Channel Hopping

BELOW THE SURFACE Today - BBC4, 9pm

EVEN in Danish, I can’t imagine that Gidseltagningen – the original name of this eight-part thriller – is the catchiest of titles. Still, the series itself sounds promising enough. The action begins when 15 passengers on a subway train in Copenhagen are taken hostage by a gang of masked men.

RICK WAKEMAN: THE SIXWIVES OF HENRYVIII Today - Sky Arts, 11.10pm

HONESTLY, I quite like Rick Wakeman. His piano intro on David Bowie’s Life On Mars? is utterly lovely and he has also reinvented himself as an amusing presence on our television screens. But there is no escaping the fact that he made some pretty woeful records both with Yes and in his own right. This programme about his 1973 debut solo album lasts for almost two and a half hours. I’d imagine it will probably seem to go on even longer.

FIVE STAR HOTEL Monday - E4, 10pm

THIS new series sees five reality TV veterans, including Spencer Matthews (aka Mr Vogue Williams), pictured left, and Ashley Cain (no, me neither), taking over the management of a luxury hotel in Greece. What could go wrong?

HERE COMES THE SUMMER: THE UNDERTONES STORY Friday - BBC4, 10pm

HARD to believe that this year marks the 40th anniversary of The Undertones’ debut release Teenage Kicks, rightly revered as a classic. But the Derry group, fronted by Feargal Sharkey, pictured left, followed it up with a string of feelgood tunes that have also stood the test of time. The BBC blurb says this hour-long profile looks at ‘the most improbable pop stars who emerged from one of the darkest, most violent places on the planet’.