalwart Søren Malling (The Killing, Borgen) playing a major role in this Aberdeen-set police procedural. The Danish actor here plays the dodgy skipper of the Norwegian cargo ship suspected of smuggling drugs into the city, and who’s pulled in for questioning after a dinghy linked to his ship washes up on a beach.
Double the Money
8pm, Channel 4
In round two, the remaining teams have three days to turn £500 into one grand. And a battle of the lemonade brews – as one team tries to pedal a homemade recipe, while another upsells supermarket pop.
Sue Perkins: Lost in Thailand
9pm, Channel 5
There’s a choice of Sue Perkins as the presenter continues to host Double The Money while setting off on her travels over on Channel 5. Thailand is hardly terra incognita, but Perkins makes for an engaging travelling companion. She begins in Chiang Mai, kicking off her journey by abseiling from the Crazy Horse Buttress into an underground limestone cave.
The Young Offenders
9.30pm, BBC One
Conor MacSweeney (Alex Murphy) and his terrible haircut are back – but without, it seems, his partner in crime, Jock. Arrested after the duo were “given a free holiday in Colombia by some Spanish-speaking fella Jock met on the internet,” Jock is incarcerated in South America while Conor spent three years in a Cork jail (which explains the hiatus since the last series of the Irish comedy). Newly released, he has but one ambition – to be reunited with girlfriend Linda (Demi Isaac Oviawe).
Suits
10.40pm, BBC One
Much to the chagrin of ITV, who also wanted it, and apparently even the prime minister, the BBC has purchased rights to the American legal drama that starred the Duchess of Sussex. Should licence fee money be spent on this, they argue? Meghan Markle (as she was then) plays paralegal Rachel Zane and this will be the first time that many non-Netflix subscribers have had the chance to judge the Duchess’s acting skills.
Saturday
Pick of the day: Eurovision Song Contest 2024
8pm, BBC One
Prepare to feel disappointed if you’re a fan of UK entry Olly Alexander and his song “Dizzy”, because the form book shows that the UK (with the exception of Sam Ryder in 2022) have fared dismally at Eurovision since the millennium (Switzerland and Croatia are currently joint bookmakers’ favourites). Live coverage of the 68th annual song competition comes from the Malmö Arena, Sweden – 50 years since the nation’s most famous musical exports lifted the trophy with “Waterloo”. It is hosted by Hollywood actress Malin Åkerman and Eurovision veteran Petra Mede, with BBC commentary as always from Graham Norton.
Doctor Who
6.20pm and 7.05pm, BBC One
The charismatic Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education) stars in his first full series as the Time Lord alongside Millie Gibson as his companion Ruby, following their well-received debut in 2023’s Christmas special. In the far future, Ruby learns the Doctor’s secrets when they encounter a baby farm being run by babies that is also haunted by a mysterious Bogeyman. And in the second part of a double bill from revitalising showrunner Russell T Davies, the duo meet the Beatles during a trip back to the 60s, but discover that the evil Maestro (Drag Race’s Jinkx Monsoon) is hatching a plot to change history.
Our Dream Farm with Matt Baker
8pm, Channel 4
Jeremy Clarkson certainly wouldn’t have made it this far in the ongoing contest to see who can win the tenancy of a National Trust farm in Northumberland – but then, Clarkson could probably afford to buy the place outright. Anyway, the final four are tasked with creating a rotational grazing system to manage livestock in a sustainable way. And after a busy night in the lambing shed, judges Sally and Giles observe the wannabe tenants’ livestock handling skills.
An Invitation to Murder
8pm, Channel 5
Channel 5 is catering for Eurovision-phobes by repeating this Agatha Christie-style US whodunnit set in 1934 and starring Mischa Barton, Chris Browning and Bianca A Santos. Six strangers are invited to the remote island mansion of billionaire Lewis Findley, and as the weekend progresses, clues about why they have been invited begin to unfold, along with a sinister mystery.
Spy/Master
9pm, BBC Four
This tense Romanian espionage drama, set in the late 70s, makes a good companion piece to the ongoing documentary series Secrets and Spies: A Nuclear Game. Victor Godeanu (Alec Secăreanu), the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauescu’s head of security and a defecting KGB spy, is now holed up in a West German safe house with CIA agent Frank Jackson (Parker Sawyers), awaiting his escape to America. But Victor is becoming increasingly anxious.
Match of the Day
10pm, BBC Two
For football fans wondering where the highlights have gone to while Eurovision continues on BBC One, they’re over here. Fulham vs Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur vs Burnley are featured.
Sunday
Pick of the day: British Academy Television Awards
7pm, BBC One
Or the Baftas, as they are more commonly known. Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan host, along with performances from Ella Eyre and dance company Rambert. Among the shows in the running for awards are The Gold, Happy Valley, Slow Horses, Top Boy, Extraordinary, Such Brave Girls, Big Boys and Dreaming Whilst Black, while actors in the frame include Brian Cox (Succession), Dominic West (The Crown) and Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us).
MOTD Live: Women’s FA Cup Final
1.50pm, BBC One
Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur (kick-off 2.30pm). All the action from the showpiece match at Wembley Stadium, where both teams are aiming to lift the trophy for the first time.
The Responder
9pm, BBC One
Former Merseyside police officer Tony Schumacher’s crime drama had four nominations at last year’s Baftas, and this compelling second series ought to see it securing a similar tally in 2025. Martin Freeman is extraordinary as the Liverpool copper under intense pressure, and his group therapy isn’t going well (“What if I’m just a tw*t,” he asks the mediator). Guest-starring Kevin Eldon.
Rob and Rylan’s Grand Tour
9pm, BBC Two
Yes, two more celebrities off on their travels – the angle this time being that Rob Rinder and Rylan Clark are recreating the Grand Tour, which was a cultural odyssey designed to turn young 18th century aristocrats into civilised, educated gentlemen. Rylan plays the one in need of schooling (“He doesn’t know his arts from his elbow,” as Rob puts it) as they begin in Venice. Rob conducts Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” in the church where it was first performed, while Rylan discovers the hidden side of Venice’s famous Carnival, and they both see one of the largest paintings on canvas in the world.
Red Eye
9pm, ITV1
There have now been three murders on Flight 357 to Beijing. DC Hana Li (Jing Lusi) belatedly starts to believe her prisoner, Nolan (Richard Armitage), that all is not as it seems. Back on the ground, Hana’s journalist sister Jess (Jemma Moore) regrets going to interview Sir George Chapman.
The Lost Scrolls of Pompeii: New Revelation
9pm, Channel 5
Alice Roberts uncovers the ground-breaking science being used by computer scientist Brent Seales as he tries to decipher ancient scrolls found at the site of Herculaneum in Italy. Attempts to physically open them have reduced almost all of them to dust, but Seales is combining cutting-edge scanning techniques with his own artificial intelligence software to attempt to teach a computer to read inside the scrolls without ever having to open them.
In Cold Blood
10.20pm, ITV1
In the 70s, a new treatment for haemophilia known as Factor VIII was prescribed on the National Health Service. It infected more than 1,300 people with HIV. As a public inquiry into the scandal reopens, this feature-length Exposure documentary from 2020 investigates the tragedy.
