Strictly Come Dancing (BBC1, 7.05pm)
IT’S that time of year again when the show makes its annual pilgrimage to the spiritual home of ballroom dancing, Blackpool. All the celebrities want to make it this far in the competition, but in the weeks leading up to this show, it’s been even trickier than usual to work out exactly who should be booking their seat on the coach and who should hang fire before buying a Kiss Me Quick hat. Admittedly, many viewers were ready to put money on former Emmerdale star Kelvin Fletcher and CBBC presenter Karim Zeroual making the final after week one, but this series has still seen plenty of upsets.
The X Factor: Celebrity (STV, 8.20pm)
SOME viewers were initially cynical about the idea of a celebrity take on the singing contest, especially those who could remember the previous attempt, X Factor: Battle of the Stars, from 2006. So, has the show changed their minds? The ratings are still lagging behind those of its big Saturday night rival, Strictly Come Dancing, but at least X Factor: Celebrity has got people talking, especially on social media. Fans have been sharing on their opinions on everything from Chaser Jenny Ryan’s voice to Olivia Olson’s departure.
Novels That Shaped Our World (BBC2, 9.45pm)
THE second documentary examining fictional writing from three different perspectives considers the subject of race and colonialism.
It looks at books including Robinson Crusoe, the first novel ever published in English, in 1719, whose hero was a slave trader, and two famous American novels published more than a century apart – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Toni Morrison’s Beloved.
The programme also comes up to date with titles such as Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses and Paul Beatty’s The Sell Out.
The Heart Guy (Drama, 10pm & 11pm)
FOR the past three years, Australian TV drama Doctor Doctor has gone down a storm with viewers on home turf. And like many an Aussie dramas, it’s also found a firm fan base here. For whatever reason, the show was renamed for this neck of the woods, but the saga of heart surgeon Dr Hugh Knight, working as a country GP in his former home town of Whyhope, has lost little of its appeal. As the saga returns for a fourth run, Hugh (Rodger Corser) becomes distracted by the arrival of Tara, an alluring new doctor. In the second of the double bill, Hugh’s superiority has left him without a Cardiac Unit, and minus a job.
The Hit List (BBC1, 6.25pm)
NEW series. Marvin and Rochelle Humes (above) present the return of the music-based quiz show, in which contestants must name as many hit songs and artists as possible under intense pressure, with a £10,000 jackpot up for grabs for the winners.
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