PICK OF TODAY’S TV

THE MORMONS ARE COMING, 9PM, BBC2

MEMBERS of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — or Mormons — are encouraged to volunteer as missionaries, leaving their homes for up to two years to spread the word. There are roughly 53,000 of them, most aged between 18 and 25, who are tasked with persuading people to take up the faith in town centres and homes the world over. Mormons first arrived in Preston, Lancashire, in 1837, and nearby Chorley is now the site of a purpose-built centre — the biggest of its kind in Europe — that gets the young believers ready for service in the UK. Now, cameras have been allowed within the centre’s walls for the first time, and this eye-opening documentary follows three of the passionate volunteers in training and in the field. Sister Cooper from Hertfordshire and Elder Cook from Utah in the U.S. (pictured) are among those learning new skills — including marketing and social media techniques — that will help them to bring in new recruits to the Church. It’s a demanding life — the students have to accept a strict timetable while forsaking many of the trappings of modern life, as well as having limited contact with their families — and the pressure to notch up a first baptism soon begins to mount . . .