Yahoo News The best UK TV to watch this week from Planet Earth III to The Enfield Poltergeist
Highlights of the week include Gino's Italy: Secrets of the South and Lenny Henry: One of a Kind
Wondering what to watch this week? The UK TV schedule is packed full of interesting shows this week from the latest season of Masterchef: The Professionals and not one but two captivating nature documentaries.
Streamers like Apple TV+ and Disney+ will be bringing the horror of very different kinds with The Enfield Poltergeist and a new season of What We Do in the Shadows, while ITV and the BBC are also launching a range of interesting programmes over the course of the week.
Read more: The best movies new to streaming this week
Elsewhere, Sky will mark the return of A League of Their Own with Jill Scott joining the cast, and comedian Al Murray will be exploring the history of British colonialism.
Here is Yahoo's guide to the week ahead on UK TV.
Sunday, 22 October, 6pm: Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream | ITV1
Following in the footsteps of reality TV formats like How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? and Any Dream Will Do which used singing competitions to find new West End stars for The Sound of Music and Joseph, the Zoe Ball-fronted I Have a Dream is doing the same for London's Mamma Mia! Over eight weeks, judges Alan Carr, Jessie Ware, Samantha Barks and Amber Riley will put the hopefuls through their paces in Greece.
Sunday, 22 October, 6.15pm: Planet Earth III | BBC One
The BBC picked a prime week to return to David Attenborough's most breathtaking nature series, as Planet Earth III will compete with Netflix's Life on Our Planet (25 October) for audience attention, but don't be fooled: filmed over five years using pioneering technology, the third Planet Earth is the real deal, the other a pale imitator. Expect amazing species and extraordinary tales from around the globe.
Sunday, 22 October, 7.30pm: Gino's Italy: Secrets of the South | ITV1
Gino D'Acampo has left Gordon Ramsey and Fred Siriex behind to embark on his own travelling show solo with Gino's Italy. The six-part series will see the energetic TV chef heading on a food odyssey back to his homeland and shine a light on Italy's hidden culinary gems while serving up his own recipes to give us a little taste of la dolce vita.
Sunday, 22 October, 8pm: Three Little Birds | ITV1
Created by Sir Lenny Henry and Russell T Davies, this new drama is a triumphant celebration of immigration, community and the strength of Black womanhood inspired by the life-affirming stories of Sir Lenny Henry’s mother and all those who have travelled to make Britain their home. A one-off documentary Lenny Henry: One of a Kind will also air on ITV at 9m on Thursday, 26 October.
Sunday, 22 October, 9pm: The Devil's Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes | BBC Two
Released globally to widespread critical acclaim earlier this year, The Devil's Confession: The Lost Eichmann Tapes will now be available to a wider audience on the BBC. It unearths secret recordings made in 1957 by Adolf Eichmann, one of the chief architects of the Holocaust's Final Solution, and sheds light on the hidden forces that kept the recordings concealed for decades.
Monday, 23 October, 9pm: Masterchef: The Professionals season 16 | BBC One
Renowned chef Monica Galetti returns to the world of Masterchef for S16 of The Professionals in which 32 ambitious chefs from across the UK battle it out over 21 episodes to be named the 2023 champion. Galetti took time out from the show after facing personal difficulties, but recently said she feels "more energetic, more excited to be back in it this year having had that time out."
Monday, 23 October, 9pm: Al Murray: Why Does Everyone Hate the British Empire? | Sky History/NOW
Al Murray's new Sky documentary series follows in the footsteps of 2018's Why Does Everyone Hate the English? (2018), and 2020's Why Do the British Win Every War? (2020).
The new series examines a piece of British history that today is under the microscope like no other – the British Empire, and sees Murray takes a global history lesson to unpick the legacy of the empire and, importantly, how it’s viewed today by the citizens of these countries.
Wednesday, 25 October: What We Do in the Shadows season 5 | Disney+
The TV spin-off of Taika Waititi and Jermaine Clements' 2014 vampire comedy of the same name continues to go from strength to strength, and the well-reviewed fifth season finally hits UK shores via Disney+ after airing on FX Stateside over the summer. The ten-part fifth series will stream as a boxset alongside the award-winning first four seasons.
Thursday, 26 October: Pluto | Netflix
Netflix's latest anime series is based on Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy ‘The Greatest Robot on Earth’ arc from 1964 and explores themes of artificial intelligence, humanity, and morality. Set in a neo-futuristic world, Pluto sees humans and robots living together in harmony, and the manga on which it is based has won many awards.
Friday, 27 October: The Enfield Poltergeist | Apple TV+
The chilling new Apple TV+ docuseries will explore the story of the UK's most famous poltergeist case by combining over 250 hours of rare audio archive materials with a meticulous recreation of the original setting of the haunting and original interviews with the people affected by the Enfield haunting.
Watch a trailer for The Enfield Poltergeist
