What’s On TV Tonight? Our Pick Of The Best Shows: Monday 23rd October

Autumnwatch 23rd October
(Image credit: BBC/Glenn Dearing)

TV Times top picks for tonight...

What’s on telly tonight? Here the TV Times team of expert reviewers highlight three of the best shows on telly tonight for Monday 23rd October

Autumnwatch, 8.00pm, BBC2

Martin Hughes-Games, Michaela Strachan and Chris Packham return to Gloucestershire’s Sherborne Park Estate for the latest seasonal snapshot of how Britain’s wildlife is adapting to the changing seasons. The team catch up with some of the animals seen in this year’s Springwatch – including Madonna the badger, a roost of horseshoe bats and those peregrine falcons that were nesting in the cathedral. On the south coast, Gillian Burke gets up close with a family of foxes and there are reports across the week on Cornish beavers, bee-eaters and basking sharks off the coast of Scotland. Martin, meanwhile, will be demonstrating the art of “worm grunting”! Very useful if you’re going fishing. Rating: ****

My Week as a Muslim, 9.00pm, C4

Filmed in the same week as the terrorist attack in Manchester, this one-off documentary looks at what it means to be a British Muslim.

(Image credit: Matt Squire)

Filmed in the same week as the terrorist attack in Manchester, this one-off documentary looks at what it means to be a British Muslim. Katie, 42, lives in a predominately white area and believes British values are being eroded by other cultures and religions. She spends a week living with a Muslim family in Manchester to confront some of her assumptions. She admits she doesn’t know much about their culture, or what impact being made over (using prosthetics and make-up) to look like a member of the Pakistani community will have. At a time when tensions are running high, Katie’s experience is eye-opening. Rating: ***

Elizabeth I’s Secret Agents, 9.00pm, BBC2

Elizabeth I ruled for over 40 years, during one of the most unstable and dangerous periods of history.

(Image credit: BBC)

Elizabeth I ruled for over 40 years, during one of the most unstable and dangerous periods of history. England was a lonely Protestant island amid a Catholic Europe that desperately wanted the queen off the throne. There were 14 attempts on her life, and this new series looks at how she kept the Papist conspirators from succeeding in their mission to kill her. Her secret weapon was William Cecil, a spymaster who organised a huge network of loyal agents in every part of society. This first episode leads up to the death of Mary, Queen of Scots, how Cecil’s undercover agents learnt of Mary’s plot to kill Elizabeth and how he ultimately orchestrated her execution. Rating: ****

Return tomorrow for previews!

David Hollingsworth
Editor

David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.


Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough. 


David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.


Other than watching and writing about telly, David loves playing cricket, going to the cinema, trying to improve his tennis and chasing about after his kids!