TV Times top picks for today
What’s on telly tonight? Here the TV Times team of expert reviewers highlight the best shows on Thursday 19th July
Our Shirley Valentine Summer, 9.30pm, ITV
Who wouldn’t want to escape to a Greek island for the Summer? That’s what eight lucky female celebrities get to do in this new series. All single and all in their late forties or over, the women share a villa on Naxos for three and a half weeks. In the first episode, the group, comprising Lizzie Cundy, Ingrid Tarrant, Nancy Dell’Olio, Annabel Giles, Aggie MacKenzie, Ninia Benjamin, Melinda Messenger and Siân Lloyd, settle into their villa and explain what they hope to get out of the show – be it discovering a new passion or maybe having a summer romance. Made by the team who gave us The Real Marigold Hotel, this promises to be an enjoyable sun-kissed summer treat. Rating: *****
How the Other Half Lives, 9pm, Channel 5
Get ready for another irresistible look at the luxurious lifestyles of the world’s richest people, as Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford head to Monaco’s moneyed capital Monte Carlo in the first of a new series. The sun-drenched sovereign state on the French Riviera is famed as the playground of the wildly wealthy, including former F1 boss Flavio Briatore, who invites lucky Eamonn and Ruth to hang out at his exclusive club. This is a land of glamour and glitz where every A-lister dreams of living, but it’s also the world’s most crowded and highest-priced property market – don’t expect $30million to go far! Rating: ***
Prison, 9pm, C4
Violent assaults, suicide attempts and increasingly clever ways of smuggling in drugs – nothing is off limits as BAFTA-winning director Paddy Wivell gains unprecedented access to HMP Durham in this two-part series. Following staff and inmates over several months, it offers a stark window onto the challenges facing our UK prisons at a time when funding has been cut. Compelling viewing, containing unlikely pockets of warmth and humour. Rating: *****
More previews tomorrow.
