SATURDAY JUNE 17

PITCH BATTLE, BBC1, 7.30pm
INCREDIBLE! When will it all end? Just when you think the whole idea of telly talent shows has been wrung dry, another one pops up.

This new series is presented by Mel Giedroyc but instead of auditioning brats who think they’re Britney, or dogs who play piano, the contestants are choir groups, so there’s a good chance you’ll hear some decent singing if you tune in.

The choirs aren’t all composed of solemn boys singing about Jesus, which is what most of us imagine when thinking of choral groups.

Instead, this series brings us choirs who sing in every kind of style, from rock music to country and western.

Just like the Bake Off, Mel will guide the teams through a “showstopper” round, after which some will be eliminated and the winners go through to a “riff-off”. A panel of expert judges, including Will Young, will decide who’s best.

THE VENICE BIENNALE: SINK OR SWIM, BBC2, 7.30pm
I THOUGHT I was being clever when I booked a holiday in Venice in November. The place will be empty, we chuckled.

All those daft tourists crowding the place in the summer heat? Forget it.

We’ll have the misty canals and chilly streets to ourselves. Obviously, we didn’t. Venice is constantly busy, full of great art, selfie sticks and people, people, people, none of whom are afraid to elbow you off a bridge so that they can snap a picture.

Well, imagine, if you dare, how busy the place is now: not only is it the height of summer, but the famous Venice Biennale contemporary art exhibition is on.

This short programme takes us around the Diaspora Pavilion at the festival where we’ll see the work of 12 young, emerging artists who are trying to make names for themselves at the busiest, most glamorous, and surely most intimidating, art show.

SUNDAY JUNE 18

THERESA V BORIS: THE BATTLE TO BE PM, BBC2, 9pm
THIS drama-documentary is supposed to be entertaining, but given the absolute mess of current British politics, I wasn’t in the mood to chortle about the comedy goings-on as Boris battled Theresa for the keys to Number 10.

The programme opens as the actor playing Boris Johnson – Will Barton – is being fitted with his straw-like wig. Mean and moody country music plays.

We’re supposed to see Boris as comical and absurd, while stern Theresa (Jacqueline King) doesn’t crack a smile.

Everyone at home is supposed to be tweeting how it’s “just like The Thick Of It lol”.

The morning after Brexit, and the shenanigans which followed, made for addictive news at the time, but don’t we all now feel a bit sour towards these clowns?

Running alongside the dramatised scenes is a straight documentary about the fall of David Cameron and the undignified scramble to replace him as leader of the Conservative Party.

Which brings us to the understanding that it’s actually not like The Thick Of It at all, as that contained creative, witty, intelligent people, not political limpets.

THE HANDMAID’S TALE, C4, 9pm
THE series based on Margaret Atwood’s novel has been utterly flawless so far, but this week’s episode ends on a really jarring note. The scene which occurs as the credits roll felt like it was thrown in by trendy feminists and it made me wince: Offred struts out of the house and is joined by her sisters in red as she declares in a feisty tone that they’re “Handmaids, bitches!”

It immediately cuts away all the loathing and dread which has been carefully assembled.

But perhaps we needed a bit of relief after last week’s horrific episode.

This week, Offred feels she’s losing her mind, having been banished to her room as a punishment.

She crawls into her cupboard where she finds a message scratched into the wood by the previous handmaid.

It’s in Latin, and the only person in the house able to translate it for her would be the Commander.

Dare she ask him about it, and dare she go further still and ask what happened to her predecessor?