Square Eyes 29 January - 1 February

Thieves Like Us (Monday BBC3)
A new BBC 3 comedy is always worth checking out (unless it’s TV Today’s irrationally hated Tittybangbang) and this piece, based on the book The Burglar Diaries, is well worth a look. It helps that the book’s author, Danny King, is on hand as scriptwriter, and the exploits of two-bit crooks ex and Ollie has a decent laugh quota per episode.

• View this week’s episode
• Thieves Like Us website

Nuclear Secrets: Superbomb (Monday BBC2 9pm)
This enjoyable and often brutal historical drama continues, focusing on the tragic plight of Robert Oppenheimer, progenitor of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima at the climax to WW2. His shame at what he had created runs like a seam through Joe Jones’s portrayal of the scientist, and his descent into ruin when he refuses to work on the subsequent hydrogen bomb project is painful to watch.

Holby City (Tuesday 8pm, BBC1)
Possibly the quickest creation of a soap legend came with the arrival of Patsy Kensit into Emmerdale as Sadie King aboard a chopper, and now she’s at again as the former Mrs Gallagher dons a nurse’s uniform to knock on the door at Holby City. It’s possibly Holby’s most high profile signing to date, and as a fully paid up card carrying member of the series’s fan club, I heartily approve. I can’t wait for the first encounter between our Pats (who has still, it seems, gorrit) as Faye Morton taking on Connie. Elsewhere, some medical stuff may happen…

Five Days (Tuesday/Thursday 9pm, BBC1)
This beautiful piece of top class drama, positively oozing with quality, concludes this week, with the final episode happening on Thursday. The investigation continues, but is proving fruitless, and there is suspicion that Matt (a magnificent David Oyelowo) is seeking to gain money from his wife’s disappearance by letting a documentary team into his home. Unmissable.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Tuesday 9pm, Five)
The new series of the US’s premier drama series kicks off with a double-header surrounding the team’s investigation into a dead body found during a performance by Cirque du Soleil. The original of the steam-rollering franchise shows no signs of slowing down.

WAGS’ Boutique (Tuesday 9pm, ITV2)
Erm…

Party Animals (Wednesday BC2, 9pm)
Heavily touted as the new This Life (although after the limp reaction to the +10 reunion, that might not be the best comparison to be seeking), this new drama from World Productions plunges us headlong into the ruthless world of politics through the eyes of the bright researchers who populate Westminster. It has a young cast of mostly new faces, a crackling script and some shocks along the way. But when it comes down to it, as the real world of politics as seen through the media is so damn entertaining itself (and post The Thick of It) is there any real need for this? Time will tell.

Jamie’s Chef (Wednesday 9pm, C4)
Hmmm, is somebody having a laugh on the Channel 4 picture desk? The main publicity pic doing the rounds for this new series from brand Jamie shows the still cheeky chappie standing outside a restaurant, underneath a very large sign proclaiming the establishment to be called ‘The Cock’. Oh, that’s just grist to the mill for journalists everywhere… (He’s right. See above picture - Ed.) Anyway, in Jamie’s Chef, Mr O takes the concept of Jamie’s Kitchen one step further by trying to set up one of his graduates from Fifteen in their own eatery. Whatever we think about Jamie, he always makes for good telly.

Bonkers (Thursday 9pm, ITV1)
The first of the night’s new comedies from ITV is, sad to say, a bit limp. God bless Liza Tarbuck for working her socks off to make it work, inhabiting the role of put upon wife Helen as only Liza Tarbuck could. She’s better than this, and ITV are going to have to try much harder with comedy if this mess (Tarbuck excepted) is the best the channel can do. Will we find that at 10pm tonight…?

Benidorm (Thursday 10pm, ITV1)
…Well, sort of. Benidormhas a kind of sit-com feel to it, with a mis-matched group of holidaymakers hanging out by the pool in a Benidorm resort. It’s got Johnny Vegas, which can be a hit, miss or maybe piece of casting, but for the most part, Benidorm works. It just strays into crass territory every now and then that can make for some cringe worthy viewing. And, coupled with Bonkers, the scheduling of the two shows together just feels a bit off…