FIVE OF THE BEST
Best Home Cook
BBC1, 8pm
The contestants are given just three hours to produce their ultimate children’s birthday cake – and as if that were not tough enough, Mary Berry reminds them she knows a thing or two about baking. This is followed by Chris Bavin’s challenge to rustle something up from leftovers, and he makes the task twice as hard by stripping back the contents of the larders. The judges then decide who will have to compete in Angela Hartnett’s eliminator, by the end of which another contestant will be hanging up their apron. Claudia Winkleman hosts.
Baby Chimp Rescue
BBC2, 8pm
New arrivals keep arriving at the chimpanzee orphanage in Liberia, bringing Jimmy and Jenny Desmond and their team to breaking point as they find themselves providing around-the-clock care for 38 rescued babies. After losing one of the chimps to illness, they are more determined than ever to build them a sanctuary in the forest where they can live like wild chimps. To prepare for the move, the orphans are learning to make their own nests and get their first taste of life in the forest.
Travels in Euroland with Ed Balls
BBC2, 9pm
Across Europe, people are rejecting mainstream politics. To discover what’s behind this populist revolution and what it means for the continent’s future, former shadow chancellor (and one–time Strictly Come Dancing contestant) Ed Balls is hitting the road to meet voters and hear their concerns. His trip begins in Holland, where he speaks to fishermen about the impact of EU laws on their business and discovers the history behind the controversial “Black Pete”, a Christmas tradition which has been likened to blackface. Ed then heads to Spain, where far-right populism is relatively new, to find out why the Vox Party is standing up for another hugely divisive practice – bullfighting.
Death in Paradise
BBC1, 9pm
There is great excitement in Saint Marie when the
Tour des Antilles cycling race comes to the island but the event turns sinister when the favourite, Xavier Prince, is found dead halfway around. All evidence initially points to Xavier having crashed on one of the most dangerous sections of the course, but Jack suspects it has more to do with the discovery of a piece of fabric torn from a cycling shirt. However, one of the riders is keeping a sensitive secret. Whodunit, starring Ardal O’hanlon, with Nina Wadia.
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Channel 4, 9pm
Richard Ayoade and Katherine Ryan join Sean Lock and Jon Richardson for the words-and-numbers game, while David O’doherty joins Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner. Hosted by Jimmy Carr with Rachel Riley looking after the numbers and letters.