BEST OF THE REST
HOW TO SPEND IT WELL AT CHRISTMAS WITH PHILLIP SCHOFIELD ITV, 8pm
WELL how jolly kind. Phillip Schofield has taken time out of his hectic schedule to road test, rate and review all the latest products for Christmas so we don’t have to.
He does indeed get stuck in, from tasting the top festive fizz – no hardship there – to trialling the latest yoga underwear and finding out if a pooping unicorn really is the top plaything.
This year’s must-have toys are under the spotlight in this episode.
Corrie star Simon Gregson, his wife Emma and their kids Alfie, nine, and Harry, seven, help rate new board games with other families in Manchester; there’s a Best In Show competition for four high-tech electronic pets; football star Chris Kamara helps test electric ride-on toys with some young drivers, and comedian Sally Phillips and her children try out some computer consoles.
But which will make Phillip’s top three picks for his own Christmas stocking?
EGYPTIAN TOMB HUNTING Channel 5, 9pm
THERE’S an astonishing moment in this great historical documentary from Tony Robinson, where he finds himself holding the 4,000-year-old heart of an Egyptian mummy.
Apparently whoever was burying the man, a prime minister no less, made a mistake and threw in a bag of preserving salt rather than the wrapped up heart. Easy mistake to make, eh.
Tony, best known for two historical roles – one in Blackadder and one as host of Time Team – is on an epic tomb hunting adventure across Egypt.
“It’s a magical land, one that contains more treasures and mysteries than anywhere else on Earth,” he says.
There’s plenty to grab your attention here. Tony enters tombs that have been sealed shut for thousands of years; discovers hieroglyphs only seen by the ancient Egyptians who created them; wades through waterlogged tunnels and squeezes into snake-infested chambers.
That doesn’t sound like the most cunning plan to us...