UK TV programmes to watch this week : 01/11/2014

Gareth's All Star Choi - 03-11-2014 (YouView app)Doctor Who (BBC 1/HD | 8:15pm to 9:00pm | Saturday 1st November 2014)

In the mysterious world of the Nethersphere, plans have been drawn. Missy is about to come face to face with the Doctor, and an impossible choice is looming. ‘Death is not an end’, promises the sinister organisation known only as 3W – but, as the Doctor and Clara discover, they might wish it was.

Speed with Guy Martin (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Sunday 2nd November 2014)

Speed junkie, motorcycle racer and lorry mechanic Guy Martin loves pushing the boundaries of speed in search of a buzz. He takes on four new speed-based challenges in the second series of Speed with Guy Martin. Guy wants to find out what makes things go fast by getting his hands dirty in a range of unique engineering projects. To do this, he has to harness cutting-edge science, learn new skills and call on the support of the best of Britain’s design and engineering talent. Guy visits the USA, where he hopes to win at one of America’s oldest races: the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb. In this annual contest, known as The Race to the Clouds, riders compete against the clock on a gruelling mountainside track that finishes over 4000 metres above sea level.

Gareth’s All Star Choir (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Monday 3rd November 2014)

Choirmaster Gareth Malone brings together an array of untrained voices from the world of television, sport and theatre to release the official 2014 BBC Children in Need single. Actresses Alison Steadman and Linda Robson sing alongside EastEnders actor Nitin Ganatra and Strictly’s Craig Revel Horwood. Also searching for their inner songbird are Countryfile’s John Craven, Blue Peter’s Radzi Chinyanganya, Bake Off co-host Mel Giedroyc and comedian Jo Brand. Fabrice Muamba and Maggie ‘The Machine’ Alphonsi join the choir from the world of football and rugby respectively, and the line-up is completed by Radio 1 DJ Alice Levine and actor Larry Lamb. In the first of this two-part documentary, Gareth assembles his motley choir, and the challenge he faces becomes abundantly clear.

Waterloo Road (BBC 1/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Wednesday 5th November 2014)

School-based drama. Gabriella Wark returns to school to find some students determined to make her life difficult. Hector finds an ally in Sue, while Allie feels unnerved as Vaughan and the boys get ready to visit Olga on her birthday.

Great Continental Railway Journeys (BBC 2/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 5th November 2014)

Michael Portillo sets off with his 1913 guide to journey through Russia. Among the onion domes and icons of Tula, Michael is moved by the sound of a Russian Orthodox choir. He visits the country estate of Yasnaya Polyana, where Tolstoy wrote his masterpieces. Striking north, Michael boards the train which runs from the Caspian Sea to Moscow. In Moscow, Michael hears how thousands of Russians journeyed to the capital in 1913 to mark the Romanov royal family’s tercentenary year. At the Bolshoi Theatre, he performs an important role in one of Russia’s most dramatic operas. Aboard the high speed Sapsan to St Petersburg, Michael discovers the history behind the line, once the longest double-tracked railway in the world, he then explores the beauty and history of St Petersburg and rides the first railway ever built in Russia. Michael meets Martin Sixsmith to discover how the strikes, mutinies and massacres of the Russian Revolution unfolded and the part the railways played in those events.

Grand Designs (Channel 4/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 5th November 2014)

Kevin McCloud returns to Devon for an update on one of the most inspirational builds Grand Designs has ever witnessed. Marine Captain Jon White and wife Becky were living happily in a small cottage in Devon when in June 2010, while serving in Afghanistan, Jon stepped on an improvised explosive device. He lost both legs and his right arm. Every part of his and Becky’s lives had to change – starting with where they could live. Their architect came up with a cutting edge, semi open plan building with a dramatic wing-like-roof – but crucially it was to be without noticeable adaptations for Jon’s disabilities. It was an ambitious design, and despite the help of a number of military charities and a capable team of builders, Jon was already under severe pressure to finish the house, when news came that Becky was pregnant. Has the new home proved as enabling for Jon, Becky and their expanding family as they’d hoped?

George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 6th November 2014)

The series that celebrates ingenious and eccentric small builds continues as George and Will Hardy struggle to bring ancient Roman technology back to life and the build on their log cabin in the wilderness begins in earnest. The road trip around Italy takes in possibly the coolest fire station in the world. George meets David Moreton, a former Paralympic swimmer hoping to transform an old air ambulance into an amazing amphibious crashpad for when he’s on the road for his charity fund raising tours. And DIY enthusiasts Ben and Michelle want to build a summerhouse for free using hundreds of disused shipping pallets.

Underground Britain (Channel 5 | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 6th November 2014)

Documentary series in which engineer Rob Bell explores the subterranean world beneath our feet. In this episode, Rob explores two natural wonders in the Yorkshire Dales – a mile of caves and one of Britain’s deepest potholes. In Stockport, Rob learns how its unique geology made it the perfect spot to build the country’s largest air-raid shelter and he discovers the incredible depths that are being plumbed to retrieve agricultural fertiliser.

Have I Got News for You (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 9:30pm | Friday 7th November 2014)

The popular satirical news quiz, with team captains Paul Merton and Ian Hislop, guest host Jo Brand and guest panellists including Richard Osman.

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

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