Sports Personality of the Year 2014 (BBC 1/HD | 8:00pm to 10:20pm | Sunday 14th December 2014)

After another fantastic year in British sport, Gary Lineker, Clare Balding and Gabby Logan present the 2014 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, live from Glasgow’s Hydro Arena. This star-studded event features some of the greatest names in world sport and ends with the presentation of the famous trophy, with the winner chosen by viewers on the night. There are ten contenders for the main award and picking a winner will be tricky. Glasgow hosted a memorable Commonwealth Games with golden glory for many home nations’ competitors. In other sports, Rory McIlroy won two of golf’s majors, Lewis Hamilton became Britain’s record Grand Prix winner and Lizzy Yarnold struck Winter Olympics gold. Seven other awards will be presented, made up of Team and Coach of the Year, Young and Overseas Sports Personality, Unsung Hero, Lifetime Achievement and the Helen Rollason award, given for inspirational achievement in the face of adversity.

Wild Weather with Richard Hammond (BBC 1/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Monday 15th December 2014)

Richard Hammond travels the globe in an attempt to reveal the hidden world of weather. Richard Hammond investigates the crucial role temperature plays. Without heat, there would be no weather – no clouds, no rain, no snow, no dust storms, no thunder and lightning. Richard sets off to find out about hot air with the help of a quarry and a massive hot plate discovers just why it is so hard to pull a sword out of snow. He discovers, by building his own massive dust storm with the help of a few friends and dust specialist Dr Nigel Tapper, just how sand from the Sahara bounces its way to the UK. In Canada he creates his own ice storm. He also drops in on Dan Morgan who creates lightning bolts in his lab, where Richard is able to see thunder and hear lightning with the aid of some special cameras, light bulbs and a few candles.

The Choir: New Military Wives (BBC 2/HD | 9:00pm to 10:00pm | Tuesday 16th December 2014)

Two-part documentary following choirmaster Gareth Malone as he forms a special Military Wives choir to perform at a WW1 centenary prom at London’s Royal Albert Hall, alongside the cast of War Horse. It’s three years since Gareth formed the first Military Wives choir and since then the organisation has mushroomed with over 2,000 members around the globe. In this episode, Gareth sets out to audition as many of them as possible for his 100-strong choir. The wives usually sing pop songs, but Gareth has a repertoire of taxing classical pieces that were popular at the time of the First World War in mind. As rehearsals get under way, Gareth discovers that the wives’ dignity in the face of the constant threat of the death of their loved ones is as strong as ever, and the wives discover powerful parallels with their counterparts 100 years before them. The episode culminates in a performance at RAF Brize Norton for some of Britain’s last deployment of troops to return from Afghanistan.

Waterloo Road (BBC 1/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Wednesday 17th December 2014)

Vaughan goes to the police after Justin punches Allie, making a decision that could affect Justin’s entire future. Darren arranges a surprise for Grace but she’s not too happy about it.

George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (Channel 4/HD | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 18th December 2014)

George attends a carol service in a 130-year-old flat-pack tin church – one of the earliest examples of flat-pack construction. Will visits a very different chapel that’s been meticulously transformed into a luxury home. George and Will help the country’s only female ice carver create a winter wonderland themed ice bar in Liverpool. The show catches up with some of George’s favourite builds of the year and there’s Christmas drinks in the garden of Joel Bird, winner of the Shed of the Year prize.

The Railway: First Great Western (Channel 5 | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Thursday 18th December 2014)

Documentary series following the staff of First Great Western. In this episode, Cheltenham Spa station manager Richard finds it heavy going when he is swamped by 60,000 horse racing fans, just as the mainline at Dawlish is about to be reopened a crack is discovered in the sandstone cliffs above the line and driver Gary has to be quick on the draw when a pedestrian takes a perilous short cut.

Ice Road Truckers (Channel 5 | 8:00pm to 9:00pm | Friday 19th December 2014)

Reality series following big rig drivers who tackle the frozen winter roads of the northern most parts of America. After declaring war on Polar Industries, Hugh heads north without waiting to give new recruit Todd a helping hand. Alex and Darrell navigate an unmaintained road to deliver a million-dollar load to a dam project, and Lisa gets the school bus moving.

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