Thursday
Bear’s Mission with Gareth Southgate
ITV, 9.00PM
England manager Gareth Southgate survived the nation’s scrutiny with aplomb this summer, leading the team to their best World Cup performance for a generation. Surely, then, taking on a few cliff climbs with Bear Grylls should be a doddle? The duo helicopter-drop onto bleak but beautiful Dartmoor, tackling terrain used in training by Royal Marine Commandos. It’s an apt setting for Southgate, whose grandfather was a Marine and for whom teamwork-based tactics are second nature. Still, nerves abound as the ever-hearty Grylls sets up challenges that leave Southgate visibly shaking – running down a sheer drop, hauling himself across a rocky chasm, and plunging into a stagnant bog-like pool. Southgate isn’t the most voluble of companions, but he’s at his most revealing and relatable when discussing the Euro ’96 penalty shoot-out miss that defined his career. “It’s freed me up with the team to say I’m not worried – if things go wrong we can cope with that,” he says. Toby Dantzic
MasterChef: The Professionals BBC TWO, 8.00PM
After last night’s foray to France, the remaining trio are back in the kitchen. Three courses stand between our cooks and the crown: each must prepare a starter, main and dessert to dazzle the judges. TD