Seven Days

SATURDAY

Strictly Come Dancing 7PM, BBC1 It’s time to face the music and dance for the six remaining couples, who tonight step out to perform a host of routines from the most famous musicals of the stage and screen.

Doctor Who 8PM, BBC1 The final episode of the series is ominously titled Hell Bent, and sees the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) returning to his home world of Gallifrey to take revenge on the Time Lords who broke his hearts. The Doctor will return in the traditional Christmas Day special, in which he will be reunited with Alex Kingston’s River Song.

The X Factor 8PM, ITV It’s semi-finals week, the cruellest time to go out, with the grand final in touching distance. Simon Cowell has no acts left, but don’t worry – that won’t stop him from expressing his forthright opinions at every opportunity.

The World’s Weirdest Weather 8PM, CH4 The series that explores the world’s most remarkable weather phenomena continues with a look at biblical floods, exploding rocks, alien landscapes and earthquake lightning.

Casualty 9.05PM, BBC1 You’ve got to feel sorry for Florence, who was on her way to hospital with a broken elbow when the ambulance taking her there crashed on black ice and now she’s got a foreign body embedded in her thigh. Can Connie take her eyes off Jacob long enough to come to her aid?

SUNDAY

Countryfile 6.20PM, BBC1 Ellie Harrison and Joe Crowley head north of the border to take a tour of Scotland’s most remote scenic areas. They also take a drive along Britain’s highest road, which runs 2,000ft above sea level, and discover a fish that could solve the problems facing the salmon industry.

World’s Weirdest Homes 7.30PM, CH4 The architectural designer Charlie Luxton presents this surreal version of Grand Designs; in it, he counts down the world’s 20 most unusual houses, from a converted Boeing 727 to a house shaped like a giant beagle.

Antiques Roadshow 8PM, BBC1 Fiona Bruce and her team of experts have a royal appointment this week as they pitch up at the Queen’s private residence at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire. Among the items brought in to be valued are a ceramic pot that the owner is hoping was really made by Pablo Picasso.

The Hunt 9PM, BBC1 The penultimate episode of this magnificent series looks at how predators hunt on the coast, where the constant ebb and flow of the tides provide a unique set of challenges to wildlife on land and in the sea. I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! 9PM, ITV After three weeks, it’s the final of the celebrity reality show, as Ant and Dec crown the King or Queen of the Jungle. On Wednesday, there’s the inside story of the series in I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! Coming Out (8pm), which hears from the contestants as they leave camp.

MONDAY

The Taliban Hunters – Panorama 8.30PM, BBC1 Mobeen Azhar reports from the front line of the war on terror: Karachi in Pakistan, where more than 160 police officers have been killed on duty in just 12 months. Now, a dedicated team are fighting back against Taliban militants; however, they are understaffed, underresourced and facing a fanatical enemy.

Simply Nigella 8.30PM, BBC2 Nigella Lawson serves up her last helping of feel-good recipes that begins with a breakfast of olive oil granola, followed by steamed clams with Thai basil for lunch and a speedy supper of griddled halloumi with a sweet chilli sauce. There’s more from Nigella, though, in her Christmas special on Monday, December 14.

Tomorrow’s Food 9PM, BBC1 In the final episode of this eye-opening series, Dara O Briain finds out how tiny specks of fungus are turned into thousands of tonnes of high-protein Quorn, and investigates a genetically modified tomato that could reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer.

London Spy 9PM, BBC2 As this slow-burning espionage drama comes to a close, Danny (Ben Whishaw) finally discovers the shocking truth about what happened to his lover, and what really took place that night in the attic where he died. Hunting The Paedophiles: Inside The National Crime Agency 9PM, CH4 With unprecedented access inside the National Crime Agency, this powerful documentary follows the hunt for an online abuser who duped and blackmailed hundreds of teenage boys to share indecent images of themselves.

TUESDAY

The Royal Variety Performance 7.30PM, ITV See Pick of the Week, page 13.

Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas 8PM, CH4 Mother Christmas marks the 50th anniversary of the film The Sound Of Music with a trip to Austria, where she learns how to make a few of her favourite things – including woollen mittens and mulled wine.

