BEST OF THE REST

LOVE YOUR HOME AND GARDEN

ITV, 8pm

AS ALAN TITCHMARSH is at pains to point out, a home and garden are not just walls and rooms and patches of grass. They are places that bring families together.

In the case of the family in tonight’s episode, their home and garden is actually doing the opposite.

Benita, a carer for children with disabilities, also looks after her 15-yearold son Josh, who has multiple disabilities.

But the mother and son have become confined to the house. Their kitchen is so tiny, they can’t be in it together and Josh’s wheelchair won’t fit through the back door so the neglected garden is completely off limits.

As Josh gets older, caring for him at home with no space or freedom of movement is a nightmare.

“There must be times when you feel trapped,” Alan says to Benita, giving her a hug.

Of course Alan and his team know just what to do and overhaul the entire place.

Be warned, it’s emotional.

A DANGEROUS DYNASTY: HOUSE OF ASSAD

BBC2, 9pm

THE compelling story of a Syrian dynasty that is entrenched in brutality and violence is told in this documentary series that could rival any drama.

It delves into the saga of the Assad family, a mafia-esque clan which has ruled Syria for over 40 years.

At the centre of it are President Bashar and his British-born wife Asma, who met in London while Bashar was training as an eye doctor at St Mary’s Hospital and she was in investment banking.

The couple were at first seen as a modernising force for Syria, but ended up running a regime accused of war crimes, including gassing their own people.

The film asks, how could a mildmannered doctor end up killing hundreds of thousands of people?

Told through rarely seen footage and testimony of those who knew them, worked with them and studied them, this begins with a look at how Bashar became president when his older brother died in a car accident.