The best UK TV to watch this week from Malpractice to I’m a Celebrity: South Africa

There's a cracking week of UK TV ahead with returning favourites, big-budget launches, and reality show revamps all on the horizon.

Medical ethics are under scrutiny in tense new thriller Malpractice, while some I’m a Celebrity veterans are facing new ordeals in South Africa. Plus Inside No. 9 returns, while Bertie Carvel is back on the case for a new season of assured detective drama Dalgliesh.

It’s your guide to what’s best on the box in the week ahead...

Sunday, 23 May - 9.00pm: Malpractice | ITV1

World Productions have a proven track record in delivering nail-biting thrillers, what with them being the company behind both Line of Duty and Vigil. And now, they’re entering the life-or-death world of the medical drama, where Dr Lucinda Edwards (Niamh Algar) is about to find herself enduring a nightmare shift that ends in the demise of an opioid overdose victim.

An investigation into Lucinda’s actions on that fateful night are launched, and as suspicions are aroused about her behaviour in the workplace, cracks also start to develop in the doctor’s relationship with her husband Tom (Lorne Macfadyen). Might Lucinda be keeping secrets?

Monday, 24 May – 9.00pm: I’m a Celebrity…South Africa – Monday | ITV1

This “best of the best” series will take several of the most memorable campmates from I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! and take them off to South Africa, where the challenges are set to be tougher and judgement comes not from the voting public but from each other. Yes, these celebs are going head to head to become the first ever I’m a Celebrity Legend.

Read more: Everything you need to know about I'm A Celeb: South Africa

Among those taking part are former Corrie actor Helen Flanagan, Diversity’s Jordan Banjo, Olympian Fatima Whitbread, one-time Royal butler Paul Burrell and former England cricketer Phil Tufnell.

It will air every week night this week.

Thursday, 27 May/Friday, 28 May - 9.00pm - Dalgliesh | Channel 5

Having done a terrific job in capturing the essence of PD James’s enigmatic, poet-turned-detective Adam Dalgliesh in 2021, actor Bertie Carvel returns for another set of two-part mysteries.

The books being adapted this time around are Death of an Expert Witness, A Certain Justice and The Murder Room – a trio of cases that will see Dalgliesh investigating the murder of a senior forensic biologist, a controversial defence barrister and a man who has been set on fire in the grounds of his family museum.

Season one of Dalgliesh is available on Acorn

Thursday, 27 May (premieres Tuesday on BBC Scotland) - 9.00pm: Guilt | BBC2

Mark Bonnar and Jamie Sives are back as brothers Max and Jake in the third – and also last – run of this comedy drama, with writer Neil Forsyth (The Gold) having decided to bring his story to a close over four final episodes, all of which will debut on BBC iPlayer as a box set.

The trilogy is set to end with enemies old and new giving the siblings a headache as they seek ever-more desperate solutions to their problems. Their aim is to be free of danger – and each other! But can this really be achieved?

Catch series 1 and 2 on BBC iPlayer

Thursday, 27 May - 10.00pm (11.15pm in NI): Inside No 9 | BBC2

There’s good news and bad news for fans of the inventive comedy anthology Inside No. 9: Yes, it’s back for a new series, but this is the penultimate outing. “We feel it’s a good time to pause,” said star Steve Pemberton recently. “We’re not saying it’s over for good. After all, The League of Gentlemen came back, but we won’t be looking to make any more episodes for the time being.”

This latest centres around the secrets left by two East End villains whose sons are determined to discover what their parents have taken to the grave. Former EastEnders actors Anita Dobson and Phil Daniels guest star.

Series 1-8 can be seen on BBC iPlayer

Friday, 28 May – 11.05pm: That’s the Way, A-ha, A-ha, Joe Lycett | Channel 4

With Late Night Lycett currently being must-see TV on a Friday night with its welcome mix of live anarchy and wonderfully inclusive comedy, Channel 4 is giving us an extra treat with this broadcast of Joe Lycett’s award-winning show, recorded at the Duchess Theatre in London’s West End.

Read more: Joan Collins 'slaps' Gemma Collins on Late Night Lycett

So, for a first-rate double bill, catch the latest Late Night Lycett at 10.00pm, followed by this 2018 stand-up performance in which such burning issues as the tyranny of post office jobsworths and the stupidity of celebrities on Twitter are tackled.

Friday, 28 May: Citadel (episodes 1 and 2) | Prime Video

Richard Madden is armed and looking impossibly handsome in a new action-packed espionage series from the Russo Brothers, the directing duo behind Avengers: Endgame. The Bodyguard star is playing elite agent Mason Kane who, along with his colleague Nadia Sinh (Priyanka Chopra Jones), had their memory wiped when the spy agency they worked for was destroyed by a new syndicate.

The twist with this particular thriller is that Citadel is set to act as a “mothership” if you will, with several spin-off series being produced in different countries and languages that will allow viewers to dive deeply into the mythos.