Capital 9PM, BBC1 In the concluding part of this sharply scripted drama, the investigation into the ‘We want what you have’ campaign leads the police in an unexpected direction, Roger and Arabella reach a crossroads in their relationship, and Bogdan tries to change his life for the better.

The Great Pottery Throw Down 9PM, BBC2 It never reached the heights of The Great British Bake Off, but the amateur pottery competition has still exuded its own unique charm. As the winner is revealed, expect there to be tears from judge Keith Brymer Jones. There always are.

That’s So Last Century 10PM, CH4 In this hugely fun nostalgia series, celebrities – including James Corden and Vic Reeves – take a trip down memory lane to revisit the gadgets and gizmos of their childhood to see how well they have aged. The short answer: not very well.

WEDNESDAY

The Supervet 8PM, CH4 In the surgery this week are a Staffordshire bull terrier with complete paralysis in his back legs, and a Devon Rex cat that has been struck by a car and left with a severely broken pelvis. Can Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick come to the rescue?

The Apprentice 9PM, BBC1 The remaining six candidates are summoned to the London Aquatic Centre and set the task

of creating and producing a new health-food snack, and pitching it to three major retailers. You can get to know the candidates who pass this test a little better in The Apprentice: The Final Five, which follows at 10.35pm.

24 Hours In A&E 9PM, CH4 Patients young and old pitch up at St George’s this week as a five-year-old girl is rushed in with breathing difficulties, and an 83-year-old man arrives in a confused state after falling over.

Peep Show 10PM, CH4 Have Jeremy and Super Hans finally found success? It sounds unlikely, but it turns out that a song they wrote back in the noughties is an unexpected hit in Germany. But what effect will fame and money have on their friendship?

Suspects 10PM, CH5 The team investigate the shooting of a local vicar outside the club he runs for disaffected youths, and discover that the clergyman’s son knows more about the crime than he admits.

THURSDAY

Alex Polizzi’s Italian Islands 8PM, CH5 Gino D’Acampo is also on the largest island in the Mediterranean (see Friday), but first, it’s the turn of the Hotel Inspector to pay a visit to Sicily. The Last Kingdom 9PM, BBC2 As the rousing historical series ends its run, the big question is not whether Uhtred (Alexander Dreymon) can defeat the Danes, but whether he has done enough to secure a second series for the Saxon saga...

Britain’s Oldest Crooks 9PM, ITV Meet the pensioners who refuse to grow old gracefully, and are more likely to be found committing fraud, harassing their neighbours, shoplifting or even growing cannabis than sitting around with their pipe and slippers.

Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild UK 9PM, CH5 In the final episode of the series, Ben meets a man who turned his back on the American Dream to move his family 3,000 miles across the Atlantic to the most remote inhabited island in the UK, the windswept Fair Isle.

Lonely At Christmas 10PM, CH5 Christmas is traditionally a time of year spent with family and friends, but four million people in the UK will be spending the festive season alone. This desperately sad documentary meets four of them.

FRIDAY

Gino’s Italian Escape 8PM, ITV The ebullient chef travels from the beautiful Baroque towns of Noto and Modica to the foothills of Mount Etna to find out how Sicily’s fascinating history has influenced the food the islanders eat and the ingredients they use.

An Island Parish: Falklands 8.30PM, BBC2 The Rev Richard Hines faces his toughest challenge yet – the midwinter swim, an annual tradition that involves the islanders plunging into near-freezing Antarctic waters.

Have I Got News For You 9PM, BBC1 Newsnight’s Kirsty Wark and comedy writer Andy Hamilton are the guest panellists on this week’s edition of the satirical news quiz.

Alex Polizzi: Hire Our Heroes 9PM, BBC2 Rather than a hero’s welcome, most army veterans find a life of uncertainty and unemployment waiting for them when they return from active service. In this two-part special, Alex Polizzi finds out why so many exservice personnel find it difficult to find work, and helps four former soldiers to land jobs.

Piers Morgan’s Life Stories 9PM, ITV Timothy West – one of those rare actors to have appeared in both Coronation Street and EastEnders – discusses his long career, and talks movingly about his 52-year marriage to actress Prunella Scales, and how her battle with dementia has changed their lives.