We’ve deep dived in to this week’s TV schedules so you don’t have to…
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Having honed their survival strategies over millennia, mammals have evolved to be masters of the cold. In this episode, we journey across the globe, exploring a frozen world, from icy seas to snow-capped mountains and meet the unique mammals that call them home. For most, the cold is a killer. But for mammals, with their unique physical traits like warm thick fur and rich nourishing milk, and remarkable behaviours like hibernation, conquering the cold is possible.
We begin our journey on the Arctic islands of Svalbard, where polar bears, synonymous with this cold archipelago, dominate this remote frozen world. But as their world warms, and the frozen seas that are their hunting grounds disappear, they are being forced to find new sources of food. For the first time, we follow a polar bear hunting on land as it heads high up into the mountains in a rarely seen long-distance pursuit of Svalbard’s reindeer.
Mammals have been forced to adapt to the cold for millions of years. Whereas other species avoided the series of thick ice sheets that once covered a quarter of all land, mammals were able to survive the freezing conditions, and by adapting their behaviour, many are now completely at home in these inhospitable lands.
One land that has little changed since the last ice age is the tundra of northern Alaska. In this remote, hostile landscape, a mythical and rarely seen mammal endures: the wolverine. They rely completely on snow to survive, providing them meat from animals that have succumbed to the cold and dens in which to raise their young. Whilst other animals either flee or hibernate to avoid the coldest time of year, they stay active all winter, traversing the vast landscape in search of food. This privileged view reveals a surprisingly caring side of a highly elusive animal.
Knowledge can play a huge role in surviving the cold. Rather than roaming huge distances, some smart mammals will return annually to places they know will provide them with food. In Canada’s northern Yukon, a unique community of bears has been passing knowledge down the generations of a special ice-free river. While most bears are already hibernating, this late flowing river allows chum salmon to spawn into the winter months, giving the bears an opportunity for one last feast before hibernation that they simply cannot resist.
Mammals’ ability to hibernate is a clever way to avoid winter, and deep underground in an abandoned mine, little and big brown bats are well into their hibernation. But not all stay asleep. One sneaky bat wakes in order to mate while the rest of the colony sleeps on.
Bringing newborns into a world of snow and ice has many challenges, but mammals’ unique ability to produce fat-rich milk allows harp seal mothers to have one of the shortest weening periods of all. In just 12 days, off the coast of Greenland, they race to fatten their pups to independence as the icy nursery melts around them.
Far above sea level, the remote Kluane Mountains of North America support the largest ice field outside the poles. In this rugged landscape of rock and ice, pika, a relative of the rabbit, patiently wait for summer. Having stayed awake all winter, surviving on food they collected last year, once summer does return, they will all have just a few weeks to harvest nearly a year’s worth of food before the winter lockdown begins again. But storing your hard-earnt supplies all in one place comes at a risk if you can’t trust your neighbour.
Averaging 4,000 meters above sea level, the thin air of the lofty mountains of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China struggle to retain much heat at all. As a result, life here always feels cold. Snow leopards are the top predator and have lived here for millions of years, but recently their lives have become linked with humans and the domestic yak they herd. It’s too good an opportunity to ignore. But through a community initiative, they have found a way to live alongside each other, even when the yak are taken by the leopards.
Back at sea level, on the shores of Canada’s Hudson Bay, for mammals specialised for life in the cold, a warming world is now the biggest challenge. Here, arctic fox and polar bears wait together by open water where there should be ice. For arctic foxes living here, as food ashore runs out, they would normally move and follow the polar bears onto the ice in order to scavenge off the bears’ kills. But as the winter freeze, and arrival of the ice is delayed, the bears cannot hunt, and life becomes more and more desperate. This has led to the foxes resorting to cannibalism, desperately fighting with each other to feed on the unfortunate foxes that have succumbed to hunger.
Britain’s Got Talent, Saturday at 7.30pm and Sunday at 7.40pm on ITV1 and ITVX
Britain’s Got Talent is making a spectacular return to our screens for its 17th series. The nation’s beloved talent competition is back to dazzle and enchant audiences this year, with a record-breaking number of ‘golden’ moments sprinkled throughout.
