PICK OF THE WEEK

SATURDAY

John and Lisa’s Christmas Kitchen (STV, 11.40am)

John Torode and Lisa Faulkner present a second Christmas special of their Weekend Kitchen show, which, according to Lisa, will be slightly more scaled down that last year’s version. “I think it’s going to be a smaller Christmas and we’ve done alternatives and ways you can cook for a smaller group,” she says. Among the dishes are ham in parsley sauce, and curried puffs and potato bombas. Lisa also prepares her grandmother’s recipe for traditional mincemeat, which can be used in both mince pies and a festive frangipane layer cake.

Jungle Mystery: Lost Kingdoms of the Amazon (C4, 6.30pm)

Thanks to new technologies that can ‘see through the trees’, archaeologists are making astonishing discoveries perhaps confirming that sophisticated ancient civilisations and cities once thrived across the Amazon basin. In this new series, explorer, paleoanthropologist and stand-up comic Ella al-Shamahi looks for a definitive answer to one of the world’s ancient mysteries: did giant cities once flourish in the Amazon rainforest? Tonight, she lands in the jungles of Brazil and meets archaeologists investigating mysterious geometric shapes that have been revealed in the landscape by extensive deforestation. She also joins an indigenous community for whom these discoveries could be essential to establishing their land rights today. Can she help them prove that this land has been theirs for centuries?

Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1, 7.25pm)

Everyone loves Musicals Week on Strictly. In 2018, Stacey Dooley’s American smooth to Les Miserables and Faye Tozer’s Lonely Goatherd Charleston both got standing ovations, as did Abbey Clancy’s Saturday Night Fever salsa back in 2013. And this year’s remaining celebs will be hoping for a similar outcome as Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman invite them to take to the floor for tonight’s quarter final. Following a Priscilla-themed routine from the professionals, the pressure is well and truly on the couples as they aim to dazzle and bring a taste of Broadway to the studio. With the final looming ever closer, who will impress the judges, including Mr Musical Theatre himself, Craig Revel Horwood?

It’ll Be Alright on the Night (STV, 8.30pm)

David Walliams returns with the iconic show, originally presented by Denis Norden, and then by Griff Rhys Jones, to present a compilation of TV clangers. Thankfully, there isn’t any old footage tonight, as the clips are taken from the programmes broadcast over the past year. There are live on-air blunders from Stormzy, Robbie Williams, Craig Revel Horwood, Jonathan Ross and Ant & Dec, as well as a series of outtakes starring will.iam and Jeremy Clarkson. Meanwhile, two toddlers run rings around Kay Burley, and Vicky Pattison

casting. In this version the ghostbusting crew are played by Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, with Chris Hemsworth as the quartet’s daffy receptionist. It doesn’t match up to the original and the story doesn’t always hang together but McCarthy and Wiig are on top comic form.

The Magnificent Seven (2016) (C5, 10pm)

Grieving widow Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) and her friend Teddy (Luke Grimes) enlist the services of bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington) to kill greedy industrialist Bartholomew Bogue, who is terrorizing the God-fearing folk of Rose Creek. Moved by Emma’s tearful plight, the gunslinger corrals six men of dubious character to wage war in Rose Creek. The Magnificent Seven is a stylish western remake that lassos a stellar cast and a rollicking soundtrack.

TUESDAY

A Most Violent Year (2014) (Sony Movies, 9pm)