What’s on telly tonight? Our pick of the best shows on Friday 2nd November

TV Times top picks for tonight

What’s on telly tonight? Here the TV Times team of expert reviewers highlight the best shows on Friday 2^nd November

Homecoming, Amazon Prime Video

Julia Roberts takes her first major TV role in this intriguing, claustrophobic series, an adaptation of the hit podcast. Julia plays Heidi Bergman, a counsellor at the mysterious Homecoming Transitional Support Center, where US soldiers are sent to prepare for a return to civilian life. Flash forward a few years and Heidi is now working in a grim diner, where a man from the government is asking strange questions… With a fine cast including Boardwalk Empire’s Shea Whigham and Bobby Cannavale, it starts slowly, but with clues drip-fed throughout you'll soon be gripped. Rating: ****

Portillo’s Hidden History of Britain, 9pm, Channel 5

Travel lover and former politician Michael Portillo is back rooting around more abandoned locations, while delving into their intriguing pasts, from a disused cinema to a long-forgotten submarine. Tonight’s episode sees Michael visit the Cambridge Military Hospital in Aldershot, Hampshire where, in 1916, a young surgeon named Harold Gillies developed a pioneering skin graft procedure called the tubed pedicle. Not only did Gillies’ trailblazing technique rebuild the shattered faces of hundreds of badly injured World War One soldiers, but it paved the way for him to perform the first ever sex-change operation. Fascinating viewing. Rating: *****

Made in Great Britain, 9pm (times vary), BBC2

Steph McGovern and her four modern-day craft experts give Willy Wonka a run for his money tonight when they head to York and discover the city’s rich chocolate history. They learn how a small craft trade evolved into a multi-billion-pound industry, by making a posh chocolate drink from the Georgian era, experiencing how brick dust was added to create a cheaper, but dangerous, Victorian drink, and attempting to make 1930s-style Kit-Kats. A tasty episode full of fascinating facts. Rating: ****

More previews tomorrow.

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!