Coronation Street (Monday 7.30/8pm, ITV1)
Corrie appears to have recovered from its Christmas slump and some big storylines are finally moving on. Tonight, it’s Ryan Connor’s birthday and Nick is keen to give the lad a pressie. Will he be so keen to accept when he learns the truth about Nick’s real identity?
The Palace (Monday 9pm, ITV1)
This is either going to be a huge hit, or crash and burn like Windsor castle, as The Palace seeks to lift the lid on life behind the balconies of royal life. Sadly The West Wing this ain’t, as we follow the ups and downs in the life of a fictional British royal family. Party loving Prince Rupert is a bit shocked when his dad goes to the big palace in the sky, elevating him overnight to the throne. It’s all a bit silly, to be honest, and not in a Hotel Babylon kind of way. Still, it has Jane Asher as Queen Charlotte, so at least it has something going for it. Just…
City of Vice (Monday 9pm, C4)
Oooh nice, a slick historical crime drama, providing a welcome alternative to the silliness on the other side. City of Vice stars Ian (The Emperor) McDiarmid as Henry Fielding (writer of the bawdy Tom Jones) alongside Iain Glen as his blind brothe, John. Together they turn detective upon learning of the savage murder of a prostitute. This is supposedly based on historical fact taken from documentation written at the time, but that I feel is stretching things a tad. That being said, it’s well made and has a great feel to it. More please!
Mistresses (Tuesday 9pm, BBC1)
Guilty pleasure or just simple pleasure? Mistresses succeeds because it is a solid, line and length drama about four women. They are strong, confident and very well realised, even if Sarah Parish always seems to play characters with a slightly tragic streak to them. All the Sex and the City-ness of Mistresses has, I feel, been overplayed by the publicity machine, so ignore that and just enjoy a well acted, well made piece of TV drama.
Shrink Rap (Tuesday 10pm, More 4)
This edition of the Pamela Connolly hosted interview show is bound to get a little bit of attention as this week her subject is former Not the 9 O’Clock News colleague Chris Langham. There isn’t much more to say than that – watch it and make your own mind up.
Masterchef (Tuesday 8.30pm, BBC2)
I miss the Goes Large tag, but Masterchef is still as good as ever. However, I’m not sure I like the new timeslot. It’s great that this 30 minute ritual has become popular enough to be promoted to prime time, but I want to sit and watch this when I’m having my tea. But the competition will still Change. Somebody’s. Life!, so I shouldn’t complain too much.
Torchwood (Wednesday 9pm, BBC2)
“Miss me, kids?” asks the exuberant Captain Jack Harkness when Torchwood returns for a second series on a new channel. Well, now he mentions it, I have a little bit. I know I gave Torchwood a bit of a drubbing first time out, but I’m still glad the show is being made. This year I expect a slicker operation, with more likeable lead characters, but still with the same pedal to the metal pace that typified series one. In Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Buffy alumnus James Marsters turns up as rival time agent Captain John Hart to cause mayhem in Cardiff. Okay, count me in – cautiously…
Grand Designs (Wednesday 9pm, C4)
Kevin McCloud is back to wander sagely round building sites and shake his head at the insanity of some of the housing projects this always excellent show covers. Tonight another couple with more money than sense embark on yet another adventure in stupidity – and we will lap it up!
Mark Lawson Talks to Russell T Davies (Wednesday 11pm, BBC4)
On the night of Torchwood’s return, Mark Lawson invites its creator, Russell T Davies, in for what is sure to be an exuberant and entertaining chat.
Fairy Tales (Thursday 9pm, BBC1)
Well at least this can’t be any worse than last week’s utterly baffling offering from these supposedly updated takes on our favourite fairy tales. Maxine Peake plays the down at heel university cleaner who is desperate for a job as a research assistant with the somewhat obviously named Professor Prince (James Nesbitt). Sadly, two vacuous, shallow students also want the job, but with the help of Mona Hammond’s kindly elder cleaner, can our Cinders be the belle of the ball and get the job? Oops! I just gave the game away there. This is an enthusiastic stab at updating Cinderella, but I fear the whole exercise is a bit of a damp squib all round. Shame.
Trial & Retribution (Thursday 9pm, ITV1)
This ITV perennial returns for a new run of investigations in the company Chief Superintendent Michael Walker and DCI Roisin Connor. The problem with T&R is that I can never pay attention to the convoluted storylines as I’m fascinated by the one-note expression Rosin’s face. Victoria Smurfit, God bless her, plays the character with wide-eyed surprise, as if she was constantly being goosed. To be fair to Smurfit, who is a good actress, she’s been saddled with a fairly dreary character, so it amazes me she makes as much of it as she does.
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