Friday
The Secret World of Posh Pets ITV, 8.00PM; NOT STV, UTV OR WALES
Early on in this jaw-dropping documentary, we are informed that the prestige pet industry is apparently worth close to £6 billion. It seems like a ludicrous figure but as the episode progresses you come to understand why. The world is full of people who think nothing of buying bundles of clothes and endless toys for their pets, who commission paintings of them and pay for manicures, and who even, in the case of Kentish entrepreneur Debi and her former poker player husband Bob, organise £4,000 weddings for them. It’s hard to know whether to laugh, cry or shout in fury watching Debi’s pampered Chihuahua Honey get fitted for a miniature veil as her owner discusses whether she can order a two-tier wedding cake with one layer for humans and the other for dogs. Yet behind all the madness, Debi does clearly love Honey and is she really harming anyone with her grandiose dreams? SH
Count Arthur Strong BBC ONE, 8.30PM
The Graham Linehan/Steve Delaney sitcom reaches new heights of daffiness as Arthur (Steve Delaney) and Eggy (Dave Plimmer) unveil their “soupover”, essentially a sleepover with added soup that Arthur claims commemorates the First World War. Michael (Rory Kinnear doing perpetually bemused exceptionally well) is unconvinced. SH