UK TV programmes to watch this week : 12/03/2016

Jo Brand's Hell of a Walk for Sport Relief - 17-03-2016 - YouView appSteve Backshall’s Extreme Mountain Challenge (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Sunday 13th March 2016)

Adventurer Steve Backshall embarks on one of the most dramatic and dangerous expeditions ever filmed by a BBC crew. The second episode picks up where episode one left off with Steve and the climbing team halfway up the unclimbed, sheer-sided face of a remote tepui, about to make one last desperate attempt to reach the summit. It is then on to the second stage of the expedition. Joining up with a team of elite Italian cavers, Steve ventures deep within a tepui – inside a newly discovered cave. Within this dark underworld, the team encounter strange creatures, ancient mysteries and the raw geological forces that give the tepuis their unique shape. But nothing can prepare them for an attempt to forge a path into unexplored areas of the cave – a dangerous mission of intense claustrophobia and nerve-shredding tension. To end the adventure, Steve reunites with the climbing team to abseil alongside the Angel Falls – the highest waterfall on earth.

The X Files (Channel 5 | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Monday 14th March 2016)

Revival of the classic sci-fi drama. As a mysterious and fatal pandemic sweeps across the USA and other parts of the globe, Scully desperately tries to find a cure using her own altered DNA. Meanwhile, a desperately ill Mulder confronts the Cigarette Smoking Man who is behind it all, but another figure from Mulder and Scully’s past may prove to be the key to their salvation.

Inside Obama’s White House (BBC 2/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Tuesday 15th March 2016)

100 Days. The story of how Barack Obama tried to reshape America, as told by his inner circle and the president himself. A month after his victory, Obama discovered America was on the verge of a great depression. He puts his plans for change on hold to pass the largest stimulus in history. Obama promises to close Guantanamo within a year – and it is still open. His attorney general admits that evidence against many of the prisoners could not be used to prosecute because they had been tortured. And at the Copenhagen summit, the president crashes a meeting between three fellow heads of government in his desperation to do something about climate change.

Ugly House to Lovely House with George Clarke (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 17th March 2016)

Tammy and Stuart live in an outdated bungalow in a pretty village in West Sussex. The bungalow’s main living rooms are completely starved of light. Tammy and Stuart are desperate to create a family home but with a budget of just £50,000, their options are severely limited. Will Alsop is arguably one of the country’s most renowned architects. Will designs a dramatic barrel-vaulted extension to the rear of Tammy and Stuart’s bungalow, complete with specially constructed exposed curved beams, a shiny aluminium roof and four porthole windows. It’s an audacious, unique design. In such a sleepy part of the country, what will the neighbours think?

Jo Brand’s Hell of a Walk for Sport Relief (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Thursday 17th March 2016)

A raw and revealing documentary following comedian Jo Brand as she attempts to walk across the width of England for Sport Relief in just seven days. Jo admits she is not athletic, but she has decided to take up the walking challenge to inspire all the overweight middle-aged women across the nation and to raise money for a range of causes funded by Sport Relief that matter to her personally. Suffering from extreme fatigue, she battles through the biting cold, gale-force winds of over 70mph and torrential rain. It is a hellish week where Jo is tested to the limit, both physically and mentally. But she still summons the energy to share a joke or two with friends Davina McCall, Bill Bailey, Lee Mack, Alan Davies, John Bishop and Gabby Logan.

Best Walks with a View with Julia Bradbury (itv/HD | 8:00pm to 8:30pm | Friday 18th March 2016)

Julia Bradbury chooses some of her favourite and most accessible family treks from across the UK, in search of the perfect walk with a view suitable for all experience levels. The series explores coastal, mountain, valley and river walks and features accessible route maps, pub and picnic options and stunning aerial perspectives. Julia follows in the footsteps of Sherlock Holmes in a classic English walk on the South Downs, taking in the white cliffs of Seven Sisters, Beachy Head and the seaside charm of Birling Gap, where the sea is eroding the cliffs at an alarming rate. Her walk ends at the Belle Tout lighthouse which had to be moved away from the cliff edge at the cost of a quarter-of-a-million pounds.

The Last Leg (Channel 4/HD | 10:05pm to 11:10pm | Friday 18th March 2016)

The critically acclaimed award-winning show continues with its unique brand of irreverent satire for a seventh series. Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker tear into the weird and wonderful talking points of the week. In this edition, filmmaker and broadcaster Louis Theroux joins the team in front of a live studio audience.

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