TV PICKS OF THE WEEK
CHRISTMAS AT CASTLE HOWARD Today, Channel 4, 5.30pm
Retailers have had their decorations up for what seems like an age, and now broadcasters are really getting into the swing of things.
Among them is the final episode of this series, which focuses on what happens at the stately home in North Yorkshire during winter.
Theatrical designers Charlotte Lloyd Webber and Adrian Lillie have been tasked with creating fairytale-inspired installations to attract visitors. The search is also on for a tree large enough to fill the great hall’s dome – but there’s trouble brewing due to the weather.
THE EARTHSHOT PRIZE 2022 Tomorrow, BBC1, 5.30pm
This year’s ceremony for Prince William’s environmental awards comes from Boston in the US.
Five environmental solutions will be given £1m each to further their work helping to restore and protect our planet, and for the first time the list of finalists includes British projects – London start-up Notpla, which makes packaging from
seaweed and plants as an alternative to single-use plastic, and Low Carbon Materials (LCM), in County Durham, which uses unrecyclable plastic waste to make concrete blocks without carbon emissions.
THE BIG QUIZ: CORONATION STREET V EMMERDALE Monday, ITV, 9.15pm
It’s that time of year again, as Stephen Mulhern challenges teams from ITV’S biggest soaps to battle it out and prove they know the most about their show.
Jack P Shepherd is once again the captain of the Corrie team and is joined by Sally Dynevor and Ryan Russell. For the seventh year in a row, Jack will lock horns with Emmerdale captain Mark Charnock who is joined by co-stars Nicola Wheeler and Jurell Carter.
JAMIE’S EASY CHRISTMAS Tuesday, Channel 4, 8pm
Jamie Oliver is here with some easy dishes that will see us through the festive season – from nibbles to the big dinner on the day itself – but won’t require hours of prepping and the associated stress.
In the first episode, he’s concentrating on party food, offering no-fuss takes on crispy duck and noodles, short rib beef and veggie filo pie plus a decadent dessert.
I’M AN ALCOHOLIC: INSIDE RECOVERY Wednesday, BBC2, 9pm
Rooted in the evangelical Christianity of 1930s America, Alcoholics Anonymous is the longest-running addiction programme in the world.
The international mutual aid fellowship has also been operating in the UK for 75 years and has around 25,500 members here.
At a time when problem drinking is
on the increase, this programme has been granted access inside an AA meeting in central England.
Thanks to technology which substitutes their faces with those of actors, members share their stories while protecting their identities.
MASTERCHEF: THE PROFESSIONALS Thursday, BBC1, 8pm
The finals continue as the four remaining chefs create a dish inspired by a place close to their heart.
Next, the quartet cook a spectacular dish of their own creation in the hope of impressing food critics Jay Rayner, William
Sitwell, Leyla Kazim, Jimi Famurewa and April Jackson.
The critics will then will help judges Anna Haugh, Marcus Wareing and Gregg Wallace select three competitors to go through to next week’s final.
THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW Friday, BBC1, regions vary
Kate Winslet has been back in the UK recently to film Channel 4’s
I Am Ruth, which co-stars her daughter Mia Threapleton and aired yesterday, and to reunite with Russell T Davies for an audio revival of the 1980s children’s series Dark Season. Hopefully she’ll be talking about both – as well as her appearance in James Cameron’s Avatar sequel The Way of Water – on the sofa tonight.
Also appearing are Lenny Henry, former Bake Off champion Nadiya Hussein and comedian Jack Whitehall. Music is from Olly Murs.