This week's best telly includes the return of the happiest 90 minutes of the week, plenty of great drama, a new hour-long sketch show from Jamie Demetriou and the return of Abbott Elementary!
Here are 7 TV shows you can't miss this week...
1. Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
Saturday 25th February at 7pm on ITV1
The happiest 90 minutes of the week are back as Ant & Dec return with a brand new series of Saturday Night Takeaway, which remains the only show on telly to say "don't just watch the adverts, win them!" and promises exclusive features, live surprises, celebrity guests, returning favourites and outrageous stunts.
Joining Ant & Dec in the studio on Saturday night will be superstar David Tennant who will be this week’s Guest Announcer, Stephen Mulhern who will be setting the duo another bonkers Ant vs Dec challenge and Alison Hammond who is the first star to unknowingly take part in a truly terrifying Undercover.
Plus Ant & Dec will have a brand new huge audience giveaway for 2023, which will be revealed live on air and at the end of the first show, chart-topping singer Tom Grennan will star in the End Of The Show Show.
Elsewhere in this series, Rylan will become an unwitting victim of Undercover, Joe Wicks and Claudia Winkleman will take part in I’m A Celebrity…Get Out Of Me Ear! and this year's mini-series, Murder At Bigwig Manor will see Richard Wilson play Head of ITV with cameos including Davina McCall, Joel Dommett, Dermot O’Leary, Keith Lemon, AJ Odudu, Judi Love and Stephanie Cole. Plus viewer favourites including Ring My Bell, Singalong Live and Win the Ads will all return!
1/7 Continues weekly
2. Unforgotten
Monday 27th February at 9pm on ITV1
Returning for its fifth series this week, is Chris Lang's magnificent crime drama for ITV1, Unforgotten which sees Sanjeev Bhaskar return as DI Sunil ‘Sunny’ Khan, alongside Sinéad Keenan who plays DCI Jessica James.
The series opens with the clock ticking down to DCI James’s first day in her new job with an unforeseen and devastating introduction to her family life. Determined to make a good first impression with her new colleagues, will Jess be in the right frame of mind to deliver and inspire the team?
And inevitably how will the ghost of much-loved former colleague Cassie Stuart haunt her? After all, Cassie will be big shoes for her to fill. Does she have the resolve, professionalism and spirit to live up to her much-admired and respected predecessor?
Jess’s first case is the discovery of human remains in a newly renovated period property in Hammersmith, London. But how long have they been there and is this a murder dating back to the 1930s or has the body been disposed of in more recent times?
As the murder mystery unfolds, we’ll explore the lives of several central characters. Joining this series are Rhys Yates as Jay, Martina Laird as Bele, Ian McElhinney as Tony, Max Rinehart as Karol and Hayley Mills as Tony’s wife, Emma.
DI Khan’s loyal and hard-working cold case investigations team are also back together for the series with Jordan Long as DS Murray Boulting and Carolina Main as DC Fran Lingley reprising their roles. Also returning to the series are Georgia Mackenzie as pathologist Dr Leanne Balcombe, Michelle Bonnard as Sunny’s partner, Sal and Pippa Nixon as DC Kaz Willets.
1/6 Continues weekly. All episodes available at launch
3. A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou
Tuesday 28th February on Netflix
A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou is Jamie Demetriou's first comedy special for Netflix and takes the audience on a journey from birth to death through the ever-adored medium of song and sketch.
Across the hour-long special, Jamie unpacks the most crucial, embarrassing, heartening and ultimately futile stages of a life lived in the anxious modern day.
Each stage of life is articulated through a different character played by Jamie; and he's joined by an array of some of the best UK comedy talent including Ellie White, Sian Clifford, Jon Pointing, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Katy Wix amongst many more.
1/1
4. The Diplomat
Tuesday 28th February at 9pm on Alibi
Created by Ben Richards, Alibi's new six-part crime drama, The Diplomat, stars Sophie Rundle as Laura Simmonds and Serena Manteghi as her Consul colleague and friend Alba Ortiz. Together they fight to protect distressed British nationals in Spain's most visited city, Barcelona.
Mixing the roles of lawyer, counsellor and cop, Laura and Alba's diplomatic skills are stretched to the limit as they navigate the stream of surprising and complex cases that walk through the Consulate doors in need of their assistance.
