SATURDAY
Gladiators
BBC1, 5.50pm
Larger than life, the muscle-bound, spandex-wearing athletes are back in a re-boot of the iconic combat show (previously seen on ITV), and the feast for the eyes doesn’t stop there with lighting and pyrotechnics making it even more of a visual spectacle than before. Hosts Bradley and Barney Walsh lighten the mood as they get the chance to wind up a new generation of Gladiators, such as the towering Giant and the super-strong Diamond.
SUNDAY
Dancing On Ice
ITV1, 6.30pm
Holly Willoughby and her new co-presenter Stephen Mulhern usher in a frosty-fresh batch of 12 celebrity skaters, including soap stars Roxy Shahidi, Ryan Thomas, Claire Sweeney and Ricky Norwood, long jumper Greg Rutherford, former boxer Ricky Hatton and everyone’s favourite underdog, Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards. Ashley Banjo, Oti Mabuse, Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean return to sit in judgment.
MONDAY
True Detective: Night Country
Sky Atlantic/Showcase, 9pm
It’s December in snowbound Ennis, Alaska, where it’s dark for most of the day, sending the residents a little bit crazy. When eight men disappear from a research station and are then found murdered, there are echoes of an old unsolved case. Jodie Foster excels as Detective Liz Danvers, whose chilly manner and refusal to engage in town superstitions make her no friends, with Kali Reis as her reluctant partner, Evangeline Navarro
TUESDAY
Winterwatch
BBC2, 8pm
‘There’s always this lingering misconception that winter is a time of death and decay – it couldn’t be further from the truth,’ says Chris Packham. Over four consecutive nights, he’s joined by Michaela Strachan and Iolo Williams at RSPB Arne in Dorset, while Gillian Burke is in the Orkney Isles. Expect them to share screen time with a wildlife cast including white-tailed eagles, sika deer, badgers and foxes.
WEDNESDAY
Finders Keepers
Channel 5, 9pm
Neil Morrissey digs himself into a hole as history buff and detectorist Martin, who soon regrets inviting his daughter’s fiancé, Ashley (The Inbetweeners’ James Buckley), to share his hobby. With shades of the BBC’s recent thriller Boat Story, the pair stumble upon a priceless hoard of Saxon treasure – and end up making a decision about their find which sees them stray onto very dodgy ground indeed.
THURSDAY
Murdoch Mysteries
Alibi, 9pm
We’re back in Toronto at the turn at the last century, as pathologist Dr Julia Ogden and detective William Murdoch (Hélène Joy and Yannick Bisson) continue to investigate crimes using radical, new techniques. But as the series begins the married couple are abducted, and it falls to newly-promoted Inspector Crabtree (Jonny Harris) to track them down. This series also features a guest appearance by Sorcha Cusack (Father Brown).
FRIDAY
Amol Rajan Interviews: Sheila Hancock
BBC2, 7pm
She’s been on stage and screen since most of us can remember, and as she prepares to turn 91, Amol Rajan meets the legendary Dame Sheila Hancock – a woman on whom the over-used epithet National Treasure can safely be bestowed. Graduating from RADA in 1952, she made her West End debut in 1958, starred on Broadway in 1965, and found TV fame in The Rag Trade in the 1960s. Here, she looks back over a life well lived.