UK TV programmes to watch this week : 26/09/2015

Doctor Who - 26/09/2015 (YouView app)Doctor Who (BBC 1/HD | 7:45pm to 8:35pm | Saturday 26th September 2015)

Sci-fi drama. Trapped and alone on the planet Skaro, the Doctor is at the heart of the Dalek Empire – no sonic, no TARDIS, nobody to help. With his greatest temptation before him, can the Doctor resist? And will there be mercy?

Danger Mouse (CBBC/HD | 6:00pm to 6:25pm | Monday 28th September 201)

Animated series. Danger Mouse explodes back into action and is instantly dismissed for destroying half of London. Can the world survive without Danger Mouse?

Grand Tours of the Scottish Islands (BBC 1 Scotland/HD & BBC iPlayer only | 7:30pm to 8:00pm | Monday 28th September 2015)

Paul Murton visits the islands lying off the Scottish coast. In this edition, Paul travels from Finlaggan, where the famous ruler Somerled once held court, along Islay’s windswept coast, through its historic ports and villages to end on its highest mountain. Along the way he joins a dedicated bunch of Ileach who are keeping the seafaring traditions of the island alive, discovers the secrets of Islay’s illicit whisky distilling past and travels to the Mull of Oa on the island’s south coast, before climbing Ben Vicar for a breathtaking view across the Hebrides.

Canals: The Making of a Nation (BBC 4/HD | 8:00pm to 8:30pm | Tuesday 29th September 2015)

Liz McIvor tells the story of the people who operated the canal boats, carrying fuel and goods around the country. Liz discovers grisly canal crimes, investigates health and welfare on working boats and learns why canal children were last on the list to be offered safeguards and formal education. While the Victorians eventually championed the needs of children who were forced to labour in factories and mines, the boat children were often ignored. Liz discovers the campaigners who set out to tackle this injustice, including George Smith of Coalville, Leicestershire, and Sister Mary Ward of Stoke Bruerne.

The Naked Choir with Gareth Malone (BBC 2/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Tuesday 29th September 2015)

Gareth Malone presents the search for the nation’s best amateur a cappella group. Gareth mentors four new groups as they begin their battle to stay in his contest. Receiving Gareth’s help and competing are a fledgling group of Salford students, a traditional male barbershop outfit from the Midlands, a gifted Glasgow University choir and an ambitious Birmingham six-piece, striving to bring a cappella to the masses. They will sing off in front of a live audience and a jury of world class a cappella experts. The jury’s votes will decide which groups go through to the next stage and who will leave the contest for good.

Grand Designs (Channel 4/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 30th September 2015)

The new series of Grand Designs continues. The days when humans lived in caves in Britain are long gone – aren’t they? Not according to 37-year-old Angelo Mastropietro. Having found a damp, dark abandoned cave in Worcestershire, that was last lived in nearly 70 years ago, Angelo plans to to spend £100,000 to almost single-handedly turn it into a retreat to help him cope with a recent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, and become a 21st-century caveman. It’s a heroic task. Solitary months of carving, cutting and drilling into the hillside are needed to create the rooms and prepare the space for electricity and running water for the first time. That’s just the start; building a cave home doesn’t come with a manual. How do you make a cave comfortable for contemporary living, and at the same time preserve its unique cave-like spirit? For Angelo it’s a unique challenge that turns into an obsession.

George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 1st October 2015)

George meets a young man who bought a knackered 70-year-old boat for £5000 that he intends to turn into a home. To find a shipmate to help with the restoration, he turns to an internet dating site. There’s also a cricket mad granddad building a mini pavilion in his garden. The 1950s-inspired build incorporates bats, bails and even a boundary rope alongside an ingenious bunkbed that with the pull of a chord transforms into a sofa. George’s German road trip reaches Berlin, and an ingenious house situated where the Wall once stood. George and Will’s floating beach hut flounders a bit. And Will visits a three bedroom house in London built on the site of an alleyway, that is just seven feet wide.

Chris Tarrant: Extreme Railway Journeys (Channel 5 | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Thursday 1st October 2015)

Chris continues his exploration of the world’s most extreme railway lines. From Bangkok to Mandalay, Chris’s journey takes him nearly 2,000 miles through some extraordinary places, rich in history and culture as well as stunning scenery, on a series of trains that push his love of travelling by rail to the limits.

All TV guide information taken from DigiGuide — www.getdigiguide.tv/?p=1&r=15119.