Plenty of drama to get stuck into this week.
This week's best telly includes the return of the iconic gameshow Wheel of Fortune as well as the third series of Ant & Dec's Limitless Win and the ITV1 premiere of ITVX comedy Significant Other.
And it wouldn't be January without some great drama on television and this week doesn't disappoint. As well as the usual annual returns of Call the Midwife and Silent Witness, Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo star in new Apple TV+ thriller Criminal Record and Sophie Rundle stars in new ITV1 drama After the Flood.
Here are 7 TV shows you can't miss this week... And if you missed my 24 TV shows to watch in 2024, you can catch that list, here.
1. Wheel of Fortune
Saturday 6th January at 6pm on ITV1
The iconic gameshow Wheel of Fortune originally aired on ITV between 1988 and 2001 and ran for 14 series, with hosts Nicky Campbell, Bradley Walsh, John Leslie and Paul Hendy and now after 22 years, it's back on ITV1 with new host Graham Norton for 8 brand new episodes.
Once again, contestants must spin a giant carnival wheel to win a life-changing cash prize. In this thrilling game of skill and luck, the turn of the wheel secures a cash value before they pick a letter to help them solve the puzzle. For every correct letter they reveal in the puzzle, they win multiples of that amount.
The pressure is on as they could lose everything at a spin of a wheel that contains ‘bankrupts’ and ‘lose a turn’, and the contestants’ entire winnings could be wiped out.
In addition to cash, they can also win some impressive prizes which are added to their cash pot to help them reach the bonus round. Everything is up for grabs, but only one lucky contestant will get the chance to add big money to their cash pot and see if they can take it home.
1/8 Continues weekly
2. Ant & Dec's Limitless Win
Saturday 6th January at 8.30pm on ITV1
With a never-ending money ladder, a Limitless pot of cash, and a stack of fiendish questions, the answers to which are all numbers, it's safe to say that this new series of Ant & Dec's Limitless Win promises more drama, more tension and more wins as one lucky team walk away with the biggest cash prize in the show’s history, a staggering £1 million.
In the first episode of the new series, sisters and best friends Tina and Tracy take on the Limitless Ladder in an emotional game that brings tears to the eyes of Ant and Dec. Trying to climb high enough to pay for a new home for Tina and a fabulous cruise for Tracy, can they cash out before they crash out?
Then it’s the turn of childhood sweethearts Bianca and Ky who met in Year 7 and are now hoping their yin and yang approach will help propel them into the truly life-changing sums of money to be found higher up the ladder.
1/6 Continues weekly
3. Call the Midwife
Sunday 7th January at 8pm on BBC One
As Call the Midwife returns for its 13th series, we're now in 1969 and Sister Julienne and Shelagh are thrilled that the new midwifery training scheme is underway, which includes pupil midwives Rosalind Clifford, Joyce Highland, Kathy Downes and Norelle Morris.
Once introduced to the routines of home delivery, Rosalind and Joyce unpack their belongings and settle into Nonnatus House. And Dr Turner expresses his delight about a new scheme that allows GPs to deliver some of their more complex patients in the hospital with a consultant on standby.
When Doreen Challis, a young woman with cerebral palsy, played by Rosie Jones, is confirmed to be pregnant, her mother Ada is furious, not only at the baby’s father, Graham, but Doreen’s sister Anne, who helped conceal the pregnancy. As concerns grow for Doreen, a shocking detail from her own birth comes to light.
Rosalind’s first birth on the district is a baptism of fire under Trixie’s tutelage. All seems to be going well until events take a dramatic turn, putting Trixie, Rosalind, mother and baby in danger.
When Violet regretfully tells Fred and Reggie that the fairground she’s booked for Easter Monday has been cancelled, Reggie comes up with an idea that will bring the community together. Meanwhile, the Nonnatus team learn of the nurses' Raise the Roof campaign for better pay and conditions, and there is a clear divide of opinion around the table.
1/8 Continues weekly
4. Significant Other
Sunday 7th January at 10.15pm and 10.45pm on ITV1
Following its initial launch in June on ITVX, Significant Other is getting its ITV1 premiere this weekend. It stars Youssef Kerkour as Sam and Katherine Parkinson as Anna, two lonely neighbours who have each hit rock bottom and are brought together in the most unexpected ways.
Having swallowed a cabinet full of pills, we first meet Sam as he waits to die, until he's interrupted by neighbour Anna who is having a heart attack and needs to wait with him until help arrives.
Both lonely neighbours have lost all faith in love, and across the series embark on a hilarious, obstacle-filled relationship. Along the way, they discover that even when life seems to have passed them by, there are still surprises to be had.
Read my interviews from June 2023 with Katherine Parkinson here and my interview with Youssef Kerkour here.
1-2/6 Continues weekly. All episodes available now on ITVX
5. Silent Witness
Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th January at 9pm on BBC One
Now in its 27th series, Silent Witness is back with five more gripping two-part mysteries for the team at the Lyell Centre to solve as pathologist Dr Nikki Alexander, played by Emilia Fox, forensic expert Jack Hodgson, played by David Caves, and their dedicated team must help the police solve some of their most chilling cases yet.
This series, a body found in an abandoned church sparks fears that a serial killer has resurfaced after twenty years, death terrorises a university campus and no one is safe, a mummified corpse is uncovered - seemingly forgotten by everyone, multiple bodies are found entombed beneath a train station in a makeshift mass grave, and the Lyell is infiltrated by a malevolent force.
As the team use their expertise to unlock the truth, they are tested to their very limits. Gabriel unexpectedly seeks advice from Jack, and lets down his guard at work with devastating results. Velvy tries to do the right thing by his family, but at great cost to himself. Cara navigates London student life, making friends and enemies along the way. She impresses Jack when she undertakes work experience at the Lyell, and is forced to intervene when she makes a shocking discovery about Velvy. Nikki and Jack deal with one of the most difficult cases of their career and their relationship becomes stronger than ever.
In the first two-part mystery, Nikki and Jack investigate a murder bearing all the hallmarks of a notorious serial killer. When Nikki meets Charles Beck, the pathologist who conducted the original post-mortems, she discovers his wife was the suspected fifth victim of the serial killer, but nobody believes him when he claims he knows where to find her body.
1-2/10 Continues Mondays and Tuesday
6. Criminal Record
Wednesday 10th January on Apple TV+
Apple TV+'s new eight-part London crime thriller Criminal Record, from Paul Rutman, follows two detectives caught in a tug-of-war over a historic murder conviction.
It promises to be a powerful, character-driven thriller set in the heart of contemporary London with Peter Capaldi playing Detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty and Cush Jumbo starring as Detective Sergeant June Lenker.
An anonymous phone call draws two brilliant detectives into a confrontation over an old murder case, one a young woman in the early stages of her career, the other a well-connected man determined to protect his legacy.
The series touches on issues of race, institutional failure, and the quest to find common ground in a polarized Britain.
1-2/8 Continues weekly
7. After The Flood
Wednesday 10th January at 9pm on ITV1
ITV1's newest drama After the Flood, is a mystery thriller set in a town hit by a devastating flood and stars Sophie Rundle as PC Joanna Marshall.
When an unidentified man is found dead in a lift in an underground car park, police assume he became trapped as the waters rose and as the investigation unfolds, PC Joanna Marshall becomes obsessed with discovering what happened to him and why?
As the mystery unfolds across the series, we also see the real impact of climate change on the lives of residents in this small town. The floods threaten to expose secrets, and fortunes and reputations are at stake. But how far will people go to protect themselves?
1/6 Continues weekly
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