What not to miss in the week ahead
NATURE
Winterwatch
Stay warm and cosy as you catch up with Winterwatch regulars Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and Iolo Williams as they kick off the week at RSPB Arne in Dorset, where winter is revealing a cast of nocturnal characters.
Live cameras are poised to capture the family dynamics of foxes, brazen badgers and if we’re lucky, a whitetailed eagle … or two.
Over the four-part series playing on consecutive nights this week, which includes a music-free episode to better enjoy the sounds of nature, Iolo heads over to Brownsea Island to introduce us to the wealth of waders that flock here in winter, while Gillian Burke has been out exploring the isles of Orkney, which are closer to the Arctic Circle than they are to London. Tuesday to Friday, BBC2, 8pm
ENTERTAINMENT
Gladiators
The BBC attempts to take back some of ITV’S Saturday night audience with a reboot of the show which sees plucky members of the public take on the gym bunnies and athletes making up the Gladiators, who are all known by nicknames such as Legend, Sabre and Viper.
Father and son team, Bradley and Barney Walsh, have landed the presenting gig in the revamped version with football commentator Guy Mowbray describing the action. Today, BBC1, 5:50pm
DOCUMENTARY
American Mercenaries: Killing In Yemen
Yemen’s nine year-long civil war has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. When a coalition formed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi
Arabia invaded Yemen in 2015, its stated aim was to return the elected government to power, and to fight terrorism.
However, an investigation by BBC Arabic Investigations finds evidence that the UAE has been funding a method of covert warfare in southern Yemen – assassinating those who have spoken out against the UAE’S operations in the country.
Nawal Al-maghafi reports how a wave of assassinations in Yemen was kicked off in 2015 by a band of former American Special Forces operatives turned mercenaries, who were paid by the UAE. These extra-judicial killings, conducted in the name of counterterrorism, continue to this day.
Monday, BBC2, 11:15pm
DRAMA
Finders Keepers
This new four-part Channel 5 drama taps into the boom in metal detecting and sees Neil Morrissey play keen detectorist Martin, who together with his daughter’s fiancé Ashley, played by James Buckley, find a hoard of Saxon treasure worth millions. Instead of declaring their find, the pair decide to keep it and sell it privately, believing it will set them both up for life.
Of course, things aren’t so straightforward as their plan spirals out of control with local ex con Rocky (Shane Attwooll) and DS Doyle (Takhee Thakra) both looking for the loot.
Wednesday, Channel 5, 9pm
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Trump: The Return?
Former ITV Washington Correspondent Robert Moore, who reported extensively during the 6 January Capitol Hill riots, takes the temperature as America begins an election year with former president Donald Trump in a significant lead in polling over incumbent Joe Biden, ahead of what he has described as his 'final battle.'
Despite the many federal and state charges facing Trump, the man who has dominated and transformed American political life is convulsing and dividing the nation again and could become the next president of the United States of America. Tuesday, STV, 9pm