Though the weather may be horribly dreary, at least we’ve got telly to keep us entertained on these long winter nights, so without further ado, here’s what we recommend you take a look at next week…

Monday

Dispatches: Return to Africa’s Witch Children, 8:00pm, Channel 4

In 2008 a Bafta and Emmy Award-winning Dispatches told the story of how children in Africa’s Niger Delta were being denounced by Christian pastors as witches and wizards and then killed, tortured or abandoned by their own families.

The film, which prompted international outrage against a practice conducted in the name of Jesus, forced the Nigerian authorities and the UN to act.

Child rights legislation came into force making it illegal to brand children as witches and some pastors were arrested. Financial support also poured in to assist a small British charity (Stepping Stones Nigeria) providing the only safe refuge for hundreds of youngsters attacked after claims that they were possessed by the Devil.

In Return to Africa’s Witch Children, Dispatches reveals what happened to some of the children and church leaders who originally featured, and discovers that even now children as young as two are still being stigmatised as witches and treated as outcasts.

Gary Foxcroft of Lancaster-based charity Stepping Stones also returns to Nigeria and discovers that since his last visit the rescue centre that houses many of these children was the target of an attack. He also learns that the number of children living there has in fact risen.

Two-and-a-half-year-old Ellin is one such child. She was found at the side of the road, her body having been severely burnt with boiling water. Nwanakwo Udo Edet, around eight years old, wasn’t so fortunate. He had acid poured over him after being labelled a wizard and later died.

How to Look Good Naked: Sexy Over 60, 9:00pm, Channel 4

In a bid to make the women of the world over 60 see that they can still love their bodies, Gok meets 72-year-old Sue, who lost confidence when her husband died 3 years ago.

Tuesday

Relocation, Relocation: It’s Never Too Late, 9:00pm, Channel 4

The nation’s favourite property experts Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer pride themselves on finding perfect pads for house hunters, and in this special programme they’re taking on two of their trickiest customers yet.

Margot and Henry Harris have been married for almost fifty years, and now both in their late seventies are on the hunt for a new home in Berkshire and a holiday home on the Dorset coast.

But far from period features or a lovely little country cottage, Margot wants something new, trendy and fresh. Back in the 60s their five-bedroom detached house with a pool was the height of design sophistication and Margot wants to recapture excitement of something brand new.

But with Margot acting as the driving force behind the move, Kirstie and Phil struggle to find something that both her and Henry can agree on. Soon it becomes apparent that Henry doesn’t really want to move at all.

Paradox, 9:00pm, BBC1

New five part drama series. Dr Christian King, a world-renowned astrophysicist, claims to have received a series of images from space.

The images show fragments of an event, an explosion in which many are killed. Shockingly, Dr King claims the disaster is yet to happen; it will take place in 18 hours time.

Is this an elaborate warning of a terrorist attack, or could it be something else? Uncertain, DI Rebecca Flint and her team investigate Dr King and the images, and begin to contemplate the impossible.

Wednesday

Terror Attack: Mumbai, 10:00pm, More4

On 26 November 2008, ten young Pakistani men sailed into Mumbai, India’s thriving financial heart, armed with AK47s, grenades and plastic explosives, as well as satellite phones and global positioning systems connecting them to their controllers. They spread out across the city, killing more than 100 people in just an hour. But this was just the beginning.

This documentary brings together candid and personal accounts from the people who were caught up in the siege. Transcripts of phone calls between the gunmen and their commanders, intercepted by Indian intelligence, and CCTV footage from the hotels, give a chilling edge to their stories.

The film also explores the dramatic role that modern communications played: mobile phones, the internet and 24-hour television news gave vital information not just to those in hiding, but to the killers hunting for them.

My Shocking Story: Giant Head, 10:00pm, Discovery Channel

Documentary. Sain’s head is unnaturally large, and now aged 19, he does not know if the extreme growths on his skull are malignant.

Experts team up to identify his condition, but can they cure it?

Thursday

EastEnders: The Two Faces of Lucas, 8:30pm, BBC3

This one-off special goes behind the scenes of the latest and most dramatic episode of the compelling Lucas Johnson storyline, exploring his journey from saint to deadly sinner.

The demon inside Lucas has been unleashed and no-one in Albert Square is safe.

It also looks back at some of the other groundbreaking moments in EastEnders’ history, including Trevor and Little Mo, and Stacey’s battle with bi-polar, with exclusive interviews with the cast and creators.

Jess: Britain’s Youngest Sleep Walker? 9:00pm, Channel 4

Insomnia is a growing problem in Britain, but not just for adults. Children are getting less sleep than they used to. One in five parents believe that their children are not getting as much sleep as they should. Science still can’t fully explain what happens in our brains at night and there are a number of reasons why children don’t sleep properly.

This Cutting Edge film reveals what life is like for a little girl whose insomnia has become more than just a childhood habit. Three-and-a-half-year-old Jess has a condition that has baffled every doctor she has seen so far.