The series opens with the death of Jay Sutherland, a young British barman working aboard a yacht in Barcelona's exclusive marina. While the Spanish police believe that the death was a tragic accident, Laura supports the boy's grieving father, Colin, played by Danny Sapani, who is convinced something more sinister took place that night.
As new unexpected evidence emerges and a murder enquiry is opened, Laura comes up against resistance from unlikely places that puts her in real jeopardy in her search for the truth, uncovering possible links to organised crime and a conspiracy to bury the truth that reaches the heart of the British security services.
Determined to deliver the justice Colin deserves, Laura discovers that exposing the secrets surrounding Jay’s death can come at a cost. Sometimes, knowing who to trust is perhaps the hardest challenge of all.
1/6 Continues weekly. All episodes available at launch
5. Abbott Elementary
Wednesday 1st March on Disney+
The second season of hit comedy Abbott Elementary, written by Quinta Brunson, began in the US in September 2022, and now the UK are finally getting to see it on Disney+, albeit just the first 10 episodes for now, the remaining 12 episodes will air later in the year, presumably after the series ends in the US in April.
If you somehow haven't heard of the award-winning sitcom, Abbott Elementary is a workplace comedy which follows a group of dedicated, passionate teachers, and a slightly tone-deaf principal, who are brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life.
Though these incredible public servants may be outnumbered and underfunded, they love what they do, even if they don't love the school district's less-than-stellar attitude toward educating children.
In season two, Philly's favourite educators are gearing up for another school year, which means more workplace laughs are on the way with Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues, Tyler James Williams as Gregory Eddie, Janelle James as Ava Coleman, Chris Perfetti as Jacob Hill, Lisa Ann Walter as Melissa Schemmenti and Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard all returning.
1-10/22 Continues later this year
6. Wrong Side of the Tracks
Wednesday 1st March on Netflix
When hit Spanish thriller Entrevías, created by Aitor Gabilondo and David Bermejo and known outside of Spain as Wrong Side of the Tracks, arrived on Netflix in May 2022 and quickly worked its way into the Top 10 most-watched shows in 68 countries with 20.2m hours viewed in its first week.
Whilst Spain was treated to both series one and two back-to-back, we've had to wait almost 10 months for the second instalment and with a third and fourth series already confirmed, it's definitely a series worth investing in if it somehow passed you by.
The first series followed Tirso Abantos, a retired war veteran who now runs a hardware store, frustrated with the rampant crime and delinquency in his neighbourhood. When his adopted Vietnamese teenage granddaughter Irene, played by Nona Sobo, falls victim to the drug dealers overtaking his neighbourhood, he takes matters into his own hands.
As series two begins, life isn't easy for Tirso. Not only is he without Irene or the hardware store, but things in the neighbourhood are getting even worse and when Irene decides she wants to stay with Tirso, his relationship with his daughter Jimena, played by María Molins, Irene's adopted mother, worsens.
Elsewhere, Nelson and Irene have not forgotten each other, but the changes in their lives make them unwilling to admit it and Ezequiel stays at Gladys' place.
1-8/8 All episodes available at launch
7. Daisy Jones & The Six
Friday 3rd March on Prime Video
Prime Video's new musical-drama series Daisy Jones & The Six, is based on the novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid and follows the story of the iconic 1970s band, fronted by two feuding yet charismatic lead singers, Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne.
Drawn together by personal and artistic chemistry, their complicated musical partnership catapulted the band from obscurity to unbelievable fame. And then, after a sold-out show at Chicago's Soldier Field, they suddenly called it quits.
Now, decades later, the band members finally agree to reveal the truth. Set to the soundtrack of original music from Daisy Jones & the Six, this is the story of how an iconic band imploded at the height of its powers.
Daisy Jones & The Six stars Riley Keough as Daisy Jones, Sam Claflin as Billy Dunne, Camila Morrone as Camila Dunne, Will Harrison as Graham Dunne, Suki Waterhouse as Karen Sirko, Josh Whitehouse as Eddie Roundtree, Sebastian Chacon as Warren Rojas, Nabiyah Be as Simone Jackson, and Tom Wright as Teddy Price, with a special guest appearance by Timothy Olyphant as Rod Reyes.
1-3/10 Continues weekly with multiple episode drops