COUNCIL HOUSE BRITAIN

PLANET EARTH: A CELEBRATION

“We are living in extraordinary times,” intones David Attenborough at the start of this compilation of some of the most memorable sequences from Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II. He frames it as an emergency respite from the crisis currently surrounding us. A rather lofty pretext for a clip show, perhaps, but there’s no arguing with its content. Highlights include the bittersweet saga of a snow leopard and her cub, some flamingos performing a comical courtship dance, and that quite frankly distressing sequence in which baby iguanas are chased by snakes. It’s not all old content; Hans Zimmer and Jacob Shea have composed a new symphonic score featuring piano contributions from the acclaimed rapper and singersongwriter Dave.

THE DIAGNOSIS DETECTIVES

Monday, BBC Two, 9pm

This sensitive new series is hosted by Dr Michael Moseley, who in recent years has become the ubiquitous face of medical matters on television. But he’s a pleasant chap who knows his onions, so it would be churlish to complain. His mission this time around is to provide diagnoses for desperate patients whose unusual symptoms have baffled doctors up until now. So he’s assembled 12 of the UK’S leading medical experts to hopefully succeed where others have failed. Their first case studies are a 75-year-old man with severely swollen eyes and a 71-year-old woman who suffers from constant nausea. The team explore various theories to explain their conditions. We also gain insight into the methods and motivations of these remarkable physicians.

Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm

Don’t be put off by the title, this isn’t another poor-bashing series from the channel that once brought you Benefits Street. On the contrary, it’s a humane appraisal of life in the London borough of Southwark, where more than 100,000 people live in council housing. A prominent figure in episode one is Charmain, a sympathetic local housing officer who was raised on a council estate. “These people are proud,” she says, “They want a good life for themselves and their families.” The programme doesn’t paint a naively positive picture of the housing system, it’s openly critical of Universal Credit and private rent increases, but it celebrates good people and challenges ignorant, patronising assumptions. It’s a force for good.