UK TV programmes to watch this week : 05/09/2015

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

Paul Murton visits the islands lying off the Scottish coast. In this episode, he travels to the largest island in Britain – the long island of Harris and Lewis. He tries his hand at weaving Harris Tweed, meets the family behind the world-famous Stornoway black pudding and uncovers the story of how a medieval chess set was discovered on the remote beach of Uig on Lewis.

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

Liz McIvor examines how the process of building the canals resulted in furthering geological knowledge. Without maps or geological surveys, construction often relied on guesswork. William Smith, a surveyor then working on the connecting Somerset Coal Canal, discovered a way of ordering layers of rocks and eventually created the first geological map of England and Wales – the so-called ‘map that changed the world’.

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

How grand is too grand? How big is too big? In this first episode of the new series Kevin meets Clinton Dall from Sussex, who’s attempting to build one of the largest homes ever featured on Grand Designs. Not only that, he wants it to be perfect – from the finish of his mirrored cruciform steel columns, to how the floor tiles line up with the dining room table. Clinton, a self-made cleaning businessman and father of four, is willing to spend whatever it takes to achieve his vision. It’s a huge risk – down one road lies abject failure and financial ruin, down the other the creation of something sublime and almost heroic. So which will it be?

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