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What to watch on TV this week: The 7 best shows, from Happy Valley's finale to Pamela, A Love Story

This week's TV highlights. (BBC/Netflix)
This week's TV highlights. (BBC/Netflix)

It's all about Happy Valley this week, as the powerhouse Sally Wainwright series draws to an end after three gripping series on BBC One - but what will become of Sarah Lancashire's Catherine Cawood?

Fans will have to wait until Sunday to see the crime thriller finale, but luckily there are some strong alternatives to tide you over until then, including ITV's period drama Hotel Portofino and compelling BBC Two documentary Emily Atack: Asking For It?.

Read more: Sally Wainwright and Sarah Lancashire worried Happy Valley would 'bomb'

Netflix subscribers won't want to miss Pamela, A Love Story which includes some fascinating new insights into the life of one of the world's most famous women, Pamela Anderson.

The best things to watch this week, 30 January - 5 February, 2023

Pamela, A Love Story - Netflix - Tuesday

Pamela, a love story (Netflix)
Pamela, a love story (Netflix)

A new documentary about Pamela Anderson lifts the lid on previously untold aspects of her life.

Charting her rise to fame from small town girl to international sex symbol, it offers surprising insights into the woman that so many people feel they know.

Emily Atack: Asking For It? - BBC Two - Tuesday, 9pm

Emily Atack: Asking For It? (BBC)
Emily Atack: Asking For It? (BBC)

Comedian and former Inbetweeners star Emily Atack explores sexual harassment, something she has been a victim of since a startlingly young age.

She explains how the graphic images and messages she is constantly sent on social media take their toll on her mental health, and asks why the victim is so often blamed.

Cold Case Forensics: The Murder of Rachel Nickell - ITV - Thursday, 9pm

Cold Case Forensics: The Murder of Rachel Nickell (ITV)
Cold Case Forensics: The Murder of Rachel Nickell (ITV)

A new true crime documentary series opens with an episode looking back at the murder investigation into Rachel Nickell's death.

Read more: Russell T Davies blasts 'rubbish' new TV writers

Nickell was stabbed to death on Wimbledon Common in 1992, but in 2002 the investigation was reopened when it emerged that the wrong man had been convicted.

Forensic scientist Dr Angela Gallop talks us through the techniques used to finally bring her killer to justice.

Amol Rajan Interviews Bill Gates - BBC Two - Friday, 7.30pm

Amol Rajan Interviews Bill Gates (BBC)
Amol Rajan Interviews Bill Gates (BBC)

In-depth interview series Amol Rajan Interviews returns with the journalist getting a sit-down with Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

He made his fortune as a tech entrepreneur, but has given away an estimated $30 billion through his charity foundation to projects working with disadvantaged children and climate change.

However, Gates still has plenty of critics, and here Rajan explores his controversies as well as his achievements.

Hotel Portofino - ITV - Friday, 9pm

Hotel Portofino (ITV)
Hotel Portofino (ITV)

Period drama Hotel Portofino debuts on ITV1 and ITVX, having previously streamed to a more limited audience on BritBox.

Natascha McElhone and Anna Chancellor are just two of the star cast in this 1920s Italian Riviera-set series about a luxury seaside hotel and the wealthy Brits it caters for, including all manner of affairs, blackmail and secrets.

The Masked Singer - ITV - Saturday, 7pm

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The Masked Singer (ITV)

As addictive as it is ludicrous, The Masked Singer appeals to pretty much everyone to shout "take it off!" at their screen on a Saturday evening.

Last week, Katherine Ryan was the surprise celebrity behind Pigeon and previous unmaskings have included Lulu, Chris Kamara, and Martin and Shirlie Kemp.

Who will be unmasked this week, and can you guess the identities of the remaining contestants?

Happy Valley - BBC One - Sunday, 9pm

Happy Valley is set and filmed in locations around West Yorkshire. (BBC)
Happy Valley (BBC)

It's rare these days that appointment-to-view TV exists at all, never mind having such a universal appeal as Happy Valley does.

But Sally Wainwright's gritty drama about Sergeant Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire) battling Yorkshire's drug problem as well as her own personal animosity with criminal Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) has got the nation speculating over what the finale might be.

Apparently, multiple endings have been filmed for the last ever episode, set to run at 10 minutes longer than usual to cover the many loose ends - but whatever Catherine and Tommy's fates, you won't want to risk spoilers by missing this one.