The judging panel – Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli join the incomparable hosting duo Ant and Dec in the search for Britain’s next talented superstar, who will ultimately bag a life-changing £250,000 cash prize and a spot on the bill of the Royal Variety Performance.
In With A Shout, Saturday at 6.30pm on ITV1 and ITVX
Joel Dommett returns with his fun Saturday night gameshow. On the first show of the new series viewers will see the Prohan family from London competing against The Schofield family from Preston, each hoping they can win the jackpot.
Red Eye, Sunday at 9pm on ITV1 and iPlayer
Six-part thriller set on the red eye flight from London to Beijing. Whilst escorting a doctor being renditioned, an incident on-board leads DC Hana Li to uncover a wider conspiracy.
The thriller stars Richard Armitage. Read his interview about the series, here.
Miriam: Death of a Reality Star, Monday at 9pm on Channel 4
In the summer of 2003, six male contestants applied to be part of a new Sky One dating series promising the sexual adventure of a lifetime. What they didn’t know was that the star of the series – a model called Miriam Rivera – was a transgender woman. There’s Something About Miriam would become one of the most controversial reality shows of the last 20 years. Miriam had come to the UK from the colourful New York ballroom scene, and she immediately wowed crew and contestants with her beauty and confidence. But was the world ready for a star like Miriam?
Blue Lights, Tuesday at 9pm on BBC One. Stream now on iPlayer.
A loyalist gangland feud turns up the pressure on the section. Annie makes an impetuous decision on a night out.
Michael Palin in Nigeria, Tuesday at 9pm on Channel 5 and My5
Michael Palin’s new series continues with the second episode. This week, Michael continues his journey by climbing Dala Hill, located in the ancient city of Kano in northern Nigeria. He also visits the open-air stadium with Mohammad Adamu – who’s lived in Kano all his adult life. Together, they lookin to an ancient form of boxing.
Race Across The World, Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer
After racing through the neon-lit streets of ultra-modern Japan and South Korea, there is a split in the pack. The teams enter south east Asia for the first time, starting the third leg from the chaotic Vietnamese capital Hanoi. The competition intensifies as the team in last place faces elimination. They must race over 2,000km through Vietnam and into the Kingdom of Cambodia to reach one of the fastest-developing cities in South East Asia – Phnom Penh.
In a leg where every decision counts, they can choose the more popular tourist route down the Vietnamese coast to Ho Chi Minh City – before following the Mekong River into Cambodia – or the teams could risk leaving major cities and reliable transport behind for a shorter route entering Cambodia in the north.
Joe and Katherine’s Bargain Holidays, Thursday at 10pm on Channel 4
Comedian Joe Wilkinson loves a bargain and is dedicated to making as many savings as possible on holiday. Joe’s friend and fellow comedian Katherine Ryan loves to lap it up in luxury, but if she can live the champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget, then she’s all ears. In this new series, the pair join forces to show the Great British public how to have a fantastic holiday for a next-to-nothing price, as they embark on a relentless pursuit of bargainous getaways, both in the UK and further afield. From the ultimate couple’s break on a shoestring budget, and a wellness retreat that won’t break the bank, to a family seaside stay that won’t drain your pockets, Joe and Katherine have tons of ideas for the ultimate bargain-packed, cut-price holidays.
In this first episode, Joe takes Katherine to Norfolk for an affordable romantic getaway. They pose for Instagram-worthy pics in fields of Norfolk lavender, sleep in an enchanting church and enjoy an alternative spa experience. Joe has a romantic run-in with some owls, Joe and Katherine serenade each other with poetry and they even experience an alternative couple’s therapy session involving smashing things up. Finally, Joe and Katherine wrap up their trip with a picturesque boat trip on the Norfolk Broads.
Beyond Paradise series finale, Friday at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer
Humphrey and Martha’s wedding day has finally arrived…and now they’ve come face to face with the lavish affair organised by Anne. But such a big day seems to have come all too quickly, and Anne’s plans feel far grander than anything either of them actually wanted.
Meanwhile, there’s no rest for the Shipton Abbott team. They have to deal with the theft of a valuable museum piece and a nefarious pair of cyber criminals before they can join in the celebrations.
With bride and groom running around, and thieves running amok in Shipton Abbott, can the team wrap everything up in time to mark Humphrey and Martha’s long-awaited union, or does fate have other plans?