BEST OF THE REST
A VERY ROYAL WEDDING ITV, 9pm
NEXT month will mark an incredible 70 years since our Queen married Prince Phillip.
Just a couple of years after the Second World War had ended, Britain was battered and broke and the happy occasion provided a huge morale boost and celebration for the country to get behind. More than 200 million people listened by radio, as the 21-year-old Elizabeth married her Royal hunk.
Alexander Armstrong looks back at what made the ‘People’s Wedding’ so special and meets people who played a role in the proceedings – a weaver and a seamstress who worked on the Princess’ stunning gown, and Prince Michael of Kent who – aged just five – was one of the Pageboys charged with carrying the 15ft veil. We also learn about the 9ft-high 500lb wedding cake and how King George VI apparently led a conga line.
999: WHAT’S YOUR EMERGENCY? Channel 4, 9pm
WE’RE in Wiltshire for the return of this series. It’s a county with eight Army bases and 1,500 military personnel – and long-standing tensions between squaddies and civilians. Drunken nights out from the barracks frequently result in violence and mass brawls.
In this first episode we see one soldier accused of sexual assault and another who punched a 76-year-old passerby and knocked him out cold – neither of whom can remember a thing the next day. It makes difficult, frustrating viewing: especially seeing the abuse those dealing with them (calmly and politely) have to endure. But the problems are increasingly coming from the other side – there are many former soldiers living in the area who are battling PTSD with little support.
JOHN TORODE’S ASIA Good Food, 9pm
THE MasterChef host is travelling all over Asia for this new series – in episode one alone we’re talking Mumbai, the Taj Mahal, Beijing and Hong Kong.
He’s basically exploring the cuisine of the whole continent: meeting top chefs, learning how to cook their speciality dishes, exploring local delicacies and eating his way across loads of different countries. Nice work if you can get it!
Although, to be fair, he does normally have to spend weeks trapped in a kitchen with Gregg Wallace…