PICK OF THE WEEK

The Decade the Rich Won (BBC2, 9pm)

This fascinating two-part documentary takes viewers back to 2008 to take a deep dive into the aftermath of the financial crisis. Fourteen years ago, the Government and the Bank of England took drastic action in a bid to save the UK economy from disaster, bailing out banks and adopting harsher austerity measures than any other country. But did their plans work? In the first episode, key players offer their insights into what happened, revealing that while some continued to struggle, others thrived.

Toast of Tinseltown (BBC2, 10pm)

As if cringing at Matt Berry’s tortured thespian Steven Toast wasn’t enough fun, this episode reunites him with What We Do in the Shadows co-star Natasia Demetriou. She plays Latino singing sensation Carmen, who is set to share the small screen with Toast when he lands the role of a doctor in a TV show, after attending a masterclass hosted by Richard Chickentoss covering ‘how to act like a doctor’. Thanks to the extra training, the show’s a total smash and everybody is blown away by Toast’s ability. Top producer Bellender Bojangles offers him a place to stay at her Beverly Hills pad, only for an unfortunate incident with a fan to result in Toast being written out of the show.

WEDNESDAY

Dream Home Makeovers with Sophie Robinson (C5, 7pm)

The interior designer has £500 to spend on Anna and Peter’s new home, which isn’t a lot, especially for a couple who have very different ideas about what their decor should entail. Aye and Josh also need Robinson’s expertise - they’ve lived in their home for a decade and are saving up for an extension. However, their bedroom is in dire need of a revamp hopefully a bold use of colour will help. However, as the couple are nervous about splashing on the paint, Robinson may have to go back to the drawing board.

The Bay (STV, 9pm)

Morecambe - with its bleak yet beautifully big skies - is the ideal setting for a crime drama, so there’s no wonder the latest run is going down a treat with viewers. Marsha Thomason has settled right in as new family liaison officer DS Jenn Townsend, even if other members of the character’s blended family are struggling, including Conor, who’s left devastated by a mix-up involving Erin. Meanwhile, as Adnan becomes caught up in a difficult situation, the team find new suspects in surprising places.

Katie Price’s Mucky Mansion (C4, 9pm)

The former model probably doesn’t strike many people as a hands-on DIY enthusiast, but we’re about to see a whole new side of her courtesy of this three-part series. She hit the headlines before Christmas after receiving a driving ban, but the only things she’ll be hitting here are items she no longer feels are

fit to grace her 19-room mansion - she’s seen smashing chimney pots and knocking down guttering. Price hopes the renovation will not only spruce up the place, but help her banish bad memories of events that have happened there.

The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk (BBC2, 10pm)

If you’re in need of a dose of the downright bizarre, then don’t miss the second series of this anarchic comedy starring multi-award winning Spencer Jones. It follows his eponymous alter ego as he tries to get through his day without his imagination cluttering up matters, and kicks off as Herbert

at the deep end, like I do with most things, naively, not realising how hard it is.”

Reading text on a page, Blades explains, is comparable to “having a book of ants – the letters are all ants, and they just keep on moving around, so you try and hold them down.

“It’s insane, I’m telling you,” reiterates the father of three, who is now based in Wolverhampton. “It gives you a headache because imagine trying to see something that’s constantly moving.”

He gets by using coloured overlays (a plastic reading sheet tinted with colour and placed over text, that he describes as a “personal trainer for words”), which, while often used to aid individuals with dyslexia, is not recognised as an effective long-term treatment.

In the film, he learns to read with the support of the charity Read

Easy UK, which organises volunteer coaches to work one to one with readers, using a system which was started in prisons.

The lessons – shot over a period of six months – take him back to basics, from mastering the relationship between sounds and letters to eventually reciting words and sentences. His end goal: to read a book to his youngest daughter, Zola, 15, for the first time.

Has he ever felt embarrassed by his struggles?

“Nah, I have too much confidence and a lot of naivety,” he answers, recalling the time he enrolled (“blagged a spot”) on a university course despite not being able to read the course materials.

It was during said course – a BA in Criminology and Philosophy at Buckinghamshire New University – that Blades, then 31, finally received his long-awaited dyslexia diagnosis.

“It was a relief, I must admit,” he confides, having been told he had the reading age of an 11-year-old. “But it was also really nice to see that there was help out there.

“Like at my school, they said to me, ‘Oh, you’re dumb’. And that’s it. They left you with that. Whereas (at university), they said, ‘All right, you don’t have the reading ability, but we’ve got all these things that can help you. In school, it should be like that. But it wasn’t like that for me.

“Anything is possible!” he concludes. Look (where I was) six years ago– I was rock bottom – and then to be where I am now.”

Jay Blades: Learning To Read At 51 airs on BBC1, Wednesday, 9pm