Top TV Picks
Paul Merson: Football, Gambling and Me
BBC One, Monday
The former footballer looks back on the ways that gambling has affected his life, and questions if enough is being done to prevent young people from becoming addicted. He begins by talking to his former Arsenal teammate Wes Reid about the first step on the road to addiction, as well as meeting other footballers whose habits have cost them millions. The programme also examines how new technology is making the gambling industry more insidious with the ability to gather information about customers.
Blair and Brown: The New Labour Revolution
BBC Two, Monday
A landslide victory puts the Labour party back into power after nearly two decades. Tony Blair, who had never previously held a cabinet position, is now Prime Minister. A steep and daunting learning curve lays ahead of him. As he grapples with the vast government machine, Gordon Brown hits the ground running. His first move as Chancellor is to make the Bank of England independent – a seismic change that Brown announces in his first days in office. As their popularity ratings soar, cracks start to appear from within the New Labour operation.
Code of a Killer
ITV, Monday
Drama telling the true story of how a brilliant scientist and pioneering detective joined forces to create the most significant advance in modern criminal investigation. In 1984, Dr Alec Jeffreys (John Simm) unlocks a remarkable technique to read every person's unique DNA fingerprint, while a few miles away, DCS David Baker
(David Threlfall) leads the search for the murderer of a local schoolgirl. Two years later, a second youngster is killed and a teenager confesses – but denies the first crime. Certain that the same man was responsible for both incidents, Baker approaches Jeffreys to help prove his theory.
England V Hungary
ITV, Tuesday
England v Hungary (Kick-off 7.45pm). Mark Pougatch presents coverage of the FIFA World Cup Group I qualifier at Wembley Stadium.
Hunting the Essex Lorry Killers
ITV, Wednesday
Documentary revealing how Essex Police caught the people responsible for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants found in the trailer of an articulated lorry in October 2019.
Spanning Britain, Europe and Vietnam, the film shows how detectives cracked open a multi-millionpound international smuggling ring, with its roots in a seemingly innocuous haulage business in the heart of Northern Ireland. The film also travels to Vietnam to meet the families of some of those who died in the back of the lorry, hearing their stories of losing loved ones on the false promise of a new life in the UK.