PICK OF THE WEEK TV review Crying and sleepy, and that’s just the parents

SATURDAY Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1, 7.05pm) Michael McIntyre’s Big Show (BBC1, 8.10pm)

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Only six couples remain in the running, as Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman invite the pro-celebrity duos back to the studio for another round of performances, with semi-final places up for grabs. This time, it is Musicals Week, which means the stars and their professional dancer partners will be tackling popular routines from West End and Broadway shows. The show begins with a group performance taking the form of a routine from the soundtrack of Mamma Mia!, before their stars are tasked with pulling off their individual dances.

Many Michael Buble fans went into a state of shock when it was recently claimed that he was retiring from showbusiness - and then breathed a huge sigh of relief when he insisted that he had been misquoted and he intended to keep going. The crooner will be springing more surprises in this edition of Michael McIntryre’s Big Show, although hopefully it won’t be anything quite so dramatic. He’s not the only big name dropping by, as the host is also joined by chart-topper Rita Ora, while husbandand-wife presenting team Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford take part in a double Send to All.

Darcey Bussell: Dancing to Happiness (BBC2, 9pm)

Strictly presenters Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly may tell us to “keeeep dancing”, but it’s arguably judge Darcey Bussell who is doing the most to ensure that we really do become a nation of twinkle toes. Since she retired as a prima ballerina, she’s promoted dance for people of all ages, and has argued in Parliament that it should be a key part of the curriculum to help children’s fitness. She also believes that fancy footwork can promote mental health, and in this documentary she meets some of the people who are using dance as therapy. They include Bury’s Silver Swans, whose weekly ballet class has become a way of overcoming the feeling of isolation that some retirees experience.

The Sinner (BBC4, 9pm)

Jessica Biel and Bill Pullman star in this gripping eight-part crime drama previously shown on Netflix. During an afternoon at the beach with her family, a woman called Cora is consumed by a fit of rage and commits a startling and very public act of violence without understanding why. Can Detective Harry Ambrose find out what made her do it? In the second part of the double-bill, Cora tries to block the police investigation, while her husband Mason struggles to come to terms with secrets from his wife’s past.

SUNDAY Dynasties (BBC1, 8pm)

The painted wolves at the heart of the latest edition of the gripping wildlife series really do face a battle to preserve their dynasty – there are only 6,600 left of them in the world. This episode focuses on matriarch Tait, whose peace-keeping skills have allowed her dynasty to rule over the floodplains of the great Zambezi river. However, now she’s getting older, her influence is waning and a new force is emerging from within her clan in the shape of her daughter, Blacktip. The family drama erupts when

ABABY’S first words say so much about what, or who, is most important in their little lives. This was one of many things viewers learned from the first instalment of the three part documentary Babies: Their Wonderful World (BBC2, Monday, 9pm).

What, then, would the wee ones plump for? Dada figured a lot, as did mama, and then came Peppa. It’s official: Peppa Pig’s world domination is complete.

Presented by paediatrician Dr Guddi Singh, Babies was billed as “one of the most ambitious scientific studies of babies ever attempted”. The programme makers had gone to the trouble of building a “baby lab” which was not as scary as it sounds, being more village hall with lots of cushions and toys than some temple to high-tech. In and out the experts trooped, each with a test to show how babies develop their character and personalities.

Did you know that ankle-biters, like adults, fit into three personality types: excitable, calm, and cautious? Other fun findings from the survey of 200 babies included who says sorry most often (children in Scotland and the south west of England), and today’s dads do more housework and childcare than 20 years ago (toddlers were as likely to match a toy vacuum to a daddy toy as a mummy one).

Despite the presence of wall to wall cutey pies, this had to be the most terrifying programme of 2018. Such tiny minds, yet such powerful sponges, absorbing everything that came their way. The weight of responsibility would be enough to keep any new parent awake at night, but then they are up anyway, so no harm done.

It was a lot to take in over an hour, so those same mewling, sleep-deprived,

Blacktip leads her pack into Tait’s heartlands, which are the safest in the region, and drives her mother out. In the ensuing chaos, the painted wolves must deal with hyenas, crocodiles and their greatest enemy – lions.

Gun No. 6 (BBC2, 9pm)

This hybrid of drama and documentary sets out to explore the realities of gun crime in modern Britain by focusing on the story of one weapon. The firearm in question has changed hands over the course of a decade and has been used in 11 shootings and three murders, making it Britain’s deadliest illegal weapon. The film sets out to chart each of the crimes, going behind the headlines to pay tribute to those who have lost their lives and the loved ones