A definitive guide to the best telly on air next week!
Monday 25th January
C4, 8pm – Devon and Cornwall
Millions of visitors make their way to both Devon and Cornwall each year, in search of adventure, culture and stunning scenery. But these proud regions are more than just playgrounds for tourists. From the beautiful lofty heights of the moors to the spectacular coastlines, this programme celebrates the people who live and work in the most south westerly corner of England. In this episode, young siblings William and Harriet Allin put all their efforts into raising their very own flock of two sheep on the Devon side of the river Tamar. And after entering every country show in the region all summer, they're hoping for a shot at the coveted Young Handler of the Year title. On the edge of Bodmin Moor, apple farmer and cider maker Tom Bray is gearing up for a big party, celebrating 100 years of the family owning the farm. Using his father's honey, he wants to create a special centenary blend of sparkling cider. At the southern tip of Cornwall, the South West Coast Path is under threat of erosion from the thousands of footsteps veering off the marked track each year. Local artists decide to do something about it by organising a mass painting event to raise money to build a new granite walkway. And in Mylor on the south coast of Cornwall, oysterman Les Angell sails out as the new season starts, hand dredging for sought-after Fal oysters.
E4, 9pm – Celebs Go Dating: The Mansion
The Celebrity Dating Agency is back with a swanky new home. For the very first time, the celebs and their potential matches all bed down together in one very plush mansion, under the ever-watchful eyes of dating experts Paul C Brunson and Anna Williamson. In this first episode, Ibiza legend Wayne Lineker, TV presenter Karim Zeroual, superstar DJ Tom Zanetti and dancer Curtis Pritchard are thrown into the action straightaway at the very first Mansion Mixer, while the girls - Geordie Shore's Chloe Ferry, Made in Chelsea star Sophie Hermann and Coronation Street star Kimberly Hart-Simpson - watch on. But there's difficult decisions to be made as the agents reveal just six single girls can be invited to move into the Mansion...
Tuesday 26th January
C4, 8pm – Secret Safari: Into The Wild
Kenya's breathtaking conservancy Ol Pejeta is one of the last untamed places on Earth and one of the most important wildlife conservancies. A vast open wilderness that protects any animal within its 90,000 acres, Ol Pejeta is home to a vast range of species, from elephants, rhinos, hippos and lions to hyenas, ostriches and cocktail ants. Ol Pejeta is the setting for this brand-new series taking viewers on an intimate journey into the lives of an incredible cast of 13,000 wild animals. The stories are told by those who know the animals best - a team of dedicated rangers who live and work side by side with the creatures they help protect. This series reveals on an epic scale the huge emotional investment and the genuine physical danger that staff experience working to protect some of the world's rarest and most beautiful creatures. Narrated by actor Andrew Scott, each episode explores stories of birth, life and death. In the first episode, a hungry pride of lionesses desperately need a kill, but Sekela, their best hunter, has gone missing. Critically endangered rhino Lola has given birth, but the rangers are worried that her vulnerable calf could fall prey to predators. In the wetlands, crowned crane Malkia is in search of a mate. As crowned cranes pair for life, it's vital that she chooses wisely.
E4, 10pm – Dead Pixels
The second series of the hit comedy, about a group of friends who are obsessed with a role-playing fantasy computer game, kicks off with a double bill. Starring Alexa Davies, Charlotte Ritchie, Will Merrick, Sargon Yelda and David Mumeni, series two sees the arrival of a new instalment of Kingdom Scrolls for our gaming fanatics. But their excitement is quickly quashed when they discover that the game they love so much has been commercialised and overrun by a younger generation of players. Meg (Davies) starts to wonder whether it's time for her to grow up and move on, Usman (Yelda) goes to increasing extremes to hide his gaming from his wife, and Nicky (Merrick) falls for a girl online who he invites to come and stay. Which definitely doesn't cause any issues between him and Meg, because they definitely don't have feelings for each other... In the first episode, after eight long months of waiting, the new Kingdom Scrolls expansion pack is finally here. Will it live up to the hype?
