Weekend TV guide: 9 of the best shows to watch

BBC premieres scathing Harvey Weinstein exposé, plus Junior Eurovision’s Irish search on TG4, the movies and the Troubles, and the return of Antiques Roadshow

Sand artist Kseniya Simonova, winner of Ukraine's Got Talent, on Britain's Got Talent: The Champions, Saturday on Virgin One and UTV.
Sand artist Kseniya Simonova, winner of Ukraine's Got Talent, on Britain's Got Talent: The Champions, Saturday on Virgin One and UTV.

The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice
Friday, Channel 4, 8pm
Jo Brand returns with a fresh helping of post-Bake Off analysis, joined by a panel of celebrity fans who will dissect all the action from the tent. As it's episode one of the new series, this edition will feature an interview with the first of the baker's dozen to leave. Dapper funnyman Tom Allen will chat to the studio audience bakers and take a look at their weird and wonderful bakes. Frank Skinner, Stephen Mangan and Scarlett Moffatt give their opinions on episode one and no doubt offer viewers on those they think will go the distance. Plus, viewers at home offer photos of their baking triumphs.

The Rob Rinder Verdict
Channel 4, 10pm

The Rob Rinder Verdict
The Rob Rinder Verdict

Fans of the criminal barrister and telly personality want to know: Does Judy Rinder have the comedy chops to sustain the interest over four episodes? The format is simple enough: Rinder applies his extensive know-how to take swipes at the news in his own unique way. (No doubt Boris Johnson and Donald Trump’s latest political decisions/disasters will be scrutinised.) There’s no surprise to find C4 comedy favourites Katherine Ryan, Big Narstie and Tom Allen popping up at some point during the run. We can also expect high-profile politicians being put under the spotlight by Rob in the most unlikely of scenarios.

Darkness: Those Who Kill
Saturday, BBC4, 9pm

READ MORE
Natalie Madueno and Kenneth M Christensen in Darkness: Those Who Kill
Natalie Madueno and Kenneth M Christensen in Darkness: Those Who Kill

The latest foreign drama heading on BBC4 is an eight-episode Danish thriller (original title: Den som Dræber – Fanget af Mørket) about a detective and a profiler who, when faced with a series of disappearances and killings, embark on a mission to save the victims which may still be alive. In tonight’s opening double-bill, Jan Michelsen (Kenneth M Christensen) investigates the disappearance of a young woman from a Copenhagen suburb, and learns of a similar case from the same neighbourhood 10 years previously. Then, when he discovers human remains in a lake, he suspects a link between the two crimes and brings in Louise Bergstein (Natalie Madueno), an expert on serial killers.

Pointless Celebrities
Saturday, BBC1, 7.45pm
Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman invite another selection of famous faces to take part in the unorthodox general knowledge quiz. As always, the challengers are tasked with coming up with the least likely correct answers to a series of questions posed to members of the public. This time, all the contestants come from the world of comedy: Ralph Ineson, John Thomson, Janine Duvitski, Tony Maudsley, Melvyn Hayes, Stuart McGugan, Vicki Pepperdine and Rosie Cavaliero.

Britain's Got Talent: The Champions
Saturday, Virgin One/UTV, 8pm
It's only been a couple of months since a crooning Chelsea pensioner was crowned winner of Britain's Got Talent, but the producers are wheeling out this bonus series. Familiar faces from the show and others from the international franchise will be judged by Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams. In tonight's first episode, Boogie Storm – dancing Stormtroopers who earned Cowell's golden buzzer in 2016 and managed to make it to the final – will take to the stage, along with fellow Brit Paul Potts, the very first winner of BGT in 2007. Those two acts will take on sand artist and winner of Ukraine's Got Talent Kseniya Simonova, and daredevil father-daughter duo from America's Got Talent, Bello and Annaliese Nock.

Untouchable: The Rise and Fall of Harvey Weinstein
Sunday, BBC2, 9pm (repeated Monday, 11.15pm)

Harvey Weinstein in April. The disgraced former mogul (67), who is  awaiting trial on two sexual assault charges, as returned to court  last week to hear a new indictment against him. Photograph: Don Emmert /AFP/Getty Images
Harvey Weinstein in April. The disgraced former mogul (67), who is awaiting trial on two sexual assault charges, as returned to court last week to hear a new indictment against him. Photograph: Don Emmert /AFP/Getty Images

It was the scandal that rocked Hollywood and inspired the #MeToo movement. This acclaimed documentary tells the inside story of Harvey Weinstein, looking at how he became a such a powerful figure in the movie business – and how he was able to allegedly abuse that power for so long, seemingly with the complicity of the industry. And with Weinstein’s criminal trial due to begin in the US this month, the documentary raises bigger questions about whether change is really possible. The contributors include some of the women (Rosanna Arquette, Paz de la Huerta, Hope D’Amore, Nannette Klatt) who came forward to accuse Weinstein, as well as the reporters (Ronan Farrow, Megan Twohey, Jodi Kantor) who broke the story.

Antiques Roadshow
Sunday, BBC1, 8pm
In the first episode of the show's 42nd series, Fiona Bruce and the team visit Morden Hall Park, a National Trust property on the banks of the river Wandle in Morden, south London. They assess items including a rare Cartier driver's watch, a self-portrait by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and a plate designed by Pablo Picasso. Jewellery specialist Joanna Hardy examines a diamond-studded replica of a brooch originally designed for Wallis Simpson, and glass expert Andy McConnell inspects three early 18th-century pieces bought for just a few pence.

50 Years of the Troubles: A Journey Through Film
Sunday, Channel 4, 10.20pm

Forest Whitaker and Stephen Rea in Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game (1992)
Forest Whitaker and Stephen Rea in Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game (1992)

The Troubles made an impact on the big screen, as film-maker Mark Cousins demonstrates in this documentary. Cousins returns to his hometown of Belfast, which he left at 18, to see how Northern Ireland’s history has been depicted in film. The city once boasted the biggest movie-going population in the UK, so Mark also takes a look at Belfast’s once-grand cinemas which offered an escape from the violence on the streets and helped to fire his own imagination. Film4 follows the documentary with screenings of ’71 (Sunday, 11.15), The Crying Game (Monday, 11.20pm) and Hunger (Tuesday, 11.10pm).

Junior Eurovision 2019
Sunday, TG4, 9.05pm; Wednesday, 7.30pm

Official log of Junior Eurovision 2019
Official log of Junior Eurovision 2019

Eoghan McDermott presents the search for an Irish candidate for the song contest as Ireland competes for the first time. The judges are Niamh Kavanagh, Brian Kennedy and Stiofán Ó Fearail. The Junior Eurovision will be held on November 24th in Gliwice, following Poland’s victory at the 2018 contest in Belarus with the song Anyone I Want to Be, performed by Roksana Wegiel. It will be the first time Poland has hosted the contest, as well as the first Eurovision event to be held in the country since the Eurovision Young Dancers 2013. Nineteen countries will participate. Spain is taking part for the first time since 2006, while Azerbaijan and Israel have withdrawn.

Contributing: PA