DOCUMENTARY & FACTUAL

This fly-on-the-wall documentary poses the question of whether 14 young volunteers aged 18 to 24 can take the strain off staff and patients at Royal Derby Hospital by tackling tasks no-one else has time to do.We follow them through their emotional highs and lows, from A&E to elderly care, as they bathe dementia patients and hold the hands of dying cancer victims. Germany’s descent from liberal democracy into murderous dictatorship under Adolf Hitler is examined over three episodes

through a mix of archive footage, interviews and reconstructions. The documentary examines how extreme ideology and rival power-plays combined to create the hideous regime responsible for the deaths of millions.

Billy Connolly’s Great American Trail, ITV, September 5

Comedian Billy Connolly is following the migratory trail trod by Scots through American history, meeting a supporting cast of moonshiners, blue whales and naughty nuns in this new three-part series. Despite having advanced Parkinson’s, the sparky 76-year-old is happy to take the roads less welltravelled with wife Pamela Stevenson.

Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates, Netflix, September 20

An intimate insight into the Microsoft co-founder’s drive to cure the world’s ills through philanthropy. Netflix’s three-part documentary features interviews with Bill and Melinda Gates as well as their relatives, friends and colleagues. Bound to be fascinating.

Lenny Henry’s Race Through Comedy, UK Gold, TBC

Sir Lenny Henry delves into the goldmine of UK comedy to explore how key sitcoms, stand-up and sketches helped to shape multicultural Britain. From Rising Damp to Desmond’s, this unflinching documentary courts the controversies as well as the high points of the people and the moments that shifted the comedic landscape for ever.