Wednesday 27th January
M4, 9pm – Auschwitz Untold: In Colour
This powerful and revelatory account of one of the most hideous crimes in human history is told from the perspectives of 16 extraordinary Holocaust survivors - from a Jewish artist to a Roma resistance fighter. These inspiring stories of survival in a Nazi death camp and armed resistance in the World War II underground are made all the more resonant and real for a new generation of viewers by the transformative power of restored and colourised archive of the Holocaust. From across Eastern Europe to the infamous gated entrance of Auschwitz-Birkenau, most of the 16 Holocaust survivors were children when World War II began in 1939. The survivors retell of the rise of fascism, the uprooting of families, and the long journey from centuries-old Jewish communities into Auschwitz. The film includes a rare and haunting collection of photographs called the 'Auschwitz Album' and chronicles with unflinching detail the survival challenges at Auschwitz-Birkenau as well as tales of resistance inside the camp, including sabotaging armaments for the Nazi war machine.
C4, 9pm – Grand Designs
Kevin McCloud follows more of Britain's most ambitious self-building projects, as intrepid individuals attempt to design and construct the home of their dreams. Energy conservationist Andrew has decided to put his money where his mouth is by sinking all his savings into building a radical, self-heating home for his family - the first of its kind in the UK. Remarkably, he aims to heat the house all year round by storing the warmth of the summer sun into insulated earth banks over and around the house, and then drawing the warmth back into the living spaces in winter. Heated by nature, there won't be a single radiator in sight. While his wife Margretta yearns for a contemporary and beautiful house, Andrew's focus will be primarily on his gigantic thermal experiment. As the house is built, he'll repeatedly collect data through a mass of probes, determined to push the boundaries of science. But from the start, this pioneering construction seems an exercise in trial and error. Andrew's initial design is vetoed as unsafe by his structural engineer before he's even broken ground. What begins as a seemingly simple, pure concept becomes a complicated feat of earth moving and engineering, testing their £300k budget and Margretta's patience. Even as the build spirals well over its 18-month schedule, and with Andrew's professional reputation at stake, the question remains - will the house even work?
Thursday 28th January
M4, 9pm – Location, Location, Location: 20 Years And Counting
To mark the 20th anniversary of Location, Location, Location, this new series sees Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer look back on their 20 years of house-hunting, from chocolate box cottages and future-proof pads, to tackling tough markets and the most memorable offers made. In this episode, Kirstie and Phil reminisce on 20 years of helping house-hunters whose budgets were a challenge for what they wanted to buy and where. In Jersey, Katrina and Nick struggle to find a house with a large kitchen, a garden and a garage. Jo and Ally are moving from north to south London and hope to buy a house and start a family. Matt wants to replicate his childhood for daughter Katie, but they can't afford to buy in his hometown of Poole. And in the Scottish Lothians, Ian wants a house and separate workspace, and is willing to go far and wide to find it.
C4, 10pm – Back
The second series of Simon Blackwell's comedy starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb continues. The revelation that Laurie might not be Stephen's dad contributed hugely to Stephen's mental collapse. Without that blood connection, Stephen (Mitchell) was on an equal footing with prodigal foster son Andrew (Webb). So the return of Charismatic Mike (Anthony Head), one of Ellen's (Penny Downie) ex-lovers, leads Stephen to wonder if this whirlwind of a man might be his biological father. Maybe Stephen isn't destined to be a poor copy of Laurie after all. Andrew helps to collect Mike's DNA, while Geoff (Geoff McGivern) considers renting a JCB to exhume his late brother. Meanwhile, Alison's (Olivia Poulet) exasperation with her ageing parents leads to an unlikely good Samaritan helping out.
Friday 29th January
M4, 7.55pm – The Great Pottery Throw Down
The battle of the clay continues in the brand-new series of The Great Pottery Throw Down, hosted by Siobhán McSweeney, as 12 of Britain's best home potters compete to become champion. In this fruity episode, the 10 remaining potters are challenged to make a fruit bowl full of realistic ceramic fruits, and face a blindfolded throw down with a twist, as judges Rich Miller and Keith Brymer Jones decide who will be named potter of the week and who will be heading home.
