Ten to watch
1 RENEGADE NELL FROM TODAY, DISNEY+
Sally Wainwright – the writer behind Happy Valley, Gentleman Jack and Last Tango in Halifax
– is known for her strong, implacable women, and her new series about a formidable highwaywoman is no different. Louisa Harland (best known as Orla in Derry Girls) is Nell Jackson, a swashbuckling bright spark who finds herself on the run when falsely accused of murder. Responsible for her younger sisters after their father’s death, Nell turns to robbing the rich to survive – until a pixie-like creature called Billy Bland (Nick Mohammed) arrives to lead her on a journey to a higher, magical destiny.
2 A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW FROM TODAY, PARAMOUNT+
Ewan McGregor plays Count Alexander Rostov, a nobleman who, in 1922, escapes the Bolshevik death penalty after it is discovered he once wrote a poem in support of a revolution. Instead of a bullet to the head, he is exiled to a tatty attic room of a lavish hotel where he is left to languish away from the upheaval spreading through Russia. Over the next 16 years, he befriends a crew of hotel residents, including a young piano prodigy, a prince and a one-eyed cat.
3 THE FAMOUS FIVE TODAY 5.30PM, CBBC
All the worry over the reboot of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five series going “woke” ended up being nonsense when the first episode arrived over Christmas. The second – Peril on the Night
Train – is just as charming. We are in 1939 and Uncle Quentin is tinkering over his invention, a proto-computer he has dubbed the Algebra Engine, powerful enough to help Britain win the war. George, Julian, Dick, Anne and dog Timmy take it upon themselves to deliver the computer to the Secret Intelligence Service’s facility in Scotland. They board the Highland Sleeper to do so – but they’re not alone for the ride…
4 PILGRIMAGE: THE ROAD THROUGH NORTH WALES TONIGHT 9PM, BBC TWO
If I were one of the seven celebrities embarking on the BBC’s annual Easter pilgrimage this year, I’d be a bit miffed – previous treks have travelled through Portugal, Italy and Chile; this one is in… North Wales. That was until I saw the stunning Welsh scenery, of course – who needs sun when you’ve got the peaks of Eryri? Spencer Matthews, Christine McGuinness, Eshaan Akbar, Tom Rosenthal and Sonali Shah are among the famous faces following the route linked by churches dedicated to early Celtic Christian saints, sharing their own experiences of faith along the way.
5 MAMMALS SUN 7PM, BBC ONE
A bank holiday weekend calls for relaxing nature documentaries, and David Attenborough is back on the BBC with a new series just in time. Each of the six episodes will chart how mammals have adapted and evolved over the past 66 million years to become some of the most intelligent animals on Earth. Sunday’s opening episode focuses on how certain mammals have developed skills and senses to allow them to thrive in the dark, from the Etruscan shrew, which uses its sensitive whiskers to hunt, to the greater bulldog bats of Trinidad, which have learned how to fish.
6 PAUL O’GRADY’S GREAT ELEPHANT ADVENTURE SUN 8PM, ITV1
Before his sad death this time last year, Paul O’Grady swapped dogs for elephants, travelling through Thailand and Laos to meet the friendly giants that have been rescued and rehabilitated by specialist conservation centres. He begins in the hills near Chiang Mai – the “elephant capital” of Thailand – where the Elephant Nature Park is home to 116 elephants that have been saved from a hard life in the tourist industry or working in the logging industry. It’s difficult to hear how the elephants have been mistreated but ultimately uplifting to see them finally cared for.
7 THIS TOWN SUN 9PM, BBC ONE
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has just announced that the long-awaited film of his Brummy gangster drama will start filming later this year. But first, his latest series transports us to 80s Birmingham, when youth culture was taking over and the city’s music scene was exploding. We experience the period through the eyes of four young musicians (all played by relatively unknown actors) who form a band against the backdrop of unrest and violence.
8 MASTERCHEF MON 6.30PM, BBC ONE
Monday’s opening episode marks an impressive 20 series of the amateur version of MasterChef. There are 58 competing chefs this year, the first six here tasked with a new challenge, “Back to Basics”, in which they must take an everyday ingredient and turn it into something spectacular. To secure a spot in the quarterfinals, they’ll then have to make one of Gregg Wallace’s favourite dishes – gnocchi.
9 ROYAL AUTOPSY TUES 9PM, SKY HISTORY
Professor Alice Roberts and Home Office pathologist Brett
Lockyer return with a new series dissecting (not literally) the deaths of various monarchs throughout history. First up is George IV, otherwise known as “the party king”. Ruling for 10 years from 1820 until his death, George IV was famously overweight and spent his time drinking and squandering his money on lavish celebrations. But was it really his excessive lifestyle that caused his demise?
10 RIPLEY FROM THURS, NETFLIX
Andrew Scott is having quite the moment, following a Golden Globe-nominated turn in All of Us Strangers. His next role sees him take on Patricia Highsmith’s con artist Tom Ripley as he skulks about 60s New York, scraping a living by ripping people off. He senses an opportunity to make a lot of money when approached by a millionaire who wants Ripley to travel to Italy and convince his son to return home. But the story behind the man’s escape from the US is much darker than anticipated, and soon Ripley is embroiled in a world of deceit, fraud and murder.