Alan Dee’s guide to the pick of the week’s TV
The Million Pound Drop Live (Channel 4, 9.45pm)
Why has this quiz show become such a hit? Well, the size of the prize is definitely a draw.
The fact it’s live also adds to the tension, but perhaps its main selling-point is the fact it’s interactive.
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Hide AdOnce upon a time viewers would have been screaming the right answers at the TV, but now the advent of the internet means devotees can play along at home and see if they really would have done any better themselves.
Naturally, the contestants would point out that playing online under an alias is very different from answering the questions on live TV with an actual pile of £50 notes in front of you, so let’s hope they can keep their cool in the last episode of the current series.
Sunday
Vera (ITV1, 9pm)
Brenda Blethyn is back for a new run as DCI Vera Stanhope, bringing bad people to book on her patch in Northumberland.
The first story sees Vera reunited with her first ever sergeant, Stuart Macken in tragic circumstances.
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Hide AdStuart’s house is petrol-bombed; he’s left badly burned, but it’s the injuries to his daughter he can’t deal with, culminating in him committing suicide.
Vera is devastated, but that terrible event makes her all the more determined to find out who carried out the initial attack
Monday
The Gadget Show: World Tour (Five, 8pm)
For years Suzi Perry, Ortis Deley and Jon Bentley tried out the latest toys for The Gadget Show, but then the powers that be decided it was time for a change.
Now Jason Bradbury and fellow TGS survivor Pollyanna Woodward are embarking on The Gadget Show: World Tour.
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Hide AdFirst stop is Tokyo, a place that isn’t exactly a stranger to gadgets.
Tuesday
Hidden Talent (Channel 4, 9pm)
If you can sing like an angel, train dogs to dance, or get an entire auditorium chanting ‘Where me keys, where me phone’, then The Voice or Britain’s Got Talent are the shows for you.
But what if your gifts are a little less obvious, or your skills so latent, even you don’t know what they are? Well, Channel 4 has come up with a new series that could just tap into your potential, and even change your life.
Wednesday 25/04/12
Queen Victoria’s Last Love (Channel 4, 9pm)
As Britain prepares to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, this fascinating documentary tells the hidden story of the only other British monarch to have achieved such a milestone and her controversial friendship with Indian servant Abdul Karim.
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Hide AdHis position broke racial and class taboos at the time, and ultimately led to a confrontation between the Queen and her family in 1897 which threatened to disrupt her Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Thursday
Grandma’s House (BBC Two, 10pm)
The knowing sitcom about the life of Simon Amstell, the acerbic comedian and presenter whose days are far from easy, makes a welcome return.
He writes it, he plays a version of himself, and all around him his unimpressed family finds new ways of bringing him down a peg or two. Rebecca Front and Samantha Spiro are the pick of the bunch.
Friday
VIP (Channel 4, 9.30pm)
This new, six-part comedy show features spot-on impersonations of the likes of Fearne Cotton, Adele, Bear Grylls, Frankie Boyle, Barack Obama, Russell Brand and many, many more, by Morgana Robinson and Terry Mynott, who has leapt straight to the big time on the back of a hugely popular YouTube clip.
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Hide AdBig things are expected of him, particularly as he’s fronting his own sitcom, The Mimic, soon.
Looks like Alistair McGowan and John Culshaw have something to worry about.
Robinson says: “We’re poking fun at celebrity culture, basically, in a way that I think is appropriate for the time that we’re in, and how ridiculous celebrity has become.”
Ends