Museums at Night (BBC 2/HD | 7:00pm to 8:00pm | Saturday 17th May 2014)
Will Gompertz celebrates Museums at Night, a three-day festival of museums and galleries from St Ives to Orkney that throw open their doors till late, showcase their collections and party! At the National Museum of Scotland Will hears a pop-up opera, visits a silent disco and enjoys a gramophone DJ set. Discussing the exciting renaissance of our museums and galleries, historian and presenter Bettany Hughes, head of London’s South Bank Centre Jude Kelly, Google’s Amit Sood and actor Mat Fraser also enjoy live music, aerial performances and the museum’s amazing collection, all under the watchful gaze of Dolly the sheep, the world’s first cloned mammal! There are also short films showcasing Museums at Night events across the country.
All Aboard: East Coast Trains (Pick TV | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Sunday 18th May 2014)
Our journey continues with a look at how well staff members get along. Plus, a troupe of dancers surprise commuters with an impromptu platform performance.
Britain’s Most Extreme Weather (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Monday 19th May 2014)
Is Britain now hotter than ever? Alex Beresford examines the science and the history of our weather to find out. Alex learns about the dangers of heatwaves, when extreme hot weather can shut down transport, damage crops and give people heat exhaustion. Alex experiences the dangers of rising temperatures when he endures a simulated heatwave. The programme examines the severe heatwave of 2003, which killed around 2000 people in Britain, when temperatures hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the South East.
Watermen: A Dirty Business (BBC 2/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Tuesday 20th May 2014)
Series focusing on the men and women who take our calls, come to unblock the drains and keep the sewage flowing. The final episode in the series begs the question, who would flush a pair of designer underpants and how big can a fatberg be? For Chris and Mark a pair of pants is just one of many treats they get on a weekly basis as they maintain Lennox Gate Pumping Station in Blackpool. Whilst, over in Davyhulme, Scott and Wayne face an estimated 100-tonne fatberg, an eye watering sight and smell but all in a day’s work for the lads who handle these gut-wrenching jobs.
King’s Cross: Inferno on the Tube (Channel 5 | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Wednesday 21st May 2014)
Documentary series detailing minute by minute the events leading up to a disasters and atrocities. This episode looks at the evening in November 1987 when a giant fireball engulfed the ticket hall at King’s Cross, one of London’s busiest underground stations. The fire was caused by a discarded match or cigarette setting alight a wooden escalator, but the inadequate infrastructure of the station meant that it quickly escalated into an inferno which killed 31 people. The programme features interviews with, among others, Daemonn Brody, who was there at the moment of the disaster, Sharon O’Neill, a London Transport officer who helped to rescue a number of people and journalist Lindsay Taylor who was close to the scene of the accident.
Coast Australia (BBC 2/HD | 9:10pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 21st May 2014)
Series exploring Australia’s coastline. Across the glittering waters of Sydney, Neil Oliver explores the network of fortification to protect ‘Fortress Sydney’, and discovers how close the city came to being taken in the Second World War. Xanthe Mallett discovers some ingenious DIY, as she learns how to make building mortar out of oyster shells. Tim Flannery reveals the geological secrets of the city’s vast and sprawling harbour, and unlocks the riddle of the rivers that had Captain Phillip baffled in 1788. Brendan Moar examines the Sydney Harbour Bridge, an international icon in engineering and design, while Emma Johnston hunts for tropical fish in Sydney’s temperate and diverse harbour.
Heston’s Great British Food (Channel 4/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Thursday 22nd May 2014)
In the final episode of the series, Heston gives the classic British afternoon tea a very special twist, conjuring something the Mad Hatter himself would be proud of. Heston does his own take on the Victoria sandwich cake. Inspired by a visit to Wedgwood fine china manufacturers, Heston makes an edible cake stand out of sponge. He adds some ‘sandwich’ cakes that look like smoked salmon and cream cheese, but are in fact sweet cakes made from Earl Grey sponge and blood orange pâté de fruit. For tea, Heston brews a Darjeeling and hedgerow infusion and cucumber sandwich tea leaves. There’s also a sandwich casino inside a beautiful country house in Staffordshire, where the guests are able to eat the playing cards, casino chips and even the gambling table. And there’s one last surprise, with a chocolate teapot that pours Earl Grey chocolate tea.
Have I Got News for You (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 9:30pm | Friday 23rd May 2014)
The popular news quiz, with team captains Paul Merton and Ian Hislop, guest host Kirsty Young and guest panellists including Ross Noble.
All TV guide information taken from DigiGuide — www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=15119.