BEST DAYTIME TV PROGRAMMES

Quizzes, dramas and chat shows to test your TV

The travesty with daytime TV is that so few people get to see it. But its value is something we’ve known about for years. Much of our TV testing is done with whatever’s on UK TV during office hours. And, as far as we’re concerned, the shows below give anything on Netflix a run for its money. From gaudy studio colour schemes to sweeping country landscapes, as well as the ability to hop between standard and high-def versions, there is so much about daytime TV that will help you adjust your TV’S settings and get the best possible picture.

BARGAIN HUNT

Two teams hunt for antique bargains, clad in red and blue fleeces, and try to lose as little money as possible when they sell the items at auction. Those fleeces are vital for spotting the contestants as they shuffle around dusty antique shops, and the juxtaposition is a stern test for your TV’S colour and contrast.

COME DINE WITH ME

The premise of Come Dine With Me is five people each host a dinner party and mock each other’s cooking. The winner gets £1000 that they can use to paint their living room a different shade of beige. If you can stomach the frequent embarrassment, it’s the kind of no-frills production that gives you a decent idea of how natural a picture you’re getting from your TV.

FOUR IN A BED

Who knew the world of bed and breakfast could be so cutthroat? Kind of a sister programme to Come Dine With Me, this one follows four sets of B&B owners as they stay at each other’s establishments and pay however much of the bill they reckon it’s worth. The best bit is the final episode of the week where they reveal the payments – there is always one who underpays everyone and claims a hollow victory.

ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY

This one is about couples who have made loads of money in the city and, now that their kids have fled the nest, want to live somewhere with less going on.

While it is usually their old neighbours who appear to have made the real escape, the show leaves us in no doubt how lucky we are to live in a country with landscapes so devastatingly beautiful as the UK. There are many shades of green for your TV to sift through, and it’ll be a test for how well it represents depth as much as colour differentiation or detail.

A PLACE IN THE SUN

Another stone cold classic with Tv-tuning benefits similar to those of Escape To The Country, only a bit like being on holiday. These people want to find a house in a different, sunnier country, so expect a lot more bright blue skies and seas contrasting with white sands and colourful, celebratory cocktails.

POINTLESS

We could have put any daytime quiz show in here; most share the same bright, migraine-inducing lights that challenge the colour control of any set. But Pointless is the best of the bunch, both for its concept of having to choose the correct answer that fewest people know and for the on-screen camaraderie of Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman.

NEWS

Essentially the world’s first reality TV show, the news is not only broadcast 24/7, 365, but comes in a variety of guises, thanks to myriad rolling news channels. It looks like a quiz show with its lurid colour schemes and without the need to know anything in advance – and the filter-free out-of-studio action means you get a varied example of what your TV picture is doing.

THIS MORNING

These early morning magazine shows are pretty much all mad as a box of frogs – but none more so than This Morning. Made all the more surreal by the fact the actual Prime Minister could be interviewed only moments before a sheep possessed by the spirit of a goat, it has that same picture diversity as the news, except you’re not expected to learn anything.

HOMES UNDER THE HAMMER

This is the only daytime show to feature a Premier League winner and member of the Coventry City Hall of Fame, Dion Dublin, who joined this BBC show in 2015. As the team clamber around grotty buildings, your TV should make the most of any dark detail dredged up from stained carpets and holes in walls.

DOCTORS

Proving that you can make a successful TV soap with no budget, Doctors celebrated its 20th birthday this year. Set in a fictional doctor’s surgery, there’s a lack of polish that gives the picture a hyper-realistic quality. With a sharp enough screen, you should even notice the grain in some of the wooden performances.