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Singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor and presenter Alex Scott join a host of stars helping to raise cash for deserving children

We can look forward to seeing celebrity brain and brawn as the nation comes together for the annual telethon raising funds for children’s charities.

Graham Norton, Ed Sheeran, Kate Silverton and Sophie Ellis-Bextor (above, left) are just a few of the star names in a packed evening’s entertainment offering plenty of opportunities for familiar faces turning red with humiliation.

Norton, Ade Adepitan, Mel Giedroyc, Alex Scott (above, right) and Chris Ramsey are the presenters for the live broadcast at Media City UK in Salford. Then, in a special edition of I Can See Your Voice hosted by Paddy McGuinness, Silverton takes time out from reading the news to turn would-be songbird, alongside sportscaster Mike Bushell and Radio 2’s Jason Mohammad.

The inimitable Danny Dyer is frontman for The Wall, in which CBBC duo Sam & Mark attempt to scale the heights of the game show and at the same time boost the cash donations for children.

There’s a world-class array of athletic talent in the Team GB and Paralympics GB School Sports Day, with no quarter given as medal-winners go head to head in an egg-and-spoon race.

Jay Blades and his assistants from The Repair Shop are in action to see if they can help out 13-year-old Billy, whose toy bear Henry has had one spin too many in the washing machine and now needs a little TLC.

Brave, if perhaps foolhardy, stars will be taking their seat in The Graham Norton Show’s Red Chair, as watching children decide if their anecdotes warrant being heard to the end or rudely interrupted by being tipped off the seat.

Network rivals battle it out in University Challenge – Children In Need Special (Friday, BBC2, 10pm), presided over by Kirsty Wark, with Team BBC – including Mishal Husain and Jon Culshaw – up against Team ITV’s Ranj Singh, Russell Kane and Denise Welch.

Earlier in the week, The One Show (Monday, BBC1, 7pm and continuing until Thursday) features the stories of The Surprise Squad – youngsters who have been supported by Children In Need and are now in turn helping community projects.

And in DIY SOS: The Big Children In Need Special (Tuesday, BBC1, 9pm), the team is hard at work in East Yorkshire turning a 2½-acre derelict site into an adventure camp for children with the help of comedian and guest presenter Rhod Gilbert.