HOT TV CHOICE

When Alan Carr was in the thick of his Chatty Man phase, who’d have dreamed that his next move would be reinventing himself as an interior design guru?!

Given his penchant for gaudy shirts, not me. But that’s how it’s panned out, and when Alan’s not splashing paint around dilapidated Italian gaffs and quaffing vino with his bessie mate Amanda Holden in Alan & Amanda’s Italian Job, he’s fronting Interior DESIGN MASTERS WITH ALAN CARR (8pm, BBC One).

The Changing Rooms-style series reaches its finale tonight after seven weeks of competitive redecorating of cafes, dressing rooms, hospitality boxes and nuns’ cells (yes, truly), with lots of wacky room themes and squabbles between contestants.

Alan’s upbeat disposition is a perfect counterpoint to judge Michelle Ogundehin’s more serious attitude, and tonight’s swansong to series five promises more fireworks when the finalists redecorate holiday cottages in the grounds of Blenheim Palace.

As a sickly sailor who feels queasy just looking at a canoe, I can’t imagine willingly racing out on raging seas to save those in peril. So I marvel at the heroics in SAVING LIVES AT SEA (8pm, BBC Two), which showcases the bravery and derring-do of Britain’s lifeboat crews. To think they’re all volunteers, as well – they’re better people than I.

Tonight’s feats of valour on the high seas include Cornwall’s Port Isaac crew speeding to aid a woman with a spinal injury who’s stranded on a rockface just as daylight fades. It’s life-and-death action and utterly gripping.