After the Flood,  The Great Pottery Throw Down and Big Zuu’s 12 Dishes in 12 Hours: TV highlights this week

Big Zuu’s 12 Dishes in 12 Hours (Saturday 06/01/24, ITV1, 10pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

Zuhair Hassan, aka Big Zuu started his career as a rapper, but he’s fast becoming one of TV’s best-known foodies.

He’s said he first learned his way around a kitchen while growing up in single-parent West African home on Mozart Estate in west London. “I noticed [mum] would get very tired at times and offered to start cooking to help her out, starting with breakfast.”

However, it was food tech lessons at school that really sparked his love of all things culinary and expanded his food repertoire.

“If I never had that kitchen, if I never had food tech, and never learnt how to cook those things, I just might not be doing what I do now.”

Eventually, his passion for food took him to the TV channel Dave and the Bafta-winning series Big Zuu’s Big Eats, which saw him travelling around the country in his food truck, whipping up meals for celebrities – the famous diners included Jimmy Carr, Harry Redknapp, Mel B and Jonathan Ross.

Since then, ITV1 has come calling with Big Zuu’s Breakfast Show, and now 12 Dishes in 12 Hours.

The idea behind the show is that Big Zuu and a celebrity travel companion will visit cities across Europe trying to get a real flavour of their history and culture by sampling the local delicacies.

In a bid to make their experience as authentic as possible, they will be befriending the locals and getting recommendations for places that are off the beaten track.

It’s the perfect project for Zuu, who says: “It’s always been a dream of mine to have my own food travelogue so I’m gassed to finally be able to announce this new show! I feel like travelling the world and eating food was the natural next step for me and the audience who have followed me since the beginning of my TV career.”

However, while he may enjoy exploring new cities and cuisines, he’ll always have a special place in his heart for London.

He told The Guardian: “You can never discredit how incredible the food is in London. We have everything. Every single cuisine. Because we’re such a multicultural society, and we’re so open to different faiths, and so open to different people coming to the country.”

And if anything, Big Zuu think British diners are becoming ever-more adventurous. “It’s about respecting people’s backgrounds and not looking at their food and saying ‘eww’.

“I remember people used to laugh at me for eating fufu and dried fish, and said my house smells like ogiri [a flavouring made of fermented oil seeds, such as sesame seeds or egusi seeds]. But these are the things that make our food amazing.”

Will he discover any new flavours on his culinary adventures, which begins when he takes actor Will Poulter (who recently had a guest role as an expert dessert chef in the acclaimed US drama The Bear) on a tour of Bologna, known as the food capital of Italy?

The Great Pottery Throw Down (Sunday 07/01/24, Channel 4, 7.45pm)

Words by Sarah Morgan

It seems that every programme based on the Bake Off format needs a trademark.

The baking show itself has the Hollywood handshake (we’ve seen the Prue pat as well, although it hasn’t caught on quite so much), while The Great British Sewing Bee has Patrick Grant’s immaculate facial hair and Esme Young’s name-dropping anecdotes, while Britain’s Best Woodworker features Mel Geidroyc’s puns.

As for the Throw Down, which is returning for its seventh series this week, there’s Keith Brymer Jones’s tears.

The professional potter and ceramics designer, who’s been a judge on the programme since it began in 2015, is now famous for weeping whenever he’s moved by one of the competitors’ efforts. Whatever they’ve made doesn’t even have to be perfect – as long as they’ve put their heart and soul into it, it’s highly likely he’ll end up crying.

“I get emotional,” he revealed in an interview with The Guardian in 2021, “because it’s a craft I love. It is my life. When I see a potter communicating their creativity via something they’ve made, I can’t help but cry. You’re watching imagination come to life. It’s so special.”

London-born, Whitstable-based Brymer Jones is the only member of the original presenting team left on the show.

The first run was hosted by Sara Cox in 2015, was a success and inspired some viewers to give the craft a go via local classes. The second series in early 2017 was also a moderate hit but, when Bake Off moved to Channel 4, the Throw Down disappeared for three years and many thought it would never return.

