History becomes reality

THE running order chosen for a TV series is by no means insignificant. A brand new quiz, for example, will nearly always kick off with an episode where the contestants scoop the life-changing jackpot, or at least win a half-decent holiday a safe distance from the nearest war zone.

So I’m guessing the same principle applies to WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? (BBC1, 9pm), which tonight concludes its 16th series. I’m guessing the running order is determined by the comparative pulling power of the personalities taking part.Which is

my roundabout, semi-polite way of saying that Daniel Radcliffe, the subject of the first episode, is probably considered more interesting to the show’s typical viewer than reality star Mark Wright, formerly of TOWIE, who rounds off this latest run.

But it turns out Mark’s discoveries are as remarkable as any we’ve heard about in this series. His biggest motivation for tracing his roots isn’t so much self-discovery as to satisfy the curiosity of his grandad Eddie, whom he clearly worships.

How will Eddie react, however, when Mark discovers one of their ancestors was tortured by the Spanish Inquisition and another was burnt at the stake?

Elsewhere tonight, we’ve passed the halfway mark on INTERIOR DESIGN MASTERS (BBC2, 8pm), the series I keep wanting to call Interior Design Matters, until I remind myself that it doesn’t.

The five aspiring designers still in contention are set their toughest task to date: to tart up a couple of holiday lodges in Lincolnshire.

Split into teams of two and three, they’re given very specific instructions by judge Michelle Ogundehin. “The key thing,” she tells them, “is to agree a unified brief from the very beginning.”

But this turns out to be easier said than done, as they soon get their unified briefs in quite a twist.

Meanwhile, the big question in episode five of DEEP WATER (ITV, 9pm) is, er, what the heck is going on?

Although I’ve been following this Lake District thriller since the start (there’s not a single sympathetic character, but I’m a sucker for the scenery), I have to admit this latest instalment has thrown me into confusion.

At one point, as I watched my preview, I actually wondered if I’d accidentally skipped an entire episode.

How else to explain, for example, the baffling twist involving that chap who used to be Archie in Monarch Of

The Glen?

Anyway, this time next week it’ll all be over and everything will make perfect sense.

And then these dreadful people’s lives need concern me not a moment longer.