Poldark (BBC1, Sunday, 9pm)
Just what we need for Sunday nights – a juicy new period drama. Of course we already have Call The Midwife, Mr Selfridge, Indian Summers, and All Star Family Fortunes (spot the deliberate odd one out), but this one is considerably more rollicking and swashbuckly than those. It stars handsome Aidan Turner, who smouldered his way through Being Human and the Hobbit films, and he plays an 18th-century ex-army chap going through the worst day of his life. He returns to his Cornwall home only to find his father is dead, his estate is in ruins and the love of his life is engaged to be married. To his cousin! Turner is splendid as Ross Poldark and even though he doesn’t get his top off until episode 2 it feels like a big hit. The original series, back in the 70s, was massive. We shall see how this one fares in comparison.
Saturday Night Takeaway (ITV, Saturday, 7pm)
Last week they had living broadcasting legend Richard Madeley in the “I’m A Celebrity Get Out Of Me Ear” slot and it was so funny Ant & Dec practically soiled themselves laughing. This week their victim is the Not Quite Legendary More Like Notorious Jeremy Kyle. He’s no Madeley, but on the plus side the Star Guest Announcer is the unbeatable Rob Brydon. Expect a few impersonations. Expect a Ronnie Corbett impersonation to be precise. And of course expect the most reliably entertaining show on TV.
The Following (Sky Atlantic, Saturday, 9pm)
Saturday night telly can sometimes feel a bit formulaic and predictable with loads of shiny floor shows and singers competing for our interest and phone votes. Oh, and BBC4 always has a brainy foreign drama at 9pm. So good on Sky for scheduling this gory but fun serial killer thriller, now on season 3, and starring that dude from the EE phone ads (Kevin Bacon) in this slot to give us something a bit tastier to get to grips with. We get a double bill of episodes to kick things off – and deranged cult leader Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) is now awaiting execution on death row and apparently his following has gone away. But agent Ryan Hardy (Bacon) soon has to deal with a brutal and twisted new threat. Typical!
And don’t forget… The Great British Paint Off, sorry The Big Painting Challenge (BBC1, Sunday, 6pm) is still going strong and this week the remaining contenders are at Blenheim Palace where they have to paint a still life, a giant chess set and Blenheim itself.