PICK OF THE WEEK

Highland Cops (BBC2, 9pm)

Police Scotland receive around 100 missing person reports every day. In the vast rural area around Golspie, just north of Inverness, a missing man’s vulnerable state puts him at high risk and no stone is left unturned in the search. Dog Handler PC Adam Naismith and his canine Wolf the German Shepherd have been dispatched to try and locate the missing man who hasn’t been heard from for over a week. Also this week, the county lines drugs epidemic has reached its new frontier of Inverness, and specialist CID officers go undercover to bust two properties suspected to be hubs for dealing Class A drugs.

Celebrity Hunted (C4, 9pm)

At Pinewood Studios, James Acaster and Ed Gamble have a big surprise in store for the hunters, while the West Midlands, Nik and Eva Speakman hope that a This Morning presenter can provide a safe haven for them. Over in Surrey, Katya Jones and Aimee Fuller burn some adrenaline doing extreme sports, and back in the Midlands, Nikesh Patel is hiding out at the home of a new associate. Sitting pretty down south is YouTuber Saffron Barker and mathematician Bobby Seagull. However, they suddenly desperately need a change of plan.

Colin from Accounts (BBC2, 10pm)

Every successful romcom needs a pair of believable and likeable leads. And in husband-and-wife duo Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer, this quirky Australian series has hit the nail on the head. Glitch star Brammall plays Gordon, who is driving to work one morning when what turns out to be somewhat of an extreme sliding doors moment occurs. He stops at an intersection for Ashley (Dyer), who decides to flash at him. Unfortunately, Gordon gets distracted by the attractive stranger, and takes off without noticing a stray dog has run in front of his car. Before long, the the two complete strangers are at a vet, (who happens to be Gordon’s ex), trying to decide if a dog they didn’t know existed an hour ago is worth $12,000 and a (dog’s) lifetime of care.

Rain Dogs (BBC1, 10.40pm)

Costello receives an interesting opportunity from Sophie Fenster, a writer from The London Reformer, while working at the local peep show. While she’s at work, Selby looks after Iris, but can’t resist returning to his old ways, taking her to Chinatown and introducing her to the Mah-jong club. Gloria forms a surprising bond with Paul, the son of the deceased man whose body lies in an open casket at the funeral home. And later, Richard, the photographer from the paper, shows up at the club to take photos of Costello to accompany the article, and the pair strike up a bond.

WEDNESDAY

The Repair Shop (BBC1, 8pm)

Proving that this really is a show that brings families together, the latest episode features eight-year-old Felix, who arrives at the barn with a scientific microscope handed down through the generations from his greatgrandfather. Can the team restore it to its former glory? Meanwhile, cobbler Dean Westmoreland meets Malcolm, who has brough in a pair of boots worn by his father when he was prisoner of war in the 1940s. Will Kirk gets to work on a swinging bench that has been in the same family for over a century, and Maria seeks help in repairing a sculpture made by her mother.

Wales’ Home of the Year (BBC2, 8.30pm)

How do you decide what makes a great home? Well, if you’re Owain Wyn Evans, Mandy Watkins and Glen Thomas, who are searching for the most impressive property in Wales, you award on architectural merit, distinctive design and original style. They begin in the north-east region, where they will be visiting an 18th-century manor house that’s undergone a colourful makeover.

There’s also an 1890s Victorian terrace with an unassuming exterior and a very surprising interior, and the Grade II-listed Beechmount House, which mixes organic curves and church-like ceilings to create a fairy-tale effect.

The Bay (STV, 9pm)

The current series of the crime drama comes to a conclusion, and Jenn now has two investigations on her hands, as she is determined to find the evidence that will prove who attacked her own family. However, she also has her official case to solve, and that’s about to go in an unexpected direction due to a prominent Morecambe family who are taking on a business project, and a surprising connection to a piece of evidence. Are the police finally going to see the full picture? Meanwhile, Erin makes a life-changing decision that also has implications for Chris, while Manning weighs up his future, knowing that whatever he decides, there are

going to be big repercussions.

Race Across the World (BBC1, 9pm)

Following the shock elimination, the four remaining teams realise they may need to change their approaches as they prepare to reach their fourth checkpoint - the remote outpost of Churchill, which is only accessible by a twice-weekly train. The leaders lose some precious time, while another pair try to get their spending under control as they worry they could bust their budget. Meanwhile, one team encounters a bear, and the fourth couple meet a family of missionaries, leaving them questioning not just their tactics, but their reasons for signing up to the race in the first place.

Stacey Dooley: Ready for War? (BBC3, 9pm)

Stacey follows a group of Ukrainian civilians as they arrive in the UK to begin five weeks of intensive army training. With exclusive and unprecedented access to the British

Army’s training mission, the recruits will learn to survive and to be lethal, as they prepare for deployment to the frontline fighting against Russia. Among the young civilians putting their lives on the line, Stacey meets florist and gardener Mykola, who wants to join his family members already on the frontline. He tells Stacey he hopes for victory so that he can marry his girlfriend.

For Pasha, a welder who was living abroad when the invasion began, he fears going into battle will mean never seeing his parents again.

