This week, our top television picks includes celebrities braving the cold in the name of entertainment and the finale of a stylish crime drama.
This week, our top television picks includes celebrities braving the cold in the name of entertainment and the finale of a stylish crime drama. As well as this, we see Chris Tarrant asking the million pound question for the final time and take a look at those that have escaped from the rat race.
1. The Jump (Monday-Sunday, Channel 4)
The new celebrity daredevil series kicked off on Sunday with hosts Davina McCall and Adam Brooker welcoming 12 celebrities (including TOWIE’s Amy Childs, Olympic Rower Sir Steve Redgrave, Sinitta and 5ive’s Ritchie Neville) to the Austrian ski slopes. The celebrities will compete against each other in six winter sporting disciplines including bobsleigh, speed skating, slalom skiing and Sunday’s skeleton. The bottom two facing elimination each night will take their chances on the dreaded 40m high ‘jump.’
2. Looking (Monday, Sky Atlantic)
It’s been a while since a gay-centric drama has been on our television screens, this sexy-yet-sweet US series comes in to fill the gap left by Russell T Davies’Queer as Folk and has been described as ‘Girls for gay men’. The series centres on three friends (including Glee’s Jonathan Groff) navigating San Francisco’s perilous dating jungle and the first episode sees Patrick (Groff) dealing with news of his ex’s engagement; Agustín (Frankie J. Alvarez) preparing to move in with his boyfriend; and Dom (Murray Bartlett) mulling over a reconnection an old flame.
3. Who Wants to be a Millionaire? (Tuesday, ITV)
After 15 years, five millionaires and that coughing scandal, ITV and host Chris Tarrant bid farewell to the biggest game show the world has ever seen with two celebrities specials. This week’s programme sees unlikely pairings in Russell Kane and Gloria Hunniford, Frank Skinner and Adrian Chiles, and Alexandra Burke and David Emanuel. But it’s Tarrant’s trademark quips we’ll be tuning in for, like, “But we don’t want to give you that.”
4. The Bridge (Saturday, BBC Four)
In it’s second series this Scandinavian crime drama sees two police detectives investigate when a coaster rams into the Oresund Bridge linking Sweden and Denmark. Malmö Detective Saga Norén The Bridge is just one of the plausible, intriguing and successful women characters in the show and along with her Copenhagen-based colleague, Detective Martin Rohde, forms a fine odd couple relationship. Saturday sees a double bill of the penultimate and final episodes of the series but you can catch up on the whole series on BBC’s iPlayer.
Our Women’s Editor, Salma Haidrani, is a fan of the show. “I’m a sucker for a stylish crime thriller!” Haidrani says.
5. Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild (Friday, Channel 5)
The programme in which Ben Fogle meets people who have moved to inhospitable parts of the world after leaving the rat race behind returns this week. He begins by travelling to the swamplands of southern Georgia in America to spend time with 64-year-old Colbert, a former financier who now lives in his hand-built wooden cabin. Ben learns some of the vital skills needed to survive in this dangerous backwater, including skinning roadkill, spearing frogs and drinking swamp water.
Let us know what you’re looking forward to next week by tweeting @KettleMag and your tweet could feature in next week’s ‘What’s Brewing on the Box.’
