Hi and welcome to our Primetime Picks of what’s on telly next week.

We kick off the week with two fascinating, though sad, documentaries…

Monday

Sally Anne Bowman – Murder on the Doorstep: Real Crime, 9:00pm, ITV1

Sally Anne Bowman was a beautiful teenage model with the world at her feet. She was brutally stabbed to death and raped just yards from her front door in a quiet suburban street. Her murder sent out shock waves across the UK but even with the huge amount of media coverage police still struggled to catch her killer.

The early evidence pointed to one suspect – but he was the wrong man. Police had the DNA left by the doorstep killer, but without his name, could they catch him before he struck again?

In this programme the police leading the investigation reveal the problems they faced. They tell how a chance incident led to the killer’s capture following months of frustration and Real Crime features actual CCTV footage of the killer’s arrest.

Sally Anne’s parents speak openly about their shock and pain as well as paying tribute to their daughter. Plus, a former flatmate of the killer provides a fascinating account of how he experienced, first hand, his violent nature.

Madonna and Mercy: What Really Happened? 8:00pm, Channel 4

Journalist Jacques Peretti goes to Malawi in order to find out why Madonna’s adoption of Mercy James has so shocked the world.

On 12th June 2009, Madonna was successful in her appeal to adopt the little girl and Malawi’s Supreme Court upheld her application for adoption. In this documentary, Peretti looks at what the future may hold for Mercy as she prepares to move to New York.

He also speaks exclusively to James Kambewa, Mercy’s father, as well as her grandmother Lucy and Mercy’s uncles.

Tuesday

Dispatches: Terror in Mumbai, 9:00pm, Channel 4

This documentary by Dan Reed details the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

With never before seen footage, evidence and interviews, the film also features footage of the attacks themselves as well as testimony from senior police officers. Also, hostages recount their harrowing ordeals and dramatic escapes.

7/7: The Conspiracy Files, 9:00pm, BBC2

Nearly four years after the 7/7 bombing, England’s worst terrorist atrocity, The Conspiracy Files investigates the conspiracy theories flourishing on the internet.

There have been three official reports into the bombings on 7th July 2005, which claimed the lives of 56 people and injured 784 others. This programme sees how conspiracy theories suggesting four British Muslims were framed by the government, play on the fears of the Muslim community and spread a highly divisive and damaging message.

The Conspiracy Files: 7/7 also examines the evidence in an attempt to separate fact from fiction.

Wednesday

Legends: Roy Orbison – The ‘Big O’ in Britain, 8:00pm, BBC4

Marking the 20th anniversary of his death, this documentary celebrates the extraordinary talent of Roy Orbison and his relationship with his most loyal fans, British musicians and the British public.

Through interviews and archive footage, this film charts Orbison’s career in Britain, from his sell-out tour with the Beatles which rocketed him to superstardom to the collaboration with his life-long friend George Harrison on the Travelling Wilburys project in the 1980s.

Skins, 11:00pm, Channel 4

Tonight see the first of ten episodes in the new series of Skins in which we follow the chaotic lives of a group of Bristol teenagers.

The class of 2009 is led by the beautiful but elusive Effy who returns as the new Queen bee. The guys are led by the irrepressible and irresponsible Cook, the daring and charismatic leader of the gang. Together they bond as they fall in and out of love and lust, fight one another and generally compete against each other.

Thursday

Can I Get High Legally? 9:00pm, BBC3

George Lamb fronts this documentary looking at the world of legal party pills and herbal highs which are sold openly and lawfully in shops across the UK and on the ‘net.

He sets out to discover why they’re legal and whether this means they can also be considered safe. He meets people who take and sell these concoctions as well as a doctor who says they’re potentially more dangerous than class A drugs.

And George travels to Guernsey where most of the young people he meets have tried them, and finally, he decides to try one for himself.

The Best Job in the World, 9:00pm, BBC1

It’s the job that dreams are made of: sandy beaches, year-round sunshine, free luxury accommodation and a £70,000 salary for six months’ work as the caretaker for a beautiful Barrier Reef island. In January 2009, Queensland Tourist Board set up a marketing campaign amidst a blaze of publicity. The search for the right candidate began via their website, with a competitive three-month selection process for the once-in-a-lifetime job.

