This week's best telly includes the highly anticipated return of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, more brilliance from Tennant and Sheen in Staged, a new true crime drama on ITV starring Luke Evans and much more!
Here are 7 TV shows you can't miss this week...
1. Junior Bake Off
Monday 11th - Friday 15th January at 5pm on Channel 4
There was a time in 2020 when a new series of The Great British Bake Off looked unlikely, but thankfully against all the odds a new series did arrive in September and over Christmas and New Year we were even treated to two new specials. And the Bake Off treats aren't stopping there as this week sees the return of the Junior version of the competition.
Hosted by Harry Hill, Junior Bake Off sees 16 talented young bakers enter the iconic white tent, hoping to impress judges Liam Charles and Ravneet Gill and be crowned Britain's best junior baker. Ravneet is a professional pastry chef and joins the series for the first time this year.
In the first heat, 8 junior bakers enter the Bake Off tent for two exciting baking challenges. In the first Technical Challenge, their sponge baking and jelly making skills are put to the test as they had to follow Liam's recipe for a bake every baker has eaten before, but with an unusual twist. And in the next challenge, the bakers are tasked with making impressive fantasy cakes themed around their wildest dreams.
1-5/15 Continues weekdays
2. Bradley & Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad
Monday 11th January at 8pm on ITV
Bradley & Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad - the series in which actor and presenter Bradley Walsh and his actor son Barney hit the road together - was due to return for a third series last week, but because of a last-minute announcement from the Prime Minister, the launch was pushed back to this week.
This time around the father and son duo travel across Europe, travelling from their home in Essex all the way to the Amalfi Coast in Italy. But before they reach Italy they'll visit The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Slovenia.
As always, Barney will be pushing his dad to the limits with more thrill-seeking activities like ski-jumping, paragliding and even a bungee jump. They’ll also immerse themselves in the local culture, enjoying everything from Swiss yodelling to Bavarian finger wrestling.
In the first episode of this new series, they try out one of the oldest sports in The Netherlands, canal jumping before donning some lycra for a spot of velodrome track cycling, alongside a world champion. And before they leave the country, they take on the world’s tallest freestanding climbing wall.
1/6 Continues weekly
3. The Pembrokeshire Murders
Monday 11th - Wednesday 13th January at 9pm on ITV
Stripped across three nights this week, is ITV's first true crime drama of 2021, The Pembrokeshire Murders which stars Luke Evans as Detective Superintendent Steve Wilkins who in 2006 was newly promoted and decided to reopen the cases of two unsolved double murders from the 1980s.
The drama depicts the pursuit of cold-blooded serial killer John Cooper, played by Keith Allen, as Wilkins and his hand-picked team employ pioneering forensic methods and find microscopic DNA and fibres that potentially link the murders to a string of burglaries committed in the 80s and 90s.
If Wilkins was right, the perpetrator of those robberies, who was nearing the end of his prison sentence, was also a serial killer. Could Steve and his team find enough forensic evidence to charge their suspect before he was released to potentially kill again?
David Flynn stars as ITV news journalist Jonathan Hill who co-wrote Catching the Bullseye Killer with Senior Investigating Officer Steve Wilkins - the book this drama has been adapted from by Nick Stevens.
After brutally murdering four people in Pembrokeshire, Cooper eluded prosecution for the crimes for 20 years until a combination of a new detective team and advances in forensic science finally brought him to justice in 2011, when he was convicted for the killings.
1-3/3 Continues nightly
4. Staged
Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th January at 9.45pm on BBC One
Chances are, if you're a fan of Staged, you've already watched the entire second series - like I did, straight after the first episode aired on BBC One. But in case you're more disciplined than I am, the series does continue this week with two brand new episodes.
With a genius twist on the original format and even more surprising cameos than the first series, David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Georgia Tennant, Anna Lundberg and writer Simon Evans, really have outdone themselves this time.
Without giving too much away, in case you're yet to watch, this week's episodes see David deflated to discover how people feel about his character whilst Michael is overjoyed to discover how people feel about his.
As they deal with the fallout of their behaviour, they both fear for their careers whilst waiting for a call with their US agent... and you won't believe who's playing her!
3-4/8 Continues weekly. All episodes available now
5. Bamous
Tuesday 12th January from 6am on BBC Three
This week on BBC Three, Dane Baptiste hosts a brand new pilot for a comedy entertainment show called Bamous in which offers a satirical, razor-sharp and shamelessly provocative look at what it’s like to be black and famous... bamous.
Part entertainment show, part sketch show, Bamous is set in the heart of The NASBLAQ, a mythical, ever-shifting stock index of the most prominent and up-and-coming black talent in the UK. It’s like the Kilimanjaro of black success, incredibly hard to ascend, full of hidden dangers and all too easy to drop off.
Dane is joined by by some of the most exciting comedy talent in the UK today, including Toussaint Douglass, Munya Chawawa, Lola Jagun and Thanyia Moore, for some hilarious sketches including Bamous Bingo, the NASBLAQ call centre, a diversity thought shower at the BBC and much more.
1/1
6. RuPaul's Drag Race UK
Thursday 14th January at 7pm on BBC Three
After a series of pandemic related delays, the second series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK is finally sashaying its way onto BBC Three as over the course of 10 weeks, 12 of the country’s most fabulous drag queens will compete to be crowned the UK’s Next Drag Race Superstar.
The queens will slay their way through a weekly series of challenges designed to test their drag expertise. Their make-up skills, fashion sense, sewing abilities, comedy, singing, acting dancing skills, and of course lip sync skills will all be under close scrutiny by RuPaul and Michelle Visage who each week will be joined by either Alan Carr or Graham Norton and an impressive roster of celebrity guest judges.
This series they include Liz Hurley, Sheridan Smith, Jordan Dunn, Lorraine Kelly, MNEK, Jessie Ware, Maya Jama and Dawn French. They'll be assessing the queens on their Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve and Talent and the bottom two queens will be asked to lip sync for their lives. Natalie Cassidy and Jay Revel will also join the series as special coaches for acting and choreography.
In the first episode, the queens enter the werk room for the first time and quickly take on their first challenge, a photo shoot with Ru. And then, in an added twist, the queens are asked to serve two looks on the Drag Race runway. But who will be the first queen to sashay away from the competition?
1/10 Continues weekly
7. Servant
Friday 15th January on Apple TV+
One of the first original dramas to launch on Apple TV+ in 2019 was Servant, a new 10-part series from M. Night Shyamalan starring Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell, Nell Tiger Free and Rupert Grint and now it's back for a second season.
The first season followed Philadelphia couple Dorothy and Sean Turner who were in mourning after an unspeakable tragedy creates a rift in their marriage and opens the door for a mysterious force to enter their home.
Having lost their 13-week old son Jericho, they hire a young nanny called Leanne Grayson to care for baby Jericho, but all is not as it seems as she's actually hired to care for a reborn doll who Dorothy believes is her real child whilst Sean has to grieve alone. But who is Leanne Grayson? And what do we really know about her?
With so many odd twists and turns along the way, to reveal anything more than that would be unfair on those wishing to catch up before season two... and you absolutely should. This definitely isn't one of those shows you can start having missed the entire first season.
1/10 Continues weekly
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