The Great British Bake Off
(C4, 8pm)
IT’S Pastry Week in the Tent of Dreams, a week which last year produced “vertical pies” including an apple treehouse and a curry carousel. No spoilers here about what the challenges entail this time but given that they seem to have been increasing in difficulty every year since the show shifted to Channel 4 (this series opened with a cake bust of David Attenborough, for goodness’ sake), we can expect the bakers to be tested, to say the least.
Life (BBC1, 9pm)
“I’LL take you up on a dare, anytime, anywhere” sang Des’ree in her 1998 hit single, Life, and it’s a sentiment that David and Saira could do well to embrace as they embark upon a new chapter of their lives – only for Belle to intervene, causing them a few ruffled feathers. Belle is on the receiving end of a shock of her own, with Neil making her an unexpected offer. Elsewhere in the Manchester house, Henry deals with the fallout from Gail’s decision and Hannah and Liam host a tense dinner party in which secrets are served up with each course.
Out of Her Mind (BBC2, 10pm)
SARA Pascoe has proven throughout her television and radio career to have not just a witty turn of phrase and a way with a punchline, but also a socially conscious, probing mind. So it is with no little interest that we await this, her first scripted comedy series, which explores family, heartbreak and relationships, and promises to “subvert the traditional sitcom format”. The premise sees Sara respond to the happy news that her sister is engaged to be married by resolving to prove, scientifically, that love does not exist.
A Hole In Babylon: Play For Today (BBC4, 10pm)
ORIGINALLY shown in 1979, Jim Hawkins and Horace Ove’s controversial drama is based on the events surrounding the Spaghetti House siege in Knightsbridge in 1975. Frank Davies (T-Bone Wilson), Wes Dick (Archie Pool) and Bonsu Monroe (Trevor Thomas) prepare to rob the restaurant. As the trio cross the point of no return, the police are called. What began as a means to an end is now repackaged as a political and revolutionary act, and Frank assumes command of the quickly improvised Black Liberation Army.
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