UK TV programmes to watch this week : 20/04/2024

Great Coastal Railway Journeys (BBC 2/HD | 6:30pm to 7:00pm | Monday 22nd April 2024)

Eastbourne to Rye. Series 3, episode 11. Michael Portillo embarks on a trip to explore the twin shores of the English Channel and the estuaries of the Thames and Medway. Along the way he stops off to visit the Seven Sisters, the site of the Battle of Hastings and the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, before taking take a flying lesson in a Piper Archer.

Great Coastal Railway Journeys (BBC 2/HD | 6:30pm to 7:00pm | Tuesday 23rd April 2024)

Folkestone to Le Touquet. Series 3, episode 12. Michael Portillo travels on the Eurotunnel from Folkestone to Calais, where a historian explains to him how Calais became the centre of the French lace industry in the 19th-century. In Boulogne-sur-Mer, he explores France’s biggest fishing port. Upon reaching Etaples-Le Touquet, Michael tours a resort’s beach, hotels and casino in a vintage Jaguar.

Great Coastal Railway Journeys (BBC 2/HD | 6:30pm to 7:00pm | Wednesday 24th April 2024)

Dover to Margate. Series 3, episode 13. Michael Portillo’s journey continues into Dover, where he hears how, in 1940, over 300,000 soldiers were rescued from Germany’s attack on the beaches of Dunkirk. On a pilgrim route into Canterbury, he learns how the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 prompted a surge of pilgrimage to the cathedral. In Margate, Michael admires the Turner Contemporary art gallery.

Race Across the World (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 24th April 2024) ** PICK OF THE WEEK **

The teams race over 2,000km from Hanoi, Vietnam into the Kingdom of Cambodia to reach the next checkpoint in Phnom Penh. The competition intensifies as the team in last place face elimination.

Great Coastal Railway Journeys (BBC 2/HD | 6:30pm to 7:00pm | Thursday 25th April 2024)

Birchington-on-Sea to Whitstable. Series 3, episode 14. Michael Portillo’s railway exploration of the Channel coastline and Thames estuary via Calais has reached the Isle of Thanet. Michael visits the largest greenhouse complex in Britain, Thanet Earth, and later moves onto the fishing port of Whitstable. Famed for its oysters, the town has become a foodie destination.

Great Coastal Railway Journeys (BBC 2/HD | 6:30pm to 7:00pm | Friday 26th April 2024)

Faversham to Chatham. Series 3, episode 15. Michael Portillo’s railway adventure zig-zagging the coasts of the English Channel and the Thames estuary nears its end on the north Kent coast. The pretty town of Faversham is his first stop and an opportunity to get out on to the water in the last sailing barge to work on the Thames. Later he visits the historic town of Chatham on the Medway River.

Grand Tours of Scotland’s Rivers (BBC 2/HD | 7:00pm to 7:30pm | Friday 26th April 2024)

Tales from the Riverbank. Series 3, episode 3. Paul Murton explores the lower River Tay, following it from the Grandtully Rapids to Dunkeld and its musical oak tree, past the home of Mrs Tiggy-winkle, and on to the sea. He hears a tale of a monster salmon and gets excitingly close to a nest of Osprey chicks. In the city of Perth, Paul listens to the authentic poetic voice of William Soutar, before meeting some rare moustachioed avians.

Beyond Paradise (BBC 1/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Friday 26th April 2024)

Humphrey and Martha’s wedding day finally arrives, with the lavish affair organised by Anne – whose plans feel far grander than anything either of them actually wanted. Meanwhile, there’s no rest for the Shipton Abbott team members who have to deal with the theft of a valuable museum piece and a nefarious pair of cyber criminals before they can join in the celebrations. With bride and groom running around and thieves running amok in Shipton Abbott, can the team wrap everything up in time to mark Humphrey and Martha’s long-awaited union – or does fate have other plans? Death in Paradise spin-off, starring Kris Marshall, Sally Bretton and Barbara Flynn.

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