TV highlights – 23 – 29 June

Gordon Behind Bars (Tue, 9pm, C4)

Thought Gordon had been a bit quiet of late: it turns out that he has been in prison. Not banged up for foul and abusive language, though. Instead, the shouty chef has a new scheme involving HMP Brixton. He goes into the jail to teach 12 prisoners how to cook, allowing them to gain qualifications and find jobs on release. In exchange, they work for a commercial catering company while they serve their sentences, thus providing cheap labour. It’s like David Cameron and his public-private-partnership pals are commissioning the programmes now. Gordon is typically abrasive - he thinks lags have it too easy - but his temper is as nothing compared to the cons. A scheme to make and retail cupcakes, of all things, soon turns ugly. Also, Lifers (Sun, 9pm, C4) is a ‘Cutting Edge’ doc that goes behind the scenes at HMP Gartree in Leicestershire, which houses many convicted killers.

Alan Partridge: Welcome To The Places Of My Life (Mon, 9pm, Sky Atlantic)

Problems with the press, ‘Saxondale’, kiss-and-tells, so-so Hollywood films: Steve Coogan has not found his path post-greatness to be a smooth one. How do you follow the comedy perfection of ‘Knowing Me Knowing You With Alan Partridge’ and ‘I’m Alan Partridge’? Fans had long been hoping to see Alan back on TV but with some trepidation that the new material might be nothing like as good as the original. They can rest easy: Norfolk’s legend of chat is back and he’s on top form. Here, Alan shows us around his beloved county: known to some as the Wales of The East, to others as the Rump of Albion. He deals with such issues as the extension of parking fees and how to make a really good walking stick and shows that the passion still burns within as he rages against lollipop ladies. It’s very funny, occasionally horrible to watch, and brilliantly acted. Classic Partridge.

Line Of Duty (Tue, 9pm, BBC2)

Classy police thriller exploring the murky world of police corruption. Lennie James is excellent as Tony Gates, a brilliant detective whose clean-up stats are incredible. In fact, his stats are hard to believe. As the head of the anti-corruption unit, played by Adrian Dunbar, observes: “Nobody's THAT good.” Whatever corners he might be cutting, Gates inspires fanatical loyalty in the team around him and is going to be a hard nut to crack; but when he covers up a crime for his mistress (Gina McKee), it seems that his pursuers might have a foothold. Jed Mercurio, who wrote the cynical, realistic ‘Cardiac Arrest’ series about jaded doctors, has produced a script of real moral ambiguity and sophistication about the trade-offs between getting results and doing things by the book. It’s also especially savage on the pen-pushing, quota-filing type of policing imposed upon our forces by politicians. In documentary Can We Trust The Police? (Mon, 9pm, BBC3) young actor Adam Deacon tries to find out why some people don’t, by meeting victims of alleged police negligence or wrongdoing.

Turn Back Time – The Family (Tue, 9pm, BBC1)

Following on from last year’s series ‘Turn Back Time – The High Street’, in which modern-day shopkeepers lived and traded as Brits would have done in the 1870s and throughout the last century, we now get a chance to see three 2012 families living Edwardian style. The middle-class Meadows family draw the short straw, discovering how tough things were for the poor in 1900. The daughters find working for a living especially beastly, and indeed why wouldn’t they? The Taylor family find out that life for the upper classes had a rigidity that seems very alien now, and mum Adele finds herself all at sea now she is no longer a working mother. Meanwhile dad Ian is keen to see how his Golding brood respond to the rigorous discipline of middle-class Edwardian life. There’s a bit of genealogy thrown in with the social history as the families learn about their actual ancestors’ social station, but the broader appeal is their reactions to the new situations. Later in the five-part series, we’ll see them living at different points through British 20th century history.

Strictly Kosher (Mon, 9pm, ITV1)

Not too sure what to make of this show. It piloted last year and is now back for a two-parter on Monday and Tuesday. It features the everyday lives of Jewish people in Manchester. Joel Lever is a very laid-back shop owner with a great sense of humour. Fiery mum-of-three Bernette, who emerged as the star of the pilot, takes a trip to Israel, and visits a neighbourhood where men and women are not allowed to walk on the same pavement. There is also a rabbi who has been unlucky in love on the internet. All well and good, and there are some really nice stories, but it seems a bit gawky. After all, don’t most of us already know Jewish families? They’re Jews, not five-legged aliens. Anyhow, if you don’t find this element of the show off-putting, it’s a nice slice of life.

ALSO

Only one channel to be watching on Monday. After Partridge, Veep (Mon, 10pm, Sky Atlantic) (pictured) debuts as ‘Seinfeld’ star Julia Louis-Dreyfus takes the lead as a Sarah Palin-esque no-hoper in Armando Iannucci’s American political satire. Following that, Walking And Talking (Mon, 10.30pm, Sky Atlantic) is a new, excellent four-part comedy where Kathy Burke plays her younger self. In Imagine (Tue, 10.35pm, BBC1) Alan Yentob meets a theatre company which does plays with Afghanistan veterans. And finally, the Eurozone’s worries are over: Stacey Dooley has broken her silence with her new documentary Coming Here Soon: Greece, Bust And Broken (Tue, 9pm, BBC3).