THURSDAY

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (Yesterday, 7pm)

The second series of the much-missed world-renowned chef, author and TV personality’s show in which he travelled the globe to celebrate diverse cultures by exploring food and dining rituals begins. Here, the host and crew visit Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. While the political situation is often tense between the people living in these areas, Bourdain concentrates on their rich history, food and culture, and spends time with local chefs, home cooks, writers and amateur foodies.

Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars (BBC1, 9pm)

If you want to survive in business, you need to be able to adapt to different markets. Gordon Ramsay believes that the best way to find out if his entrepreneurs can deliver what different customers want is to put them in charge of a bottomless brunch, hosted by some of the UK’s best drag queens. The guests will be expecting a party atmosphere, but the can the hopefuls ensure that everyone has a good time, while keeping up with the cocktail orders and delivering top-notch food? Then it’s time to target a very different market - fitness food. They’ll have to show they understand product development, marketing and design, before facing a relentless Q&A from industry greats, including Olympic Champion boxer, Nicola Adams. If that wasn’t tough enough, they will then be grilled by Gordon himself.

Long Lost Family: What Happened Next (STV, 9pm)

The series catches up with two people whose searches took them abroad. First up is Long Lost Family’s oldest-ever searcher, Roy David, who discovered his daughter Cheryl was living in New York. It turns out that despite the distance, they have visited each other as much as possible, and now Roy, who has developed glaucoma, is planning to travel to the Big Apple to celebrate his 89th birthday. There’s also an update on Maria Costantino, who discovered that her Italian birth mother had passed away but has met her large family. Now, she’d like to know more about her birth father.

Taskmaster (C4, 9pm)

We’ve reached the 15th series so, in theory, any comedian who signs up to Taskmaster should have a good idea what to expect. However, as the first two episodes proved, some of them can still be taken by surprise by the tasks. For example, in this episode, Jenny Eclair has a lovely time sitting on a chair with new potatoes cascading onto her head, but apparently Ivo Graham thinks it’s stupid. But which of them will most impress Taskmaster Greg Davies?

Rabbit Hole (C5, 10pm)

As 24 proved, when it comes to headlining addictive thrillers, few people do it better than Kiefer Sutherland. He stars in this series as John Weir, who specialises in corporate espionage - which also means he’s adept at deception and, in some cases, ruining lives. However, now he’s about to find himself at the centre of a conspiracy when an organisation turns the tables on him by framing him for murder. The supporting cast includes Charles Dance and Rob Yang, and anyone who gets hooked can watch the rest of the series on the streaming service Paramount.

FRIDAY

European Championships: Gymnastics (BBC2, 2pm)

Matt Baker introduces live coverage of the women’s all-around event in Turkey as the finalists perform routines marrying grace and strength in a bid to be recognised as Europe’s best female gymnast. Great Britain has enjoyed medal success in this fourapparatus event in the recent past. Heading into the final rotation in Munich last summer, the top three in the standings were razor tight with just 0.300 separating them. Eventually, Brit Alice Kinsella won silver behind Italy’s Asia D’Amato and ahead of another Italian, Martina Maggio. Meanwhile, Jessica Gadirova also earned bronze in 2021 and the floor world champion will be looking to excel this afternoon.

Unreported World (C4, 7.30pm)

Across Lebanon, over a million people have been locked out of their bank accounts. The so-called ‘Switzerland of the Middle East’ catastrophically crashed in 2019 over a banking crisis since likened to a ponzi scheme. Now those Lebanese people previously reliant on foreign currency savings accounts can only withdraw a few hundred pounds a month. Public services are in tatters, there are daily power cuts, and because of hyperinflation medicine is expensive and in short supply. Here, Krishnan Guru-Murthy meets a desperate Lebanese couple planning to raid a bank in order to get hold of their savings.

Project Home (C4, 8pm)

Although Channel 4 calls this new property show “game-changing”, it does sound very similar to the BBC’s Your Home Made Perfect, in that it harnesses the latest virtual reality technology to solve real-life design dilemmas. Tonight, presenter Nick Grimshaw and property expert Kunle Barker meet Kent couple Scott and Caroline who are desperate to create their dream home but can’t agree on anything. To resolve their design deadlock, Nick and Kunle invite them to walk around virtual versions of their home on an advanced virtual reality stages. In front of their eyes, walls come down, doorways and windows move and extensions spring up. They change wallpapers, floor finishes and kitchen surfaces in a flash. Once they’ve made their minds up in the virtual world, they have to do is build it in the real one.

Have I Got News for You (BBC1, 9pm)

This satirical standard-bearer shows no sign of slowing down, and they have a familiar face sitting in the hosts’ chair to kick it off. Charlie Brooker will be making his 10th appearance on the show, and his fifth as host. In the Black Mirror creator’s previous outing in 2020, Ian Hislop jokingly blamed him for the coronavirus pandemic, calling him “the purveyor of apocalyptic vision”. Thankfully, all those Covid restrictions are now a distant memory, but with everything going on in the world, don’t be surprised if Ian and Paul Merton make reference to the end of the world in the studio tonight.