This week's best telly includes FOUR talent shows, two brand new dramas and some comic relief from Tom Davis and Karl Pilkington.
Here are 10 shows you can’t miss this week...
1. The Greatest Dancer
Saturday 4th January at 7pm on BBC One
After a strong launch in 2019, The Greatest Dancer is back for 2020 with Todrick Hall joining as a new dance captain, sitting alongside Cheryl, Oti Mabuse and Matthew Morrison. With four weeks of auditions and an extended six-week run of live shows, the new series promises to be bigger and better than before.
Once again the prize at stake for the dancers is a chance to perform on Strictly Come Dancing and win £50,000. Once again, talent from across the world of dance, from ballet to jazz, street to ballroom, contemporary to disco will enter The Greatest Dancer studio for the biggest audition of their lives, after being welcomed in by Love Island star and former Dancing with the Stars professional Curtis Pritchard.
During the auditions, it's not the dance captains who hold the power, it's the audience in the room who are able to vote for the performances they enjoy and if 75% of the audience vote 'Yes', the mirror will open and the dancer will make it through to the next stage of the competition, the call backs
1/10
2. The Masked Singer
Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th January at 7pm on ITV
It's the surreal and surprising singing show from South Korea which has become a global hit and now The Masked Singer arrives in the UK as celebrities attempt to pull off their best performance all whilst their identity is hidden and imaginatively concealed behind a mask.
Twelve celebrities will compete, dressed head to toe in elaborate costumes with their identities hidden on and off stage. As each celebrity sings, a superstar panel, made up of Jonathan Ross, Rita Ora, Davina McCall and Ken Jeong, who also appears on the US show, along with the studio audience, are left guessing who’s behind the mask as the celebrity singers try to throw them off the scent.
On Saturday the first six masked singers will battle it out; Queen Bee vs Duck, Unicorn vs Butterfly and Chameleon vs Hedgehog and at the end of the show, the first celebrity’s true identity is revealed as they are unmasked on stage. And on Sunday it's the turn of the remaining six masked singers to take to the stage.
1-2/8
3. The Voice UK
Saturday 4th January at 8.30pm on BBC One
The Voice UK is back for its ninth series (fourth on ITV) and there’s a brand new coach on the panel, Meghan Trainor.
That's right, Olly Murs, Sir Tom Jones and will.i.am will be joined by the All About That Bass singer and Grammy-award winner will in their iconic red chairs as the blind auditions and their search for a superstar begins.
As ever, hopeful singers will be fighting to make sure the chairs turn for them so that they can stand a chance of winning a life-changing record contract.
Read my interview with this year's coaches here.
1/7
4. Dancing On Ice
Sunday 5th January at 6pm on ITV
It wouldn't be January without it and this weekend Dancing on Ice returns with twelve brand new celebrities taking part - but only six couples perform their very first routines this weekend, with the remaining couples having to wait a week before they take to the ice.
Once again Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby will host and Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean will head up the ice panel which sees Ashley Banjo return and Jason Gardiner replaced by series one celeb and I'm A Celeb favourite John Barrowman.
Sunday night's opener will see magician Ben Hanlin, presenter Joe Swash, Corrie favourite Lisa George, Diversity's Perri Kiely, TV favourite Trisha Goddard and Steps singer Ian 'H' Watkins skate competitively for the first time. 'H' of course will be skating with his partner Matt Evers, becoming the first same-sex couple to ever compete on the show.
Unfortunately, Michael Barrymore was forced to pull out of the competition before Christmas due to injury.
5. Doctor Who
Sunday 5th January at 7.10pm on BBC One
On New Year's Day, Doctor Who returned for a new series with the first part of a two-part special, Spyfall, which ended with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger as The Doctor’s oldest enemy, The Master returned in a newly regenerated form, played by Sacha Dhawan.
In the second part of this epic spy thriller, a terrifying plan to destroy humanity is about to reach fruition. But can The Doctor and her friends escape multiple traps and defeat a deadly alliance?
2/10
6. Call the Midwife
Sunday 5th January at 8pm on BBC One
Following the brilliant special on Christmas Day, Call The Midwife returns this weekend with a brand new series, set in January 1965 and along with the rest of the UK, the Nonnatus House team is stunned by the death of Winston Churchill.
While working on night duty at the maternity home, there's a power outage just as Sister Frances is delivering a baby. Fred is soon on hand to fix it, but on his way out he follows an unusual sound and finds a newborn baby abandoned in a dustbin.