However, More4 decided to pick it up, installing Melanie Sykes as presenter and replacing one of the judges, Kate Malone, with Sue Pryke. With the fourth run, it was a case of almost all change again, with Derry Girls star Siobhan McSweeney taking over as host and Richard Miller, aka ‘kiln man Rich’, who’d previously been the show’s technician, stepping up to take over as a judge from Pryke.

Comedian Ellie Taylor stepped in (no pun intended) when McSweeney broke her leg ahead of the fifth series, but the Bafta-winning star soon returned. Her natural wit and rapport with the competitors has made her a popular presenter. She insists, however, that acting is still her main job.

“Overall, presenting is great fun and I love it,” she admitted while promoting her travel series Exploring Northern Ireland a couple of years ago. “But it’s a side hustle. It’s something that I feel I’m getting away with.

“It’s that paradox of feeling very awkward being myself, because I had no character to hide behind, but great personal validation of feeling, ‘Well, they know that I’m probably not any good at this, so I don’t have to be good at it. I can just be myself’.”

It’s an approach that’s worked, and no doubt one she’ll continue when she welcomes another dozen amateur potters to the show’s base in Stoke during the new run’s first episode.

They’ll be tasked with making a roast dinner set, and if you spot Brymer Jones’s tears, you’ll know that something very special indeed has occurred.

Silent Witness (Monday 08/01/24, BBC1, 8pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

It’s a new year, so that means it’s time for a new instalment of Silent Witness – believe it or not, the crime drama is now on its 27th series.

That’s not bad for a show that lost its original star, Amanda Burton who played forensic pathologist Dr Sam Ryan, in the eighth series (although she did return to help the drama celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2022).

So, what does Emilia Fox, who has played Dr Nikki Alexander since 2004, think is behind Silent Witness’ continuing success?

She says: “The DNA of the show is crime stories, and the way people commit and solve crimes. But it also incorporates very topical stories like health passports and challenging stories like domestic abuse. We are not afraid of that – the show can take it.

“It is very inclusive, diverse and relevant as well. It gives us the chance to talk about subjects that people generally steer clear of. It allows viewers to discuss them from the safety of their own sofas. Silent Witness has something for everyone. It also attracts great guest stars!”

That might explain why she keeps coming back along with the viewers. Speaking ahead of the anniversary series, Emilia said: “From day one, I’ve always said I’ll stay as long as I enjoy it, and I still really enjoy it. The audience and I have been through a lot together. I never take for granted the privilege of being part of Silent Witness.

“Now that I’m also an executive producer, I really value it as part of my personal life as much as my professional life. It’s had a huge impact on me.”

It seems that we should also be in store for more Silent Witness after this run, as the BBC announced that from this year, production would move to the West Midlands as part of its commitment to moving production outside London.

Charlotte Moore, BBC Chief Content Officer says: “The BBC is committed to investing in the West Midlands and this plan will create a future proof skills base in the region that will fundamentally change the landscape boosting high impact content production with the arrival of the hugely popular hit series Silent Witness in 2024. I’m excited about the increased opportunities this will bring to the creative talent in the area.”

We’ll have to wait to see how the new setting affects the drama but, in the meantime, we’re getting five more two-part mysteries.

It begins when Nikki and Jack (Davd Caves) investigate a murder that bears all the hallmarks of a notorious serial killer. Has the murderer returned after 20 years, or could it be the handiwork of a copycat?

The plot thickens when Nikki meets Charles Beck (John Hannah), the pathologist who conducted the original post-mortems. It turns out that his wife also a suspected victim of the killer, and he claims he knows where to find her body.

Tell Me Lies (Tuesday 09/01/24, BBC One, 10.40pm & 11.30pm – Scotland 11.40pm & 12.30am)

Words by Richard Jones

Good-girl/bad-boy relationships between two beautiful young people are nothing new, particularly in US dramas.

