Welcome to our weekend picks of what’s worth having a look at on TV next week, and there are some great new shows starting as well as repeats of some classic favourites, but the week starts out on a sombre note…

Monday

Rhys Jones – Caught in the Crossfire: Real Crime, 9:00pm, ITV1

“It was said a lot that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and that used to upset us because we were thinking he wasn’t in the wrong place and it wasn’t the wrong time. Rhys was where he should have been. It was Sean Mercer that shouldn’t have been there.” Melanie Jones, mother of Rhys Jones.

It was a murder that shocked the nation. An 11-year-old boy gunned down as he walked home from football practice. An innocent child caught in the crossfire of open warfare between teenage gangs.

Now in their first television interview since the sentencing of their son’s killer, Melanie and Stephen Jones recount the tragic day Rhys was shot as he passed by the Fir Tree Pub in Croxteth, Liverpool on August 22, 2007 and the months that followed as the police investigation unfolded.

Providing never-before seen home video footage, they pay tribute to their beloved son.

The Supersizers Eat… The Eighties, 9:00pm, BBC2

In this new and somewhat obscure series, Giles Coren and Sue Perkins embrace all that is the Eighties as they spend a week in a warehouse conversion on the Thames immersed in a soundtrack of Duran Duran, ABC, Visage and Spandau Ballet.

There’s yuppie decadence in spades for the Supersizers as Giles parades around the City trading stocks and shares, and Sue power dresses her way through life as a Sloane Ranger.

Throughout the week, they sample the delights of nouvelle cuisine and are introduced to the joys of sundried tomatoes, ciabatta and prawns, care of Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing. The Supersizers also drown in a sea of champagne and ingest copious amounts of coffee from the newly launched Prêt A Manger.

Great nostalgia for ‘80s fans!

Tuesday

Occupation, 9:00pm, BBC1

Tonight sees the start of this searingly powerful new drama starring James Nesbitt, Stephen Graham and Warren Brown and written by Peter Bowker.

It spans the five years following the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and follows the lives of three soldiers and friends, during the battle for Basra, then as they struggle to adapt to life back home and finally, as very different forces draw them back to Iraq when they fail to adjust to civilian life in Manchester…

Danny, Mike and Hibbs are each inspired to return to Basra for his own reasons: one for money, one for love and one because he passionately believes in the mission to rebuild Iraq. They return to a Basra awash with billions of US dollars, creating a boom time for private military contractors.

As the drama charts their interwoven journeys from the invasion of Iraq to the present day, viewers see how these three friends, once united in battle, are torn apart by the aftermath.

True Stories: Close Encounters in Siberia, 10:00pm, More4

The True Stories strand, which showcases the best international feature documentaries, uncovers the mystery behind a massive explosion that shook Siberia in 1908.

The epicentre, Tunguska, was so remote that no-one went in to investigate immediately. The first scientist to eventually visit the site found 80 million uprooted trees lying in neat rows, and thought that a meteor may have been to blame – but failed to find any fragments or crater and so the mystery remained unsolved.

One hundred years after the explosion, George Carey packed his camera and set off to Tunguska. He encountered a mixture of mystics, reindeer-herders, amateur sleuths and serious scientists and a range of theories, from meteorites and comets to alien spacecraft, anti-matter, spontaneous explosions and an unexpected passion for the Cosmos in the old Soviet Union. And on a lake near the epicentre, Carey witnesses a discovery that may finally reveal the truth.

Wednesday

Spain: Paradise Lost, 9:00pm, ITV1 Yorkshire

In tonight’s first part of two shows, we see how for many, Spain is the land of year-round sunshine, endless beaches and where life is all about living. It’s a favourite destination for the British living abroad.

Over a million Britons now call Spain home, escaping the foul weather and the daily grind in the UK, for a life in the sun, but Spain hasn’t turned out like the pictures in the glossy brochures for everyone…

Tonight, we see how the property crash in Spain has been a financial and personal disaster for some, including Wally Tynan, who says: “I wish to God I’d never heard of Spain,” and the Segal family who have lost their dream family home. We also see that there are some Britons who still aspire to a life in the Spanish sun… me for one, so I’ll be keen to watch this and see what not to do!

Martina Cole’s The Take, 9:00pm, Sky1

This brand new four parter from Martina Cole sees Freddie Jackson getting out of prison. He’s done his time, made the right connections and now he’s ready to use them. His wife Jackie dreams of having her husband home but she’s forgotten the rows and the girls Freddie can’t leave alone. His younger cousin, Jimmy, dreams of making a name for himself on Freddie’s coattails.

