CRITIC’S CHOICE

PICK OF THE DAY Whitstable Pearl

9pm, Drama

Single mother Pearl (played by Kerry Godliman, left) pursues a lifelong ambition to become a private detective, running her sleuthing from her family’s oyster restaurant in Whitstable, Kent. If that sounds like the latest entry in the booming canon of cosy-crime TV, then prepare yourself to be disabused of that notion. Based on the novels by former EastEnders scriptwriter Julie Wassmer, this slice of Kent noir has a chilly, out-of-season vibe to it – more The Bay than Return To Paradise. In this opening mystery, Pearl investigates the suspicious death of a friend – an oyster supplier found caught up and drowned in his anchor chain.

=== The Dog House

8pm, Channel 4

The human/canine version of First Dates continues with India needing a special pup to stand by her side when her Tourette’s draws stares from strangers. The hope is that plucky Jack Russell Pancakes will fit the bill. Meanwhile, cockapoo puppy Annie is a whirlwind, and it’s love at first sight for seven-year-old Lottie.

=== The Apprentice

9pm, BBC One

Lord Sugar’s candidates jet off to the capital city of Hungary, Budapest, which is celebrating its 150th birthday. The teams hope to capitalise on booming tourism to sell and run their own boat and vineyard tours. What did the Hungarians do to deserve this, you might be thinking, as one team focuses on fun over facts, while on the other, a last-minute change of plan puts a spanner in the works?

=== Darren McGarvey: The State We’re In

9pm, BBC Two

Beginning his journey in a Belfast hospital, where he meets patients waiting days to be seen, Darren McGarvey concludes his state-ofthe-nation survey by looking at the parlous condition of the NHS. With GPs facing increasing patient numbers while doctors abandon the profession due to stress, he sits in as one medic tries to tackle what seems a never-ending queue of patients.

=== The Rise And Fall Of Boris Johnson

9pm, Channel 4

And so, to the fall. After securing the biggest Conservative majority in 30 years, Johnson’s administration was almost immediately hit by the pandemic. Struck by the infection himself, he spent time in intensive care before returning to No 10 to lead the search for a vaccine. However, the “Partygate” scandals would later lead to public outcry and eventually his resignation.

=== Things You Should Have Done

9pm, BBC Three

The Australian comedian and former Taskmaster contestant Sarah Kendall guests in the opening instalment of

the final double bill of Lucia Keskin’s deadpan funny sitcom. Kendall plays the lifeguard, bartender and resident compère at a Ramsgate holiday caravan park, whither Chi (Keskin) has taken Auntie Karen (Selin Hizli) after Karen is “diagnosed as uptight”.

=== Warplane Workshop

9pm, More4

Engineer and pilot Richard Grace and his team try to complete an epic 40-year project to return the RAF’s fastest wartime fighter to the sky. The Hawker Tempest could reach about 500mph, but it weighs six tons and it is so complex that missing parts have to be recreated by hand. Then Grace must find someone who is prepared to fly a fire-breathing 3,000-horsepower monster.