Telly Today: Weight loss, police chases and clever families

January 24, 2018

Mid-week viewing highlights in Telly Today for January 24th with ATV Today Editor Doug Lambert.

One to Watch: Lose Weight for Good, BBC Two, 8pm

To keep the group of dieters on track, Tom invents lower calorie versions of their favourite fast foods, including a burger, a chicken curry and even a doner kebab.

Offering a helping hand to the lads in the group, Tom pays a visit to Pittri, who despite being the manager of a local gym is also the only member of the group who hasn’t taken up regular exercise. Tom discovers that Pittri is also having ‘cheat days’ where calorie counting goes out the window in favour of a few drinks and a burger, but he’s determined to get him back on track.

Another of the fast food fans in the group is 22 year old Tom, who would eat up to four takeaways a week before starting the diet. His motivation to lose weight is very personal, because Tom’s uncle died young due to obesity and he doesn’t want the same thing to happen to him.

When Tom invites the boys over for a chicken tikka masala with around half the calories of the takeaway version, they discuss what it means to be a big bloke and how they need to be healthy too.

Eight weeks of calorie counting are up and Tom is keen to see how everyone is getting on – are his recipes having the right impact on the weighing scales?

Britain’s Brightest Family, ITV, STV and UTV, 8pm

Quiz battle axe The Governess, aka Anne Hegerty, with her one television suit, continues as host of ITV’s latest quiz in which 16 brilliantly bright families take part in a knock out tournament as they attempt to win the holiday of a lifetime and the title of Britain’s Brightest Family. But there’s a twist – as in this game it’s not just what you know that’s important, but also what you think your family know, as players must nominate a team mate to answer the questions – how well do our families know each other?

In tonight’s show it’s the third heat of the knockout tournament. The Gavin family from Gloucestershire are up against the Curtis family from Kent for a place in the quarter-finals.

Omega Dubai Desert Classic: Day One, Sky Sports Golf, from today

Desert Swing continues on European Tour The European Tour continues its stint in the Middle East, as it heads to one of its most prestigious tournaments, the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

Notable last year for the return of Tiger Woods – though the golfing legend retired after one round with injury – the Dubai Desert Classic usually attracts a fine field. That was seen no more clearly than last year, when Sergio Garcia – who would go on to Masters glory – pipped 2016 Open champion Henrik Stenson to the title.

And indeed, Garcia, Stenson, and two-time champion Rory McIlroy will be among the names heading back to the Emirates Golf Club to compete for the crown.

Police Interceptors, Channel 5, 7pm

The no-holds-barred series continues with its unrestricted access to the crime fighting team responsible for catching lawbreakers in Durham and Cleveland, one of the toughest regions in the UK.

Ever popular, this is the thirteenth series, sees tonights episode follow Dog handler Darren as he calls on all his powers of persuasion to try and bring to a close a rooftop stand-off. Elsewhere Spike breaks out a drug wipe for a teenage tearaway on two wheels, however can the teenager’s own father give him some words of advice?

Love It or List It, Channel 4, 8pm

Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp travel to Harrogate, Yorkshire, where they meet the Pogsons.

Carol, Andrew and their two children have lived in their three bedroom house for 16 years, and while Carol thinks it’s time for a big change, Andrew is not for moving. There’s also the additional complication of the couple wanting enough space for a grandparent.

What’s their best option for a multi-generational space – Love It, or List It?

Stacey Dooley Investigates, BBC Three, via the iPlayer, from 10am

Stacey Dooley travels to Florida – where sex offenders are punished forever. After serving their sentences, paedophiles and other sex offenders face legal restrictions for life.

But there is a battle raging in the American state about these laws. Do they truly protect children, or just make the public feel better? And the crucial question Stacey explores during her trip: do they ever deserve a second chance?

Stacey spends time with convicted sex offenders living in a homeless camp in Miami and an isolated community in the middle of nowhere – both consequences of strict laws preventing them from living less than 2,500ft from a place where children congregate. The offenders she meets hope to be fully reintegrated into society, having committed crimes ranging from watching child pornography to molesting children – but are blocked by the strict laws which restrict their movements for life.