At first Freddie gets everything he ever wanted and Jimmy is taken along for the ride: a growing crime empire that gives them all the respect and money they’ve hungered for. But behind it all sits Ozzy – the legendary criminal godfather who manipulates Freddie and Jimmy’s fates from behind the bars of his prison cell.

Bitter, resentful and increasingly unstable, Jackie sees her life crumble while her little sister Maggie’s star rises. In love with Freddie’s cousin Jimmy, Maggie is determined not to end up like her sister.

Freddie and Jackie watch Jimmy and Maggie achieve all the dreams that they themselves failed to realise: love, family, stability and respect.

Jealous resentment and an inability to control himself force Freddie to put both the business and family at risk. Torn between being loyal to a cousin he loves and being true to his own destiny, Jimmy is forced to decide between protecting Freddie or the life he has built with Maggie.

This is a powerful human drama about love, power, violence and betrayal. Part two follows immediately after this first episode.

Thursday

Undercover Boss, 9:00pm, Channel 4

In this first part of two episodes, we meet Andy Edge, the company director of Park Resorts. In order to get to understand his business and how it works on the ground, Andy takes on a variety of lower level jobs at his resorts without letting his employees know who he is.

The final revelation that he’s one of the directors of the company comes as a big shock to many of the staff he’s worked alongside and heard some home truths from…

Days That Shook the World: Moon Landing, 8:30pm, BBC4

This is a fascinating documentary which revisits the world changing events of 20th July 1969, when Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the surface of the moon.

We’ll get to see the moment itself as well as hearing first hand accounts from those involved and discussion regarding the question of whether it was all a hoax or not. Should be interesting!

Friday

The Fat Bribe Revisited: Tonight, 8:00pm, ITV1

Fiona Foster examines whether an NHS pilot scheme to pay obese people to lose weight could work.

In order to do so, she revisits a group of bingo workers to see if they’ve managed to keep the weight off one year after participating in a Tonight experiment in which they were paid cash to shed the pounds.

Freemasons on Trial, 8:00pm, National Geographic

This intriguing documentary investigates whether the world’s most secret society is responsible for the murder of Italian businessman Roberto Calvi, whose body was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London in 1982.

It goes deep inside this notoriously secretive group and what it reveals is shocking…

Saturday

Porridge, 4:55pm, Film4

This is a lovely bit of nostalgia for your Saturday afternoon. The very popular prison comedy was made into this film offshoot and of course features long-term Slade prison inmate Fletcher, played by Ronnie Barker.

He’s ordered by Grouty to arrange a football match between the prisoners and an all-star celebrity team but Fletcher’s unaware that the match is only a diversion so that an escape can take place.

When Fletcher and his cell mate Lennie – played by Richard Beckinsale – stumble on the escape, they’re taken along and find themselves having to break back into prison to avoid getting into trouble.

Wedding Crashers, 9:00pm, Film4

If you’re in the mood for something a bit more up to date, this hilarious comedy could be right up your street… Starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, it’s an amiable laugh along film that’s a nice antidote to the pants programmes on the main terrestrial channels!

John Beckwith and Jeremy Grey are business partners and lifelong friends. They’re also divorce mediators who love to crash weddings to pickup women. They’ve been given a secret set of wedding crashing rules by Chaz – played by Will Ferrell – who’s the guru of wedding crashing and they learn well; they’re so charming that they’re able to bluff their way through each wedding when relatives ask who they are.

Each spots a beautiful woman, wins her heart – and other parts of her anatomy – and then it’s on to the next wedding! However, during the wedding of the daughter of Treasury Secretary William Cleary, John and Jeremy target the two Cleary sisters, Claire and Gloria. Jeremy’s able to get close to Gloria, but John has Claire’s boyfriend to contend with but when they’re invited to a weekend party at the Cleary family estate, they learn a few lessons about love.

Here’s the film’s trailer…

Sunday

The Royal, 7:00pm, ITV1

The new series of the ever popular Royal starts tonight with an episode entitled, In the Air.

Matron’s infuriated when she discovers what Susie’s been up to. Dr Burnett tackles a dilemma and Mr Rose faces a personal trial when things fail to go to plan either at the golf course or in the theatre.

James May on the Moon, 9:00pm, BBC2

In this show, James May commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Apollo Moon landings and meets three of the men who walked on the moon. He’ll also be experiencing the thrill of weightlessness as well as the bone-crushing G forces of a Saturn V rocket launch.

Finally, he’ll get to put on his own space suit and fly to the edge of space in a U2 spy plane, where he looks down at the curvature of the earth, and upwards into the black infinity of space.

Have a great week and let’s hope this lovely weather continues!