Ashes to Ashes (Monday 9pm, BBC1)
An episode that has some pleasing echoes of Life on Mars with the reappearance of journalist Jackie Queen, who previously appeared in a hostage based episode of the parent series. There are references to Sam Tyler and other elements of Life on Mars. The overall storyline of girls arriving in London from the north to become part of a sex ring is fairly run of the mill, but such as it always is with Ashes - and that’s no bad thing sometimes.
Ideal (Monday 10.30pm, BBC3)
Some people might question why Pulling has been axed after two well-received series, while Ideal, starring Johnny Vegas, has notched up five series. But then, I never liked Pulling, so it doesn’t bother me. Ideal, in amongst all the surreal stuff, has quite a good heart, and there’s something rather lovable about drug dealer Moz. In this opener, Moz has decided to go straight…
Knight Rider (Tuesday 8pm, Sci-Fi)
Remake of the “classic” 80s action-adventure series. If there’s a point to this, could somebody please tell me what it is?
Eurovision Semi-Final (Tuesday 8.30pm, BBC3)
With the UK’s entry getting a free pass to Saturday’s final, there isn’t much tension to this first of two semi-finals for the campest singing contest in the world.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Tuesday 9pm, Five)
200th episode of the venerable parent of the CSI franchise. To celebrate, William Friedkin, director of feted movies The Exorcist and The French Connection, steps into the director’s chair, much as Quentin Tarantino did before him for a previous landmark episode. It’s a personal tale for rookie CSI Ray Langston, who seeks to avenge the murder of a former student.
Flight of the Conchords (Tuesday 10.30pm, BBC4)
New series of the cult HBO comedy about New Zealand’s best folk combo. Funny and clever, in this series opener, the boys sack their manager.
The British Soap Awards (Wednesday 8pm, ITV1)
The great and good of Soapland pull on their frocks and clean their teeth for the annual awards night to celebrate the high and lows of the past soap year. By the time you read this, you’ll probably know all the results, but the awards are no less enjoyable for it. Philip Schofield hosts sans Fern this year…
The Apprentice (Wednesday 9pm, BBC1)
In the past, the away trip for the candidates has been to exotic locations and on swish cruise liners. In these credit crunch times, they’re having to make do with Margate. There’ll be some long faces for this episode when they realise those bikinis they packed are going to be for nothing. It’s a good task, too, as the teams have to come up with a marketing campaign for the seaside town.
ER (Thursday 9pm, More4)
The end is (almost) nigh, with a touching episode that sees Parminder Nagra clock in for her final shift at County General as Neela. It’s a nice episode that tugs just enough on the heart strings, with a couple of cameos from old faces that will send you over the edge with blubbing. God, I’m going to miss this show.
Lie to Me (Thursday 10pm, Sky1)
More US drama with a Brit taking the lead. Tim Roth stars as Dr Cal Lightman, yet another maverick, cerebral sleuth who is practically a walking lie detector. It’s all a bit ho hum and nothing particularly new, but Roth’s performance is worth giving it a look.
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