TV PICKS OF THE WEEK
ROMEO & DUET Today, ITV, 7pm
It’s no wonder Oti Mabuse decided to quit Strictly Come Dancing in February, after seven years on the show.
The South African star and Latin American champion is a busy woman, having recently appeared as a celebrity detective on The Masked Dancer and having joined Dancing On Ice as a new judge.
Her latest project is this dating show which sees single love seekers stand on a balcony as they are serenaded by potential love matches that they can hear, but not see.
The newly formed couple then heads off on a duet-date to learn, you’ve guessed it, a duet, before returning later in the show to perform that duet in the ultimate romantic love battle – a singing competition against the other couples to be crowned the winners.
DOCTOR WHO Tomorrow, BBC1, 7.10pm
It’s almost all over for Jodie Whittaker – following on from the excellent New Year’s Day special, this is the second of three standalone episodes this year before she hands over her Tardis key to whoever has been chosen to play the 14th incarnation of the Time Lord.
We’re promised a swashbuckling tale which sees classic foes the Sea Devils return for the first time since 1984’s Warriors of the Deep.
MARY BERRY’S FANTASTIC FEASTS
Monday, BBC2, 8pm Rima, mother-in-law Diane, and best friend Noreen, plan a surprise 30th-birthday feast for Rima’s husband Mark. The trio are novice cooks but fortunately Mary is on hand to guide them through a menu of blinis, salmon en croute and a chocolate ganache cake. Mary also enlists former Strictly pro Janette Manrara and TV personality Scarlett Moffatt to help.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL Tuesday, ITV, 8pm
He’s played Ken Barlow since the first episode of Coronation Street aired in 1960, earning him a Guinness World Record as the longest-running TV soap star. Now, actor William Roache is reaching another milestone – his 90th birthday. This documentary looks at his legacy and achievements with appearances from co-stars including Anne Reid, who played Ken’s first wife Valerie and is returning to the Rovers after five decades, for an emotional reunion.
Sir Ian Mckellen narrates.
INSIDE NO 9 Wednesday, BBC2, 10pm
The dark comedy anthology show, written by and usually starring Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith,
is back for a seventh series.
Two familiar faces make guest appearances in the opening episode – Diane Morgan of Mandy fame, and Pemberton and Shearsmith’s old friend and League of Gentlemen colleague Mark Gatiss.
The plot focuses on three men at a university reunion party aboard a boat. Unfortunately, choppy waters are ahead...
LUXURY FASHION FOR LESS
Thursday, Channel 4, 8pm After two years in our PJS, Britain is getting back to fashion. But as the cost of living soars, how can you
dress to impress? Sophie Morgan and Michelle Ackerley meet insiders who spill the beans on how to buy luxury labels at huge discounts.
They find almost identical clothes being sold by well-known brands at very different prices, and show you
exactly where to get today’s highstreet fashions for a third less.
GREGG WALLACE’S ISLAND GETAWAY Friday, Channel 5, 7pm
Madeira is a sub-tropical land with plenty of surprises, as Gregg Wallace discovers. The presenter gets up close to a family of whales, takes a hike in an ancient forest and slides down a mountain in a 100-year-old basket – apparently, it’s a Madeira rite of passage.
The Masterchef judge also samples the local delicacies, discovering a tropical fruit he never knew existed.