TV highlights – 12 – 18 January

Yes, Prime Minister (Tue, 9pm, Gold)
The 1980s ‘Yes, Minister’ and ‘Yes, Prime Minister’ sitcoms with hapless politico Jim Hacker, all-knowing senior civil servant Sir Humphrey and daft private secretary Bernard were among the most beloved Britain has ever produced. So three cheers for these new episodes, from original writers Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay, and starring David Haig as the PM, Henry Goodman as Sir Humphrey and Chris Larkin as Bernard. All three are perfect in their roles, and there are some satisfying scrapes and dilemmas for Jim to blunder into. However, much of the originals’ delight came from the then unfamiliar exposure of political humbug and the public’s satisfaction in seeing establishment figures made all-too human. These days, with the public essentially viewing our elected representatives as the dregs of society, something is lost, and this reboot feels like a dated, rather tame pleasure. But a pleasure nevertheless…

Blandings (Sunday 6.30pm, BBC1)
The wonderful world of PG Wodehouse is opened up in an excellent teatime miniseries with a great cast. The idyllic world of upper class twits and disapproving butlers numbered the fictional Blandings Castle as one of its locations, scene for some eleven novels and nine short stories from the Master of comic writing. Timothy Spall stars here as the ineffectual, affable Lord Emsworth, whose great love in life is his prize pig, known simply as The Empress. But dastardly rival toff Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe (played by Robert Bathurst) (obviously) is attempting to sabotage his chances at the forthcoming village show. Lord Emsworth also has to contend with imperious sister Connie (Jennifer Saunders in ferocious form), idiot son Freddie (Jack Farthing) and butler Beach (Mark Williams). First of six parts of delightful Sunday tea-time escapism, with plenty of laughs and some note-perfect performances that will win the approval of Plum’s many devotees.

Father Brown (Mon-Fri, 2.10pm, BBC1)
And it’s good times for the former ‘Fast Show’ favourite Mark Williams, who this week will mostly be appearing in a new daytime crime drama that might well go on to be the new ‘Midsomer Murders’. Williams is Father Brown, a pastor in the 1950s who inhabits a world of pleasant old ladies, cups of tea, chats about the weather and near constant homicides. Over the next two weeks, there is a stand-alone drama every weekday, with Father solving a dizzying array of dark deeds, with the help or hindrance of Hugo Speer’s police inspector. A parade of solid guest actors keeps things moving along nicely, and Williams is excellent as the harmless looking but intuitive man of the cloth – a role previously played by Alec Guinness. If you like your murder most foul, but in a polite sort of way, the enduring Midsomer Murders (Wed, 8pm, ITV1) itself is also on this week. Worth catching to see Martine McCutcheon murdered with a giant bit of cheese. I kid you not…

World Without End (Sat, 9pm, C4)
Novelist Ken Follett’s chunky medieval epic ‘The Pillars Of The Earth’ made for a solid miniseries a couple of years back, and now its sequel gets the same treatment. Set 150 years after the original, we are back in the town of Kingsbridge for the start of the Hundred Years War and the Black Death. Happy days, 14th century chums! In the city, brave young Caris (Charlotte Riley) and her friends help a mysterious wounded Knight, an action that will define all of their lives. And at the top of the social pile, Queen Isabella (Aure Atika) defeats her husband in battle and hopes to crown their son (Blake Ritson) as Edward III. Those who like these sorts of sweeping period yarns will be well away, but a couple of interesting casting choices – ‘Sex And The City’s’ Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) as Caris’ nasty aunt, for instance – as well as the presence of top class Brit talent like Miranda Richardson and Peter Firth (Harry in ‘Spooks’) make sure this is always an enjoyable watch even if you’re not mad on the historical stuff.

Patrick Moore Night (Sun, 7pm, BBC4)
The legendary astronomer, who died last month, is the subject of a night of programming on the channel. The heavens open with a trio of episodes of The Sky At Night, including a 1975 feature on the outer planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto; then 1982’s ‘The Unfolding Universe’ and a Mars special from 2009. Sir Patrick Moore: Astronomer, Broadcaster And Eccentric (8.30pm) is an affectionate tribute to a man who was larger than life – and often the purveyor of some distinctly salty views. He certainly won’t be too mourned by the feminist community, shall we say. And then Sir Patrick Moore Talks To Mark Lawson (9pm) gives a further insight into the man who became synonymous with space and stargazing for two generations of TV viewers. All in all, a galaxy of information and tribute to a true TV one-off.

Also this week
Winterwatch (Mon, 8.30pm, Tue-Thu, 8pm, BBC2) is back! Over four nights, Chris Packham and the gang catch up with their beaver, red squirrel and pine marten pals and see who’s making it through the Scottish Highland winter. Utopia (Tue, 10pm, C4) is a strange and dark conspiracy thriller series about the evil that seems to flow from a graphic novel. My Fat Mad Diary (Mon, 10pm, E4) is a young adult drama about an unhappy 16-year-old. On the other hand, if it’s unhappy 25-year-olds that you prefer, how about the second season of Girls (Mon, 10pm, Sky Atlantic)? Harry And Paul’s Magnificent Sporting Moments (Tue, 10.35pm, BBC1) finds Enfield and Whitehouse (in character) introducing extreme sports clips. Way To Go (Thu, 10pm, BBC3) is a new black comedy series about the obvious laughter goldmine that is assisted suicide. A season about British inventions kicks off with Why The Industrial Revolution Happened Here (Mon, 9.30pm, BBC2) and The Sarah Millican Television Programme (Tue, 10pm, BBC2) returns for a new series with Craig Revel Horwood and Mel C as the first guests.