Endurance: Race to the Pole (Channel 5/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Monday 9th October 2023)

The Nimrod Expedition 1907 – 1909. Series 1, episode 2. Ben and Dwayne Fields tackle the trials and tribulations faced by Ernest Shackleton on his Nimrod expedition, the explorer’s second foray into the great white wilderness. Shackleton and his three-man team faced the formidable and unexplored Trans Antarctic Mountain Range, and Ben and Dwayne take on their own ice mountain challenge, facing steep slippery waves of blue ice, deadly crevasses and steep slopes to try to reach the barren and seemingly endless polar plateau.

Norfolk and Suffolk (Channel 5/HD | 8:00pm to 8:58pm | Wednesday 11th October 2023)

At Shottisham campsite high above the River Deben in Suffolk, campsite owner Claire Norton is busy gathering eggs and milking goats for what will soon be breakfast for the snoozing campers. Up the coast, Bill Pinney is rowing out onto Orford Ness to dredge up oysters to serve up for lunch at his restaurant on the bank. At Norwich Cathedral, Andrew Fiddes and Daniel Rose-Jones near the end of a mammoth project to restore the organ, tuning the last of the 6,000 pipes that give the instrument its voice.

Celebrity Race Across the World (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 11th October 2023) ** PICK OF THE WEEK **

Budgets dwindle and intensity rises as the teams leave western Europe and set off to the next checkpoint in Sarajevo, travelling over 1,200km and passing through five countries on the way. Race leaders Harry Judd and his mother Emma opt to go through Austria but their budget is rapidly shrinking and the pace is taking its toll on Emma. Alex and Noel Beresford take advantage of their newly achieved second place and take some time to appreciate their surroundings on the journey while Billy Monger and sister Bonny adopt a ‘cheap and smart’ mantra for this leg. Mel and Helene Blatt hit a low point when things don’t go to plan.

Grand Designs (Channel 4/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 11th October 2023)

Gloucestershire Treehouse Revisit. Series 23, episode 3. Kevin McCloud returns to Gloucestershire to visit Jon and Noreen who, in 2013, planned to build a three-bed treehouse on a half-acre patch of woodland. Their stacked three box design was to be almost gravity-defying to avoid harming any tree roots and a mirror glass ground floor to reflect the surrounding trees but their £250,000 budget didn’t seem to match the project’s high ambition. Despite having worked hands-on for long hours with help from friends and family, by 2016 the house was barely ready enough for them to move in and the money had run out with the project not finished. Seven years later, Kevin returns to see their progress.

Saving Lives at Sea (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 12th October 2023)

Heart of the Community. Series 8, episode 3. Reports come in of a kayaker who has failed to make it back to shore in Larne, Northern Ireland, so father-son duo Frank and Jack race to the rescue, while the missing man’s wife watches on helplessly. On the south Devon coast, the Torbay volunteers race to the rescue of a dinghy crew who have found themselves in a perilous position after running aground on rocks, and in Cardigan, two capsized kayakers provide the RNLI with a stern test.

All Creatures Great and Small (Channel 5/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Thursday 12th October 2023)

Carpe Diem. Series 4, episode 2. Siegfried has the bright idea of bringing in an experienced bookkeeper, Miss Harbottle, to bring method to the madness of the practice. She’s certainly efficient, but the cracks soon start to show – and a sick ferret only makes matters worse. Farmer Dakin is very attached to his injured, elderly cow, but Siegfried advises letting the animal go, while James and Helen arrive at a long-awaited decision.

Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out (Channel 5/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Friday 13th October 2023)

Hampshire. Series 6, episode 2. Susan’s adventures bring her to the county of Hampshire. In Portsmouth she explores HMS Victory, learning how Nelson’s cunning tricks won out in the Battle of Trafalgar. She also visits the former home of Jane Austen in Chawton, which inspires her to have a go at Regency dancing, and finds out about a curious eating competition in the town of New Alresford.

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

Endurance: Race to the Pole (Channel 5/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Monday 2nd October 2023) ** NEW SERIES **

The Discovery Expedition, 1901-1904. Series 1, episode 1. Ben and Dwayne Fields tackle the trials and tribulations faced by the expeditions racing to become the first to reach the South Pole at the beginning of the 20th century, experience decisive moments that saw Roald Amundsen reach the pole first, Ernest Shackleton become a seasoned explorer and Robert Falcon Scott reach the pole only to die on the return journey. In the opeining episode, Ben and Dwayne land on Antarctica and transition from modern polar explorers into their historical clothes and follow in the footsteps of Britain’s three-year-long Discovery expedition, which began in 1901.

Norfolk and Suffolk (Channel 5/HD | 8:00pm to 8:58pm | Wednesday 4th October 2023)

At a Second World War airbase in Norfolk, 30 members of the Women’s Institute take to the air with the Norfolk Gliding Club. Elsewhere at Thetford Forest, Geoff Scrivens and his team erect two giant tipis in time for a wedding, which takes place as the sun begins to set, and in Lowestoft in Suffolk, the 77ft fishing smack Excelsior is readying for sea.

Celebrity Race Across the World (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 4th October 2023) ** PICK OF THE WEEK **

As they approach the halfway point, the teams must travel from the Mediterranean island of Corsica to the third checkpoint in Zermatt, a mountain resort in the Swiss Alps. Harry Judd and his mother Emma hold a slim one-hour lead having jumped from last place to first place in the previous leg. The pair plan their route to Zermatt via Italy where they take a horseback tour of Lake Como which reawakens Emma’s childhood passion while Mel Blatt and her mum Helene opt for a route through France. Billy Monger and his sister Bonny decide to have some fun after a challenging last leg but Bonny will need some convincing to go with Billy’s caving idea. Alex Beresford and his dad Noel arrive at the checkpoint over 24 hours after the race leaders but are determined to catch up.

Grand Designs (Channel 4/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Wednesday 4th October 2023)

North Lincolnshire 2023. Series 23, episode 2. Kevin McCloud meets college deputy principal Danny who plans on building a four-bedroom house in his garden in North Lincolnshire. He plans to build a stylish, sustainable but affordable home among the trees with dramatic bedroom pods raised on steel stilts on the edge of a fishing pond to help his three children connect to nature. With plenty of ambition but no experience as a self-builder, his £300,000 budget doesn’t seem to match the scale of his project.

Saving Lives at Sea (BBC 2/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 5th October 2023)

In a Split Second. Series 8, episode 2. In Whitby, north Yorkshire, the crew race to the rescue of two fossil hunters who are cut off by the tide – and soon find that they too are in grave danger. On Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, in Swanage, a trainee yachtsman has suffered a mysterious head injury and is in need of urgent treatment.

All Creatures Great and Small (Channel 5/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Thursday 5th October 2023) ** NEW SERIES **

Broodiness. Series 4, episode 1. Return of the drama, starring Nicholas Ralph and Samuel West. It is Spring 1940, and without Tristan, Skeldale House is busier than ever. James and Helen dream about the future, hoping that he won’t be called up. And a chance encounter with young lad, Wesley Binks, leaves James worrying if his dog, Duke, is being mistreated.

Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out (Channel 5/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Friday 6th October 2023) ** NEW SERIES **

Pennines and Northumberland. Series 6, episode 1. The comedian returns for a fresh batch of adventures, beginning with a trip to the northeast corner of England, taking in the Pennines and Northumberland coast. Susan enjoys a stretch of Heritage Coast and the rolling countryside of the North Pennines. She also explores the Northumberland National Park.

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