BEST OF THE REST
SPEECHLESS E4, 7.30pm
MINNIE DRIVER is a mother on a mission in this excellent comedy that has finally arrived in Britain after becoming a hit in the US.
She plays Maya DiMeo, who will do anything for her husband Jimmy (John Ross Bowie) and her three kids, Ray, Dylan and JJ – her eldest son, who has cerebral palsy and uses a communication board.
She’s so determined to fight for the best for JJ that she has moved the family to a new home and school - the sixth in two years – as she’s finally found a class with a full-time aide who can be JJ’s ‘voice’. But the rest of the family is fed up with having to up sticks every five minutes.
From the teacher who panics that a standing ovation was insensitive, to Maya’s fury over the lack of ramps, comedy springs from all the stereotypical reactions to disabled people.
A new Modern Family, this is worth a watch.
MARY BERRY’S QUICK COOKING BBC2, 8.30pm
YOU have to admire Mary Berry’s adventurous spirit. Within minutes of this latest foodie travel show, the 83-year-old has hopped on to the back of a Vespa and is whizzing through the streets of Rome.
A tease of later episodes shows Mary getting a fireman’s lift and cooking in a ship’s galley. She’s one fearless gran.
In this series she wants to teach us how to “cook from scratch in a flash”, exploring the world of speedy cooking.
Beginning in the Italian capital, Mary makes pasta with women who somehow manage to make 55kg of the stuff every day.
Then she meets a local chef who has dared to mess with a classic – the pizza.
He is the inventor of the pizza cone, which is exactly what you imagine it might be.
Of course she whips up some tasty dishes in some stunning locations – and never once spilling tomato sauce on her yellow capri trousers. Bravo.