The very best of the week ahead
Today Blue Planet II BBC ONE, 8.00PM
It’s been 16 years since Blue Planet first wowed us with its stunning underwater photography. Now it’s back and to say that it’s bigger than ever would be something of an understatement. Film-makers have taken advantage of the latest marine science and technology and mounted 125 expeditions across 39 countries, and spent more than 6,000 hours diving. It’s been a fruitful effort, with the team having captured sea creatures that were previously thought to be sailors’ myths. This first episode takes us from the hottest marine habitats to the coldest. Off the coast of Australia, we see a fish slam a clamshell against a large bit of coral to break it open. Elsewhere, a night-time underwater ballet is performed by mobula rays diving for plankton. Later, an Asian sheepshead wrasse, with its bulbous head and wonky teeth, changes from a female into a male to challenge the dominant male for his territory. It’s astonishing to watch – we wouldn’t expect anything less from the BBC Natural History Unit. Catherine Gee
Ball and Boe: Back Together ITV, 9.00PM
In 2016, Michael Ball and Alfie Boe teamed up for a best-selling album and a TV special. And now they are doing it again. This time around, they are joined for the song-and-sketch show by jazz chanteuse Imelda May and comedian Jason Manford. Clive Morgan
Monday A Very Royal Wedding ITV, 9.00PM
We tend to think of the Queen’s coronation in 1953 as the royal event that most exhilarated postwar war Britain. But six years earlier in 1947, when she was 21, Princess Elizabeth’s marriage to naval officer Philip Mountbatten, Prince of Greece and Denmark gave Britain, emerging from the Second World War, an enormous morale le boost just when it was needed. In this documentary, Alexander Armstrong recalls the electrifying sense of excitement that surrounded the wedding. Although he gets access to the Queen’s “private home movie archive”, by far the best moments focus on ordinary people, such as the Dunfermline weaver who unknowingly made up the silk for the wedding dress and the seamstress who sewed it together, as well as some lovely sequences recreating the Queen’s “recycled” engagement ring and her 500lb McVities wedding cake.
Nigella: At My Table BBC TWO, 8.30PM
“The food I eat is vibrant and varied but always relaxed,” says Nigella Lawson, suggesting that the mood will be more slacker princess than domestic goddess for her new six-part series. s First up, it’s an exotic breakfast: Turkish eggs – a poached egg on garlicky yoghurt with a dill-sprinkled chilli butter sauce on top. GO
Tuesday The Great British Bake Off: the Final CHANNEL 4, 8.00PM
After nine weeks of collapsing showstoppers and doors falling off ovens, The Great British Bake Off reaches its conclusion – and those of us who were sceptical about it surviving the leap to Channel 4 are eating our words. For it turns out that it was always the contestants who made Bake Off great. Yes, Mel and Sue have been missed, but Sandi and Noel have surprisingly good chemistry, Prue has been a delight, and Paul, well, remains Paul. The final three are an interesting bunch: the accident-prone Kate has improved with each week, Sophie remains consistently excellent without ever seizing centre stage and Steven appeared unstoppable at the beginning but has been less obviously the winner as the series progressed. That said, my money is still on him to emerge victorious. Sarah Hughes
Our Girl: Nepal tour BBC ONE, 9.00PM
Georgie Lane’s (Michelle Keegan) latest tour of duty comes to end with a moving episode, as she and Elvis (Luke Pasqualino) bond on the dangerous drive back to Kabul. SH
Wednesday Trust Me I’m a Doctor: Mental Health Special
BBC TWO, 9.00PM
worried should you be if mental health issues run in your family? In a special edition of Trust Me, Michael Mosely and a team of doctors address these questions and more. Anxiety or depression, we’re told, now affects one in five of us – indeed, last year, a record number of antidepressants were prescribed (around 70 million). But is exercise just as effective? Not only is it good for preventing physical illnesses, one doctor says, but it’s also proven to help combat mental ones, too – especially activities such as rock climbing where you have to focus all your attention. There’s also an interesting report on how social media heightens anxiety – in most cases, through something called FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) – while we passively follow other people’s news. Patrick Smith
Gino’s Italian Coastal Escape ITV, 8.00PM; NOT WALES
Forget about the grey November skies – at least for half an hour – and bask in the sun-soaked views of the Mediterranean coastline, as Gino D’Acampo returns to his homeland for a new series. Kicking off his foodie tour on the Amalfi Coast, the chef visits the picturesque villages of Positano and Minori, before heading to Cetara to make tuna tartare, the local speciality. PS
Thursday Exodus: Our Journey Continues BBC TWO, 9.00PM
We have all seen the footage of desperate migrants risking everything in the hope of a new life in Europe. But what is it like to be one? By distributing camera phones to some of those making the journey, the producers of last year’s first series brought us as close to a true sense of the plight of the one million refugees who came to Europe as it is possible for a documentary to offer. This year, the focus is different. With the closing of borders in the Balkans last year, more refugees are now caught in limbo. Among those we meet in the opener are newlyweds Shirin and Ali, who have been on the road for a year since fleeing Afghanistan and are now at the Greek border trying to get smuggled into Macedonia. Others have different stories, but share the same hope – to travel to stability and safety. Only Dame, an Oromo asylum seeker from Ethiopia, has made it to the UK, but he, too, is in legal limbo. “I am a ghost in a prison,” he says, describing his life as a refugee in London. The danger, the suffering, the dreams are plain to see, but so too is the difficulty European governments face, not just in stemming the tide but in finding solutions for those already here. GO
Harry Styles at the BBC BBC ONE, 8.00PM
The former One Direction star performs for an appreciative studio audience and talks to Radio 1’s Nick Grimshaw about global superstardom, singing solo, and his acting career. GO
Friday Bear’s Mission with Rob Brydon ITV, 9.00PM
“I do have a horrible nagging fear that when it gets to it, I think, actually, oh I can’t do this,” announces Rob Brydon early on in this episode of the celebrity survival series in which the comedian attempts to trek across Snowdonia with the help of adventurer Bear Grylls. It’s not surprising that Brydon is nervous, given that he admits to having lasted just one week in the Cubs because it was “too rough”. But, it’s not long before Grylls has Brydon abseiling into a sink hole to fetch his food and attempting to construct a shelter in bitter wind and driving rain. It’s not all daring deeds and manly challenges, however, as Brydon opens up to Grylls over the warmth of the camp fire. What emerges is both an entertaining advert for the bonding powers of being in the great outdoors and an intimate portrait of Brydon, who is refreshingly honest about the emotional ups and downs of his life so far. SH
Gogglebox: Celebrity Special for eNs
SU2C/The Last Leg SU2C Special CHANNEL 4, FROM 9.00PM
The Gogglebox celebrity special is always worth catching – who can forget the 2014 show in which Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and Noel Gallagher shared the sofa? This one’s followed by a special edition of The Last Leg. SH