Mastermind (BBC2, 7.30pm)
THE curtain goes up on the latest series of this long-running, brain-busting quiz. With John Humphries having stepped down, Clive Myrie, an award-winning journalist and News at Ten presenter, becomes the show’s fifth host in its 49-year history. While there have been the inevitable questions about when a woman will fill the hallowed question master’s seat, Myrie’s started so we ought to let him finish. As for his specialist subject? The history of British jazz.
Ghosts (BBC1, 8.30pm)
THE critics may be divided about whether this quirky comedy has passed its sell-by date, and the creators have been quick to point out filming limitations imposed by Covid, but we’re enjoying it as much as previous outings. In this edition, upheaval reigns as Button House is fumigated for woodworm. Eager to save a bit of cash, Alison and Mike decide to camp in the grounds. While they’re enjoying sleeping under the stars, their spectral cohabitees grumble as their routines are thrown off kilter.
China’s Magic Weapon (BBC2, 9pm)
JOURNALIST Jane Corbin examines China’s growing, but not always visible, global presence. Key figures, including former US assistant attorney general John Demers and a former party official share first-hand accounts of the activities of a shadowy part of the Chinese Communist party that president Xi has called his magic weapon: The United Front Work Department. The programme also examines China’s relationships with the UK, as £134 billion from Beijing funds domestic infrastructure.
Tsunami: Impact (C5, 9pm)
OVER three nights, Raksha Dave and Dr Xand van Tulleken offer a blow-by-blow account of one of the world’s worst natural disasters: the tsunami that hit Asia on Boxing Day 2004, killing more than 250,000 people. The first programme documents the earthquake that triggered the tsunami, sending 30 trillion litres of water, travelling at 500mph toward Indonesia and Thailand. Programme two picks up events 90 minutes after the earthquake, as the wave hit Sri Lanka. The final instalment reveals how survivors searched desperately for friends and relatives.
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