MUST-SEE SHOWS
STRICTLY COME DANCING Tonight, BBC1, 7.25pm
FOLLOWING last week’s launch show, the 12 couples take to the floor for their debuts in the first live episode. The pandemic means that for now there are only three judges, Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse – Bruno Tonioli is set to miss some of the early live shows due to the difficulties of commuting between Britain and the US.
However, there will still be glitz, fancy footwork and presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman.
The celebs won’t face being booted off this week. The scores will be carried over to next week, when the public will get a say in who stays and who goes.
THE OLIVIER AWARDS 2020 Tomorrow, ITV, 10.20pm
THESE have been very difficult times for the performing arts, but here’s a chance to remind ourselves of the best of British theatre as Jason Manford hosts the awards from the London Palladium. There are some impressive names in the running, including Toby Jones, James
McAvoy, Wendell Pierce and Andrew Scott for Best Actor, while the Best Actress nominees are Hayley Atwell, Sharon D Clarke, Juliet Stevenson and Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
MORNING LIVE Monday, BBC1, 9.15am
HOSTED by Kym Marsh and Gethin Jones, this new daily morning programme is designed to “kick-start the day and reflect the mood of the nation” in the run up to Christmas. Each day, the hosts will be joined by a familiar face from the BBC daytime presenting family including Dr Xand van Tulleken, Rav Wilding, Anna Haugh, Will Kirk and Sabrina Grant.
AUTUMNWATCH Tuesday, BBC2, 8pm
MICHAELA STRACHAN could only make guest appearances from South Africa on this year’s Springwatch but thankfully she is ‘falling back’ into her role for the Beeb’s Autumnwatch 2020. She will be based at Tentsmuir Forest in Fife, where she will be covering, among other things, a live camera on the Isle of May as grey seals haul out for pupping. Meanwhile Chris Packham is staying close to his home in the New Forest, Gillian Burke is at RSPB Old Moor in South Yorkshire, and Iolo Williams at the Centre for Alternative Technology near Aberystwyth.
DAMILOLA: THE BOY NEXT DOOR
Wednesday, Channel 4, 9pm
ON NOVEMBER 27, 2000, 10-year-old Damilola Taylor was on his way home from Peckham Library, when he was stabbed in the leg with a broken bottle on a dank concrete stairwell. He died in hospital from the wounds.
To mark the 20th anniversary of his death, Capital Xtra presenter Yinka Bokinni, who was a childhood friend of ‘Dami’, discusses the impact of the tragic event.
In the aftermath of the crime, the ‘notorious’ North Peckham Estate, which had been seen as a hotbed of gangs, drugs and violence since the 1980s, was demolished and the families dispersed. However, Yinka remembers it as a warm, loving and happy community, rather than the “sink estate” that was somehow to blame for the tragic loss of a young life.
999: CRITICAL CONDITION
Thursday, Channel 5, 9pm SAMANTHA is enjoying a trip to an adventure park with her family when she collapses, unable to move or talk. Trauma
team leader Dr Ann-Marie Morris discovers Samantha has a severe bleed inside her brain and explains to her husband that she needs immediate surgical intervention.
LATER – WITH JOOLS HOLLAND
Friday, BBC2, 10pm
THE host welcomes Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker to his show, talking to him about his musical journey and punctuating the chat with clips from the Later... archive. Cocker has been on many a Later... and Hootenanny show, albeit most recently in 2006, when he unveiled his debut solo album.
Aside from the headline act, debutants Greentea Peng and Working Men’s Club also make an appearance.