For the last two and a half years she has been living a double life: during the day she is a bright and happy girl but at night she is ‘different’. Then, Jess spends hours sitting in a trance, acting out elaborate scenes. She describes the ‘friends’ who come to visit her, who keep her awake, who hit her and who won’t go away.

The problem could be sleepwalking, night terrors, sleep apnoea or any of the well-known sleep disorders, but nobody even knows whether Jess is dreaming or awake. Whatever the cause, she is getting less than half the proper sleep she needs.

The last time Jess slept in her own bed she was 11 months old. Frightened she might move around and hurt herself, Jess’s parents, Chris and Tanya, let her crawl into bed with them. With school starting next year, there is growing concern that Jess’s health will affect her ability to learn properly.

They’ve tried everything they can think of to get a good night’s sleep, but nothing has worked. And they’re getting desperate and as tired as Jess. With her soldier husband Chris heading for an eight-month tour of duty in Afghanistan, Tanya finally turns to the sleep clinic at the Evelina Children’s Hospital in London.

Jess is monitored at home and then observed at the clinic to first ascertain if she is sleepwalking or awake, or if her condition is even rarer still. But can even Britain’s top paediatric sleep doctors unravel the mystery of Jess’s night-life?

Friday

Throw Away Future: Tonight, 8:00pm, ITV1

Jonathan Maitland continues his ‘living for free’ series, and attempts to renovate a deserving family’s home with other people’s discarded furniture

We Are Family, 9:00pm, BBC2

Documentary focusing on an unusual family over the course of an extraordinary weekend. Families make us what we are. They are our past, our present and our future. They define us, they identify us. And, as we all know from personal experience, they are hugely complicated…

The Minchew family is no exception and in this moving film, we follow their progress over the course of one extraordinary weekend, as they come together to strengthen family ties and uncover a shared past shrouded in secrecy.

With three different fathers between them, the only thing the eight Minchew siblings have in common is their ageing and ailing mother, who still refuses to divulge key information about her early life – much to the frustration of her children.

Nowadays, unless their paths happen to cross while visiting her at the family home, the Minchews rarely meet – despite living within a radius of 15 miles of each other. Feuds have kept them apart for years but now they’re gathering for A Family Reunion, to try and unpick their complicated family history and confront their differences.

Stewart and his younger brother David have barely spoken for nearly two decades, after a family disagreement got out of hand. Can they swallow their pride and overcome years of stubbornness to rediscover the closeness they shared in childhood?

Saturday

Britain’s Real Monarch, 8:45pm, Channel 4

In investigating the life of Richard III, Tony Robinson was shown evidence to suggest that the royal line was tainted by the illegitimacy of Edward IV. As such, every monarch since has actually had no legitimate claim to the throne.

So who did? And, perhaps more to the point, who does? Who, by the right of succession, should we have sitting on the throne today? To find out, Tony Robinson goes in search of Britain’s Real Monarch.

He uncovers a turbulent story of civil war, aristocratic feuds, religious conflict, disgrace, bankruptcy, executions and a £5.5 million bet.

And in the end, he discovers Britain’s real monarch, someone as far removed from the splendour of Buckingham Palace as Robinson could ever have thought possible. Having found the rightful heir to the British throne, it’s then time to break the news to him…

Britain’s Drowned World: Time Team Special, 9:45pm, More4

Ten thousand years ago, before sea levels rose at the end of Ice Age, a huge area of land connected Britain to the European continent.

‘Doggerland’, as it has been dubbed, possessed rich natural resources and would have been a mini-paradise for the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers who dwelt there.

In this Time Team Special, Tony Robinson and the team call upon the leading experts to piece together the story of this fascinating drowned world.

Sunday

The Green Mile, 9:00pm, Five

In this brilliant film, Paul Edgecomb – played by Tom Hanks – is a slightly cynical veteran prison guard on Death row in the 1930’s. His faith, and sanity, deteriorated by watching men live and die, Edgecomb is about to have a complete turn around in attitude.

Enter John Coffey. He’s tall, very tall. He has hands the size of waffle irons. He’s been accused of the murder of two children… and he’s afraid to sleep in a cell without a night-light.

And Edgecomb, as well as the other prison guards – Brutus, a sympathetic guard, and Percy, a stuck up, perverse, and violent person – are in for a strange experience that involves intelligent mice, brutal executions, and the revelation about Coffey’s innocence and his true identity.

Here’s the film’s trailer…

The Royle Family: The New Sofa, 10:25pm, BBC1

Here’s another chance to see last year’s festive special edition of the hit family sitcom.

Inspired by Nigella Lawson, Denise decides to cook Christmas dinner for the family. Jim provides the yuletide log and, much to his dismay, Dave’s mum and dad are invited to join the festivities.

What could possibly go wrong?

That’s it for this week. Have a great week and don’t do anything we wouldn’t do! So that’s not excluding a lot really…