This documentary joins the selection process as the hopefuls are whittled down to the 50 most promising candidates. Just 11 of those 50 go forward to the next stage, held on a number of Barrier Reef Islands. The Best Job In The World finds out how British candidate Ben Southall – a former events manager, charity fundraiser and tour guide – landed the plum job.

Friday

The Teen Tamer, 10:00pm, Discovery Home & Health

This series follows radical behaviour expert Lorrine Marer as she works with some of Britain’s most extreme teenagers.

Tonight, Lorrine tackles 15-year-old Gemma Johnson’s promiscuity and truancy which are tearing Gemma’s family apart.

The Departed, 9:00pm, Film4

This Martin Scorsese film has a stellar cast which includes Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga and Alec Baldwin.

Several ears ago, a powerful Irish mafia figure placed a small selection of his youngest, brightest men into the Massachusetts State Police Academy as cadets. Their purpose was to eventually rise within the prestigious ranks of the state police department, to serve as the eyes and ears of their boss. Elsewhere, a young cadet was assigned to an equally dangerous task; infiltrate the Irish syndicate headed by the man sending in his own to the Massachusetts State Police.

Now, one cadet is an up and coming police official with a torn allegiance to his job and to the criminal mastermind that put him there. The other cadet is the trusted sidekick of that man who’s finding his it hard to reconcile his split loyalties. However, new clues lead to unfortunate discoveries when both sides realize they’re being watched by the enemy.

Here’s the film’s trailer…

Saturday

Sacha Baron Cohen: New Heroes of Comedy, 10:00pm, Channel 4

This film is a fascinating profile of Sacha Baron Cohen, the comedian behind star characters Ali G and Borat. It charts his rise from a five-minute slot on the 11 O’ Clock Show to international stardom which put Staines and Kazakhstan on the map.

Friends, colleagues and survivors of the Ali G interview experience share their insights too.

21 Year Old Baby, 10:00pm, Really

This is the extraordinary tale of real-life Peter Pan girl, Tanya Donaldson. Believed to have been born with a genetic disorder so rare that doctors think no other case in the world exists, Tanya’s condition leaves her forever trapped in the mind and body of a baby.

At 21 years old she is still in nappies, drinks from a baby cup and wears the clothes of a four-year-old child. This film tells the story of a mother’s quest to find answers for her child. Can today’s top medical brains finally unravel the secret of Tanya’s mysterious condition? And, after 21 years of searching, will Carol Donaldson discover that someone else has the same disorder as her daughter?

As Carol’s search for the secret ends, she begins to find comfort in the diagnosis of Turner’s Syndrome and in the support offered by a local Turner’s Syndrome group. Turner’s Syndrome takes a wide range of forms and can affect with widely differing severity. Tanya appears to have a particularly severe form.
Sunday

The Long Kiss Goodnight, 9:00pm, Five

Samantha Caine is a suburban housewife and she’s the ideal mom to her eight year old daughter Caitlin. She lives in Honesdale, PA, has a teaching job and makes the best Rice Krispie treats in town.

However, when she receives a bump on the head, she begins to remember small parts of her previous life as a lethal, top-secret agent. Her old chums in the Chapter are now out to kill her so she enlists the help of a cheap detective named Mitch.

As Samantha remembers more and more of her previous life, she becomes deadlier and more resourceful…

Here’s the film’s trailer…

Super Weed, 11:00pm, National Geographic

This documentary investigates one of the most widely used illicit drugs in the world; marijuana.

Experts reveal that the marijuana plant is one of the most complex species on the plant. It contains more than 400 active chemicals and compounds, but what’s the truth about marijuana? Can it really cause mental illness?

Are there any medicinal benefits? Is it too dangerous to be legalised? This in-depth film attempts to separate fact from fiction.

That’s it for this week. Have a brilliant weekend and have the sun screen to hand because we’re supposed to be getting almost tropical temperatures in the coming week! Yippee!