Spooks (Monday 9pm, BBC1)
A good night for TV as the slick, stylish and always entertaining Spooks returns for a seventh series. Time has moved on since the cliff-hanger ending of last season that saw top spy Adam cradling Jo in his arms - but did he shoot her? Aside from the resolution to last year, there’s also a new cast member in the form of Richard Armitage playing Harry’s former protégé Lucas North. It’s a far cry from Robin Hood’s Guy of Gisborne for the actor, and it looks like North will be the replacement for Adam when Rupert Penry-Jones leaves later this series. And even better, Hermione Norris is back as Ros - bring it on! Episode 2 is tomorrow at 9pm.
Wired (Monday 9pm, ITV1)
Final part of the mildly engaging thriller starring Jodie Whittaker as a bank a manager drawn into a high-risk scam to siphon off millions from the bank she works for. There are twists and turns galore as you don’t know who is loyal to whom, with Whittaker’s likable Louise playing everybody off against each other. Enjoyable, but hardly highbrow.
Dead Set (Monday10pm, E4)
Charlie Brooker takes a break from burning our screens in his Guardian column to scribe this intriguing horror tale that gives a Davina McCall a rather horrifying makeover. The dead are walking, and their victims are getting up too - zombiegeddon has come to Britain, but the only ones who are blissfully unaware of this are the contestants in the Big Brother House. No, really! It’s eviction night, and the zombies are coming to get the housemates. As the week unfolds, the housemates are picked off by the zombie horde, including a terrifying Davina McCall. A brilliant fusion of horror, reality TV, and a light dusting of comedy, Dead Set could be the hippest show on TV this year.
Emmerdale (Tuesday 7pm, ITV1)
It’s rare for us to give the nod to Emmerdale in Square Eyes, but sometimes its nice to see what’s going on with these country folk. And tonight is worth looking at for an appearance from Aussie soap royalty, Mark Little, making a guest turn here as a new man in Louise Appleton’s life (as played by another antipodean soap graduate Emily Symons). With Louise’s engagement to Jamie Hope on the skids, will she head home to Australia alone?
Spooks (Tuesday 9pm, BBC1)
Second part of this tense new series sees the team picking up the pieces of the literally explosive events of last night’s opener. Which means lots of running around looking stern and shouting at people. And Richard Armitage seems to spend an inordinate amount of time with his shirt off, displaying North’s impressive array of tattoos picked up in a Russian prison.
The National Television Awards (Wednesday 8pm, ITV1)
The annual bun fight for TV types, these awards are quite hotly contested as they are all voted for by us, the viewers. It’ll be the usual cavalcade of soapies and reality TV hobbits, but of great interest to many will be the face-off between Doctor Who stars David Tennant and Catherine Tate, who are both up for best drama performance. Could it be too close to call?
The Restaurant (Wednesday 8pm, BBC2)
The challenge for the two remaining couples in the final of one of the year’s best TV shows is a doozy. The hopefuls must cook a meal for some highly discerning diners in the cramped kitchens of a luxury train. Crikey, that’s not going to be hard, especially as the couples squabble at the best of times. Expect scathing comments from Sarah, David, and the man himself, Raymond Blanc who will be the one declare he’s going into business with one the couples. Brilliant!
EastEnders (Thursday 7.30pm, BBC1)
A tense, hour long EastEnders focusing on ginger-haired scamp Max Branning who has gone out of his way to alienate just about everybody in his life - friends and enemies alike. But there’s a moment of hope for Mr B as a heart to heart with ex-missus Tanya ends in a snog. What the…?! She was trying to bury him alive not so long back! But Max is heading for trouble as the episode winds up with the dodgy dealer heading for a car/road interface situation - but which of the many likely suspects is at the wheel? Don’t expect to find out for some time to come!
Little Dorrit (Thursday 8.30pm, BBC1)
After Sunday’s well-paced opener, this sumptuous Dickens adaptation from the dream team of the BBC and Andrew Davies hits its stride with the move to 30-minute episodes. Arthur Clenman (Matthew Macfadyen) stoically wanders around proceedings, trying to find out if his family put the boot into the Dorrits years ago, while making eyes at little Amy (she’s nearly half his age!). It’s brilliantly executed from the lovely visuals, frothy words and master class acting, and tonight’s instalment introduces even more memorable grotesques for us to delight at.
Life (Thursday 10pm, ITV3)
With Max Branning’s woes being played out on BBC1 earlier in the evening, you can barely move for redheads tonight as Damian Lewis turns US TV star in this promising new cop drama. Detective Charlie Crews was sent down for a crime he didn’t commit and sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. Fast forward a good few years, and new evidence exonerates the flame-haired ‘tec, and so with a massive settlement for damages in his account and years of reading Zen Buddhism, he’s back on the force. It’s a nice character hook for the series, and Lewis (always good to see a Brit doing well abroad) carries off what could be some quite mawkish material with great charm. The series around it fairly bog-standard, but Life has enough quirks to make it a worthwhile watch.
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