C4, 9pm – It’s A Sin
Drama from Russell T Davies about five friends living and loving in the shadow of AIDS. December 1983, and The Flying Pickets are Number One. While Ritchie (Olly Alexander) and Jill (Lydia West) embark on a scheme to become professional actors, Colin (Callum Scott Howells) is excited to be offered a trip to New York. And Roscoe (Omari Douglas) hides his fury when he finds himself excluded from his sister's wedding. Meanwhile, when an old friend, Gloria, asks Jill for a strange favour, Jill finds herself entering a world of mystery and fear. The stories in the headlines are becoming true, and the shadow of AIDS enters their lives. But Ritchie's denial is ferocious, and Jill becomes trapped in a world of lies, unable to tell the truth as the situation gets worse.
Saturday 30th January
E4, 9pm – Celebs Go Dating: Extra Mansion
The Celebrity Dating Agency is back with a swanky new home. For the very first time, the celebs and their potential matches all bed down together in one very plush mansion, under the ever-watchful eyes of dating experts Paul C Brunson and Anna Williamson. It's been a lust-filled first week for our seven lovelorn celebrities at the Celebs Go Dating mansion. From singletons moving in and moving out to relationships forming and ending, and tears and tension, we look back on an eventful start to the new series in this special round-up show. But is love actually blossoming for any of our celebs? Plus, there's exclusive unseen action from the mansion, a sneaky peek at some hot new singles set to move in and Wayne Lineker takes us on a tour of the mansion in his own inimitable style.
C4, 9pm – Deadpool 2
Ryan Reynolds returns as the potty-mouthed, can of whup-ass-opening superhero and this time he's got some buddies to help him take on baddie Josh Brolin in the network premiere of the all-out action comedy sequel that ain't afraid to mock itself... or other franchises (of which it is part). As we open, DP is trying to kill himself. If some consider suicide a futile act, then how about if your superpower is regeneration? Flash back six weeks and DP tells us he isn't just upset about Wolverine upstaging him by dying, although that's definitely part of it, he is also mourning the loss of his girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), who was shot immediately after they made the classic movie mistake of discussing their future life together. Anyway, he blows himself up, gets rescued by Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic), regenerates in the X-Mansion and ends up in a hi-tech jail, the Icebox, after trying to rescue a young mutant named FireFist (Julian Dennison - Hunt for the Wilderpeople) from a sinister institution. Problem is, or rather, a further problem is that FireFist is being hunted by Cable (Brolin), a cyborg that looks something like the Terminator's angrier, more highly-strung, tightly-haircutted mutant cousin from out of town here to ruin Christmas or, ahem, X-mas. But why is Cable hunting the mutant boy? Can DP break himself and FireFist out of the Icebox in time to evade Cable? And shouldn't the X-Men be relieved that DP doesn't want to join them, given the harm he could do the brand? Also, must mention the faux-Bond opening credits, which include a trip through a bullet hole in DP's torso and a cheeky butt shot. Deadpool 2 also features several X-Men, Colossus being joined by Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and her girlfriend Yuklo (Shioli Kutsuna), as well as a few sneaky cameos to spot and numerous references to Wolverine, who DP's not keen on...
Sunday 31st January
C4, 7pm – Grayson’s Art Club: Get Creating
As Grayson and Philippa Perry prepare to throw open the doors to their studio for a new series of Grayson's Art Club, they share advice and tips about the art for the public to send in for the new run. The couple explain the themes that will be explored in the second series. And they look back on the extraordinary year we've all been through, telling the story of Grayson's Art Club so far. From its beginnings in the thick of the first lockdown last spring, all the way to the creation of the Art Club exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery last November - an exhibition that, typical of Covid, has been unable, as yet, to open to the public - they reflect on the journey they've been on and what they have learned about the importance of art and creativity in our lives.
E4, 10pm – Temptation Island
Four couples at a crossroads in their relationships will put their love to the ultimate test, by mutually deciding to live the single life. Travelling to the Hawaiian island of Maui, they will live in separate houses with sexy singles, in order to discover if their current partner is the one, or if there is someone else they desire more. In the end, will the couples leave together, alone or with someone brand new?
