MUST-SEE SHOWS
ALL ROUND TO MRS BROWN’S Tonight, BBC1, 9.15pm
OH MAMMY! Brendan O’Carroll’s famous creation is back on the box, but rather than offering us further insights into her family life, she’s throwing open the doors to her home and inviting in celebrity guests while playing tricks on the audience and introducing outrageous stunts.
“The entire cast is excited by this,” says Brendan. “I think Agnes may be worried that she’ll need a bigger kettle to make tea for everyone that’s coming round!”
Those taking part in the first episode include actress Pamela Anderson, X Factor judge Louis Walsh and Andy’s mum Judy Murray, while music comes from James Blunt.
TOP GEAR Tomorrow, BBC2, 8pm
AFTER the false start of last year’s series, Matt Le Blanc has helped revitalise this rebooted show with regulars Rory Reid and Chris Harris.
This week, Chris and Matt race across the Arabian peninsula, pitting the Bugatti Chiron (a bargain at just under £2.2m) against an assortment of other ways of travelling – with money no object.
Meanwhile, Rory puts city cars to the test with a life-size arcade game, and Tinie Tempah takes to the track in a Toyota GT86.
AMAZING HOTELS: LIFE BEYOND THE LOBBY Monday, BBC2, 9pm
GILES COREN and Monica Galetti roll up their sleeves for this new series and learn about the work that goes into offering visitors a once-in-a-lifetime experience in some incredible locations.
First up is Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, which was created as part of a government plan to triple tourist income within 10 years. It cost £3.5bn to build, caters to more than a million guests a year and boasts the longest elevated infinity pool in the world (it’s the equivalent of three Olympic-sized pools).
STARGAZING LIVE AUSTRALIA Tuesday, BBC2, 8pm
PROFESSOR Brian Cox and Dara O Briain travel to Australia to explore the night skies, with the programme joining them as they finish a long night under the stars and as dawn approaches.
Brian and Dara are joined by Liz Bonnin on a mountain top in New South Wales, site of the Siding Spring Observatory, and will have outback-astronomer Greg Quicke as their guide to the southern sky, revealing some of the wonderful star tales told by indigenous people.
MASTERCHEF Wednesday, BBC1, 8pm
JOHN TORODE and Gregg Wallace return to put 64 more amateur cooks to the test.
The first eight hopefuls begin by creating a dish using ingredients chosen from the new ‘MasterChef market’, stocked full of produce from all over the world.
Only five contestants will survive the first round, and the remaining cooks are then challenged to prepare a twocourse meal to secure a place in the quarter-final.
RICH HOUSE, POOR HOUSE Thursday, Channel 5, 9pm
FAMILIES from opposite ends of the wealth and class divide swap homes, budgets and social status for seven days to see how the other half lives.
This week, the Caddy family of Bristol trade places with the Williams family from Westonsuper-Mare. The Caddys rank in the top 10% of Britain’s wealthy, and live in a seven-bedroom home, while for the eight-strong Williams family, who are among the nation’s poorest 10%, the swap means leaving their rented three-bed house and enjoying a weekly budget of £1,700 instead of their usual £110.
SPECTACULAR SPAIN WITH ALEX POLIZZI
Friday, Channel 5, 9pm ALEX shares her passion for Spain’s culture and people, and makes some new discoveries along the way. She begins in the north-east, enjoying a cabernet grape body scrub, before being shown around an astonishing cellar full of ancient wines.
Alex experiences the craziness of the San Fermin fiesta, including the legendary running of the bulls through the streets of Pamplona, before heading to Barcelona – Spain’s second largest city.