Friday

Pick of the day: Those About To Die

Streaming now, Amazon Prime

“Please have mercy…” “It’s too late for mercy now,” is the opening line to Roland Emmerich’s suitably ripe (and costly) sword-and-sandal series, which has more than a whiff of Game of Thrones about it, with two GOT cast members on board – Iwan Rheon as games fixer Tenax and Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Norse gladiator Viggo – and plenty of brutality. Tenax explains how corrupt Rome has become and how games – gladiatorial combat, chariot races and unfortunate lions – have become vital to entertain the populous. The main drawer is Anthony Hopkins as Emperor Vespasian, who can play this role in his sleep. It’s no Ben-Hur, though.

Ghosts US

8.30pm, BBC Three

It lacks the heart and pathos of the original British version (possibly the finest BBC sitcom of the past 10 years) but the American version does have the occasional decent gag. A big investor has backed out of Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay’s restaurant, leaving the couple to turn to the one ghost with the necessary dosh – Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones).

Terror at 30,000 Feet

9pm, Channel 5

It’s 5am on a routine flight from Gatwick to Kenya in 2020 and a dream holiday has turned into a nightmare in this suitably petrifying look at airline disasters. A British Airways jumbo jet is plummeting towards the ground; there is less than a minute left to save the plane before it crashes. A passenger has entered the cockpit and is wrestling with the pilots, pushing the plane into a rapid dive. The doc explores the remarkable story of BA Flight 2069, told by those on board. It features interviews with pilot Bill Hagan, crew and passengers.

Champions: Full Gallop

9pm, ITV1

The stories of lives, journeys, and adventures – both human and equine – make horse racing so dramatic and compelling. It also focuses on the high levels of welfare applied to racehorses and jockeys. In the first episode, it’s Boxing Day at Kempton and the horses line up for the historic big-money King George VI chase, one of the most prestigious jump races of the entire season.

8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown

9pm, Channel 4

Jimmy Carr hosts this enduring hybrid of comedy panel show and words-and-numbers quiz, as Jon Richardson and Dan Tiernan take on Richard Ayoade and Katherine Ryan.

Lulu At The BBC

9pm, BBC Four

A collection of the Scottish singer’s most popular hits, covers and classics from a huge range of shows, including her own series and TV specials that were a feature of the BBC’s light entertainment schedules in the 60s and 70s. There are duets with pop and soul giants Neil Diamond, Bill Withers, Shirley Bassey and Al Green, and songs including “To Sir With Love”, “The Man With The Golden Gun” and “The Man Who Sold The World”.

It’s Lulu

10.10pm, BBC Four

You can never get enough Lulu and here’s a documentary profiling the life and career of the vibrant singer, who first shot to fame at the age of 15 with her chart-topping cover of the Isley Brothers’s song “Shout”. Featuring contributions by Lulu, as well as Emma Bunton, Maurice Gibb, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.

Saturday

Pick of the day: Piglets

9.30pm, ITV1

“I’m a statistic,” claims young misfit Paul (Jamie Bisping) during a high-speed car chase with the cops before he joins police training college. This new comedy, which is like Police Academy without Steve Guttenberg and the casual sexism, follows a ragtag of new recruits, with Rebecca Humphries excelling as a crazed admin officer Melanie (“Nothing’s simple, nothing”), Mark Heap channelling his creepy neighbour in Friday Night Dinner as a police trainer and Sarah Parish as his angry colleague, Superintendent Spry. A watchable, reasonably droll sitcom, which is quite rare, and reminiscent of Green Wing.

Changing Ends

9pm, ITV1

“If we lived in a bungalow, we’d be dead…” screeches young Alan (Oliver Savell) in this 80s-set sitcom that recalls Adrian Mole, as a “dog on the loose” runs towards the petrified Carr family, hiding upstairs along with Nan (Maggie Steed) and their deranged neighbours, saucy Ange (“Don’t put tarpaulin over the Taj Mahal, Christine”) and Nigel. Nancy Sullivan stands out as Alan’s mother.