Meanwhile, at a run-down homeless unit, Nurse Crane meets heavily pregnant Dena and her ten year-old son Terry and is determined to help them move into a proper home in time for baby's arrival. Luckily, Nurse Crane manages to secure them a new council flat in one of the Tower Blocks.
1/8
7. White House Farm
Wednesday 8th January at 9pm on ITV
New ITV drama White House Farm, promises to provide fresh insight into that fateful night in August 1985 when five members of the same family were murdered at an Essex farmhouse - Sheila Caffell, her twin six-year-old sons, Daniel and Nicholas, and her parents, Nevill and June Bamber.
The six-part series, based on extensive research, interviews and published accounts, promises to provide fresh insight into this family tragedy and the contested accounts of the events that took place at White House Farm.
Essex Police initially believed that Sheila, who had mental health problems, had murdered her own family before turning the gun on herself and eventually it was her brother Jeremy Bamber who was charged and convicted of the murders of his own parents, sister and nephews. Currently serving life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, Bamber is one of the few prisoners in the UK subject to a whole-life order and still maintains his innocence.
Stars Freddie Fox as Jeremy Bamber, Cressida Bonas as Sheila, Stephen Graham as DCI 'Taff' Jones and Mark Addy as DS Stan Jones.
1/6
8. Deadwater Fell
Friday 10th January at 9pm on Channel 4
David Tennant stars in Deadwater Fell, a new four-part drama which follows two families in the fictional village of Kirkdarroch in the aftermath of a horrific crime - a seemingly perfect and happy family is murdered by someone they know and trust.
David Tennant stars as local GP Tom Kendrick, a trusted, admired and much-liked member of the community who is a doting father to three little girls and appears to have the perfect marriage to local teacher Kate, played by Anna Madeley who works at primary school alongside her best friend and closest confidante Jess Milner, played by Cush Jumbo, married to Steve, a Police Sergeant, played by Matthew McNulty, who was born and raised in Kirkdarroch.
But in one night the illusions of happiness and contentment are shattered as the community is drawn to Kate and Tom’s home in the forest by the flicker of flames and the smell of smoke. Amid the confusion Kate and her three children are found dead, and Tom, who is found alive, is rushed to hospital.
It soon becomes apparent, however, that Kate and her children weren’t killed in the fire and the village realise that something unspeakable has happened. As the fingers of suspicion point first to Tom, then to others as more details of that night emerge, Jess becomes desperate to understand what could have caused such a tragedy, and what secrets lie at the root of this terrible act…
1/4
9. King Gary
Friday 10th January at 9.30pm on BBC One
After a successful pilot towards the end of 2018, Tom Davis' family sitcom King Gary for a six-part run on BBC One which he has co-written with James DeFrond who also directs.
Davis stars as builder Gary King whilst Laura Checkley stars as his partner Terri. Together they struggle for social acceptance and material success in their competitive suburbia of Butterchurn Crescent. The series also stars Simon Day as Big Gary, Camille Coduri as Denise, Neil Maskell as Winkle and Romesh Ranganathan as neighbour Stuart.
In the opening episode, Gary has a building site prankster to deal with - local loose cannon and hard man, Lee Benson. After setting up a one-to-one meet with Benson at his local, the roughest pub in the area, Gary ‘rehearses’ the chat with Terri at home. But can Gary muster up the courage to sack the terrifying Benson or will his dad, Big Gary, have to get involved?
Watch the trailer and see some pics from the first episode here.
1/6
10. Sick of It
Friday 10th January at 10pm on Sky One
Karl Pilkington's superb Sky One comedy Sick of It - about a middle-aged man haunted by the voice inside his head as he lurches from one existential crisis to another - returns to our screens for six brand new episodes.
This time around, Karl’s world is turned upside down after his elderly aunt Norma hires Ruby, a young sparky care worker. Feeling pushed out, Karl decides to do some soul-searching, Karl comes to the realisation that he needs to do more with his life and tries to overcome his low self-esteem and anxiety issues to better himself, upgrade his career and find love – invariably failing miserably.
In the opening episode, Karl takes solace the only way he knows... by bingeing on biscuits of all shapes and sizes. But with his addiction to biscuits threatening to spiral out of control, can he shake himself out of it and make one final attempt to displace Ruby in Norma’s affections?
Read my review here.
1/6 - All episodes will be available On Demand