Highlights and listings.
NATURE
Autumnwatch
Chris Packham was apparently “heartbroken” when his ‘ TV wife’ Michaela Strachan could only make guest appearances from South Africa on this year’s Springwatch. Well, the good news is that Michaela is back for Autumnwatch 2020. She’ll be based at Tentsmuir Forest in Fife, to cover a live camera set- up on the Isle of May as the grey seals haul out for pupping. While Chris is staying close to his home in the New Forest, Gillian Burke is at RSPB Old Moor in South Yorkshire, and Iolo Williams at the Centre for Alternative Technology near Aberystwyth. Admittedly, Autumnwatch doesn’t feature the colossal natural world as chronicled cinematically by David Attenborough, but it shines a light on the natural world down the road. Tuesday, BBC2, 8pm
TRAVEL Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime
In the final show of his retrospective series, the presenter revisits Sahara with Michael Palin, the four- part documentary first broadcast in 2002. In some ways this was his most personal travelogue, as it was inspired by the apparent emptiness of the desert as seen from a flight and his boyhood dreams of exploration. Highlights include a visit to the Smara refugee camp and a magical trek with Touareg nomads, into deep desert as part of a camel train.
Tomorrow, BBC Two, 8pm
ENTERTAINMENT
Strictly Come Dancing
Last week, we got the launch show and found out which celebrities had been paired with which professionals. Now it’s time to see the partnerships in action as the 12 couples take to the floor to make their debut performances in the first live episode. The pandemic means there have been some changes - for a start, there are only three judges, Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse, as Bruno Tonioli is set to miss some of the early live shows due to the difficulties of commuting between Britain and the United States of America. However, there will still be glitz, fancy footwork and presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. Plus, as in previous years, the celebs won’t face being booted off this week. Instead, their scores will be carried over to next week, when the public will get a say in who stays and who goes.
Today, BBC1, 7.25pm
MUSIC Celine Dion: Secrets of Her Biggest Hits
Ask most people to name Celine Dion’s signature song, and there’s a good chance they will say My Heart Will Go On, her anthem from the movie Titanic. However, that isn’t one of the songs in the spotlight in this documentary, which explores three other hits that played a pivotal role in her evolution from French- Canadian child star to world- conquering diva. It starts with the 1996 US chart- topper Because You Loved Me, as awardwinning songwriter Diane Warren talks about working with Celine and what the track meant to them. Next up, it’s the overblown It’s All Coming Back to Me Now, as video director Nigel Dick reveals why the operatic song needed a cinematic video to match. Producer Peer Astrom discusses how the singer put her own twist on her cover of I Drove All Night.
Today, C5, 11.10pm
DRAMA
Roadkill
Peter ( Hugh Laurie) is the new Minister for Justice, which makes it a particularly bad time for him to learn, via Duncan ( Iain Decaestecker, who recently starred as the younger version of Tom Hollander’s character in Us), that scandalous photos of his youngest daughter Lily ( Millie Brady) are about to hit the newspapers. Sadly, that isn’t the only problem that Peter is facing at home in David Hare’s drama, as his family is starting to ask questions.
Tomorrow, BBC1, 9pm