End of Summer

9pm and 9.50pm, BBC Four

Julia Ragnarsson’s psychologist Vera finds an alternative explanation for what may have happened to her brother Billy, who went missing, aged five, back in 1984. Meanwhile, Vera’s copper brother, Mattias, decides to help dodgy Harald (Torkel Petersson) to trace mysterious Isak’s identity (is he Billy or someone dangerous?) in this tense and haunting Swedish thriller, which flits from the 80s to the Noughties and concludes tonight.

Kings from Queens: The Run-DMC Story

9pm, Sky Documentaries

A riveting look at how the pioneering trio defied critics and legitimised a genre of music that was once labelled a fad. As their fame grows and the explosion of their Aerosmith rock/hip-hop collaboration on “Walk This Way” alienates their fan base, the group struggles to find a consistent voice within the hip-hop scene.

High Country

9.15pm and 10.20pm, BBC One

Two more dollops of Aussie crime drama in the exquisite Victoria Alpine region. In the first episode, fish-out-of-water detective Andie (Leah Purcell) has a strange encounter in the woods, while forensics identify the type of knife that killed the female hiker. In the second, an arrest risks losing Andie an ally in the area, while Ian McElhinney’s Sam’s crusade against “psychic” Damien continues. Clichés abound, and there is a touch of soap about it, but the setting and McElhinney are the big draws here.

Love & Death

10pm, ITV1

After a surprisingly charged moment at a church volleyball match, Texas housewife Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen) proposes that she and the rather dopey Allan Gore (Jesse Plemons) have an affair. Though he initially refuses her advances, the pair soon begin planning a secret arrangement which culminates in a motel-room meet. This peculiarly toned, fact-based crime drama, set in the 80s, benefits hugely from Olsen’s intensity.

Sunday

Pick of the day: McDonald & Dodds

8pm, ITV1

The return of one of ITV’s more enjoyable crime dramas. Having just tied up a case after a local scandal-breaking journalist died at a party in her home, the mismatched detectives (played by Tala Gouveia and Jason Watkins) investigate when a woman is found dead in a rented flat. The killer has removed all clues to the victim’s identity, but DNA reveals that she is a missing person who vanished on her way home from school more than 35 years ago. Can the droll duo navigate the tightly wound social circles of Bath’s elites to find the truth?

Gabon: Earth’s Last Chance

7pm, Sky Documentaries

“Gabon is one of an exclusive club of countries that are carbon-positive,” said Gabon’s then-president, Ali Bongo, at COP26 in 2021. “We absorb four times more CO2 than we emit, and we can hold our head high when it comes to fighting climate change.” This documentary feature tells the extraordinary story of scientist Professor Lee White from Manchester, who became the environment minister of Gabon in Central Africa in 2019. It charts the unlikely pairing of White and Bongo, as the former became instrumental in the global fight against rainforest destruction and climate change. It also charts his battle with corruption, crime cartels and the red tape of climate negotiations.

Britain Behind Bars: A Secret History

9pm, Channel 4

Rob Rinder uncovers a secret history of Britain hidden behind our prison walls, investigating the lives of inmates going back centuries and interviewing former prisoners who compare their experiences of today’s prison system with that of the past.

Ibiza Narcos

9pm, Sky Documentaries

In the last dollop of this murky doc about the island’s drugs scene, Danny Gould, the so-called “King of Ibiza”, describes running the club Clockwork Orange: “It was just a maelstrom of madness and getting on it.” Like a lot of people in this documentary, he has no idea where he got the actual drugs from. Cue an interview with a gangland boss…

The Turkish Detective

10pm, BBC Two

A serial killer appears to be targeting rubbish collectors in a poverty-stricken neighbourhood of Istanbul in this watchable crime drama based on Barbara Nadel’s bestselling novels. With wily Inspector Cetin Ikmen (Haluk Bilginer) on leave looking after his new baby, Ayse (Yasemin Kay Allen) leads the investigation instead, and Suleyman (Ethan Kai) finally entrusts her with the secret she has suspected for so long.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder

10.35pm and 11.15pm, BBC Three

Pip decides she must track down the drug dealer Max told her about, so against her better judgement, she seeks out a secret teen party, full of drugs and sex. Her “Watson”, Ravi, is sceptical, but she is determined to see it through and attend the party with pals Cara and Lauren. In the follow-up episode, Pip and Ravi find out more about Andie Bell’s secret life.