The Apprentice (Tuesday 9pm, BBC1)
The Apprentice moves to Tuesday for one week only thanks to some football game or other tomorrow night (sorry, but do I really care about a friendly between England and the USA? No, I do not!). After the tasty tissue tantrums of last week, this week sees the hideous hopefuls hiring out top-end sports cars to wealthy clients. Expect breathtaking displays of stupidity and some priceless eye rolling from Nick, before heading to the boardroom for those famous words…
The Supersizers Go… Restoration (Tuesday 9pm, BBC2)
Giles Coren and Sue Perkins investigate the diets of our ancestors in the 1660s. Great fun in a bilious kind of way as Coren and Perkins get to sample some long-forgotten delicacies.
Smallville (Tuesday 9pm, E4)
It’s easy to get all hyped up about the likes of Battlestar Galactica - it’s the acceptable face of sci-fi fantasy drama for the more discerning fan as it’s a grown up, serious undertaking. With that in mind, something like Smallville can easily be missed. It’s a bit frothy and a bit daft, but there really is a decent adventure drama hiding beneath the super-powered silliness. This seventh season opens with a double bill as Clark takes on an evil doppelganger. As you do…
Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story (Wednesday 9pm, BBC2)
Superlative performances from Julie Walters and Hugh Bonneville make this the highlight of the TV week, as Walters takes on the role of Mary Whitehouse, the infamous campaigner for decency on television throughout the 1960s and 70s. Walters shines, as you would expect, as Whitehouse. It would have been easy to paint her as a grotesque, but Walters chooses to play her straight down the line, as she takes on the BBC and its Director General, Hugh Carlton-Greene. Whitehouse blamed him for the filth that was supposedly creeping into television, and Bonneville is equally brilliant here. This is a great piece of drama with a sharp script and stunning performances.
Heroes (Thursday 9pm, BBC2)
Well, as there isn’t much else on tonight (or indeed this week), I suppose I could watch Heroes. Just don’t expect me to enjoy it, okay?
House (Thursday 9pm, Five)
Oops! Would that be Hugh Laurie popping up on a list of worst American accents from a British actor in a poll on the Radio Times website? All right, he also tops the poll for the best American accent as well, so it would be churlish of me to laugh and point. So I won’t. Tonight on House, Mira Sorvino guest stars as a psychiatrist who House must treat via web cam as she’s in the South Pole. This is far better than the usual slack material House serves up, thanks to top notch turns from the lead (yes, I do like Hugh Laurie in this role sometimes) and Sorvino.
The Graham Norton Show (Thursday 9.45pm, BBC2)
Ahead of the final of I’d Do Anything (go Jodie!), Barry Humphries’ best friend, Dame Edna Everage drops in to see Graham for some chat and fun. Will Graham be able to cope with a personality even larger than his own? Will musical guest Alanis Morissette crack smile. Will John Barrowman try and gatecrash the action? Whatever the outcome, it will be a fun and lively show and well worth a look.
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