Alan Dee’s guide to the pick of next week’s TV
Eurovision Song Contest 2012 (BBC One, 8pm)
The mighty Engelbert Humperdinck represents the UK this time round with the song Love Will Set You Free. The tune has a good pedigree – it was co-written and produced by Grammy Award-winning Martin Terefe and Ivor Novello Award-winning Sacha Skarbek. Backing an old-style crooner such as him could either be a disaster or a masterstroke – we won’t know which until the votes are cast on the night.
Sunday
British Academy Television Awards 2012 (BBC One, 8pm)
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Hide AdWith regular host Graham Norton helming the Beeb’s Eurovision Song Contest coverage in Azerbaijan on Saturday evening, Dara O Briain has been drafted in to take charge of the proceedings.
Broadcast from London’s Royal Festival Hall, it features the great and the good of Britain’s small screen talent vying for arguably the most prestigious trophy around.
Maggie Smith is in the running for the sixth Bafta of her career as best supporting actress in Downton Abbey, while O Briain himself is up for best comedy performance thanks to his hosting duties on Mock the Week.
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Hide AdLeeading the way with four nominations is Appropriate Adult, ITV1’s drama about serial killer Fred West, although it faces stiff competition from Sherlock and This is England ‘88, which have three nomination each.
Dara says: “I’m delighted and honoured to be taking the reins.
“And if Adele wins anything, I promise I’ll leave her well alone, no matter what time it is.”
Monday
Robson’s Extreme Fishing Challenge (Five, 9pm)
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Hide AdActor and presenter Robson Green wraps up the last of his current fishing challenge series in Alaska. For a silver salmon-fishing contest at Resurrection Bay 125 miles south of Anchorage, he’ll be taking on an ex-marine.
Tuesday
Prince Charles: The Royal Restoration (ITV1, 9pm)
Dumfries House is a picturesque, classically styled stately home, set in acres of beautiful countryside, and the interiors have largely remained the same for the past 250 years. By 2007 somebody needed to take the property under their wing to ensure its future – and that person turned out to be the heir to the throne. This documentary charts the project’s progress.
Wednesday
Lewis (ITV1, 8pm)
Babysitter Jessica Lake is found dead, but it isn’t the method of her demise that intrigues Lewis and Hathaway, it’s the way her body was treated after her death – Jess was bound in an unusual manner.
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Hide AdThe case leads the police into the murky world of suburban swinging, especially after they unearth fetish-inspired photographs of Jessica at the home of smarmy Tom Garland.
The snaps were taken by Marion Hammond, but the plot thickens when Lewis and Hathaway meet the victim’s boyfriend and her flatmates. Could they hold the key to unlocking the mystery of who killed Jessica and why? And what part does Dr Robert Massey, an ethologist at the university’s primate lab, have to play in the whole sorry tale?
Thursday
Britain’s Lost Routes with Griff Rhys Jones (BBC One, 8pm)
In this four-part documentary, Welsh actor and comedian Griff Rhys Jones explores some of the nation’s forgotten routes, recalling a time before the motor car – when journeys were undertaken on foot, horseback, carriage or under sail.
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Hide AdHe begins by retracing the route that Queen Elizabeth I took through the Cotswolds and into the West Country.
Friday 01/06/12
Alan Carr: Chatty Man (Channel 4, 10pm)
Alan Carr hits the sofa for the last time in a wee while. He will be joined by comic Michael McIntyre for a chat about his coming arena tour, and the ever-glamorous Kylie also pops by.