Think Elena and Damon in The Vampire Diaries, Blair and Chuck in Gossip Girl, and Brenda and Dylan in Beverly Hills, 90210.

And this Hulu series, created by Meaghan Oppenheimer and based on the novel by Carola Lovering, revolves around another toxic affair as it traces the lives of Lucy Albright (Grace Van Patten) and Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White) over the course of eight years.

Tonight’s first episode opens in 2015, as we see Lucy’s friends doubting her ability to keep from “going down the whole Stephen rabbit hole” again during another couple’s wedding day.

And if Lucy and Stephen’s faces when they catch sight of each other across the lawn are anything to go by, it seems very unlikely they’ll be able to resist falling back into old patterns for very long.

Having offered us a glimpse of Stephen and Lucy’s future, the series begins in earnest on freshmen Lucy’s first day at the fictional Baird College in New York State back in 2007, during which Stephen corners her at a frat party.

From then on, we see the couple’s relationship take shape, as Lucy spends years wriggling on the hook of a man who goes from being villainous and callous to sweet and vulnerable in the blink of an eye.

Actress Van Patten, the daughter of American director Timothy Van Patten, spoke to Screen Rant in 2022 and explained why she thought the main characters were so attracted to one another.

“She knows that he’s not treating her well, but she’s not going to end it,” the 27-year-old said.

“She’s too obsessed with this guy. She’s completely lost herself, and I think that’s unfortunately very common in that situation. Especially when it’s your first time being in love and enamoured with someone, and you’re completely obsessed, you lose control of yourself because you don’t know who you are yet.

“Love makes you do crazy things that you wouldn’t do in any other relationship, in any other friendship, or even with family. It can really mess with you.”

Mrs Fletcher star White has been praised for his portrayal of the complicated Stephen and Van Patten also outlined why she thinks his character is the way he is.

“Stephen’s actions are a way for him to protect himself because he feels so unsafe in his home environment,” she says. “He doesn’t really let his guard down.

“You really empathise with him when he goes home, and you see his family dynamic. You understand him more and why he does what he does, and it just makes sense a little bit.”

As well as Lucy and Stephen’s relationship, Tell Me Lies also follows the lives of their friends including Bree (Catherine Missal), Wrigley (Spencer House), Pippa (Sonia Mena), Evan (Branden Cook), Drew (Benjamin Wadsworth) and Diana (Alicia Crowder).

There is also a mystery surrounding the death of Lucy’s college roommate, Maisie in a car crash. And in tonight’s second episode, Lucy tries to move on from the tragedy by accepting Stephen’s invitation to go on a date.

But did the bad boy have something to do with Maisie’s death?

After the Flood (Wednesday 10/01/24, ITV1, 9pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

As the title suggests, the new drama After the Flood involves a deluge – and actress Sophie Rundle is thrown in straight at the deep end.

The Gentleman Jack star plays pregnant PC Jo Marshall, who, when we first meet her, is busy dealing with a flash flood that sees her making life and death decisions and coming to the aid of a baby. It seems that opening sequence was a big part of why she decided to take the role.

Rundle says: “I opened the front page and started reading and I kept going, ‘Is that me? Is that my character? Do I get to do that? That is so cool’. Especially for someone in my casting bracket.

“I’ve done a lot of corsets and a lot of holding babies and mooning after someone in the background. To be doing the stunt and not just witnessing it was so exciting.

“I think it is so clever of Mick Ford to write that as the introduction for your protagonist. This is the world. These are the stakes. Here she is. She’s in the water. She’s saved the baby and she’s pregnant. Boom. You’re in. How could you not watch that?”

Just in case you did need something extra to hook you in, there’s also a locked-room mystery. Rundle explains: “Two days after the big flood Jo gets a call to go to an underground car park where somebody thinks there is a body. She’s first on the scene and this underground car park has flooded. The lift has jammed, and a person has been caught in the lift. Now the flood water has receded they’ve found this body.

“They think they understand what’s happened but when the autopsy comes back it turns out that this person actually died before the flood. So, the mystery begins.”

Jo becomes obsessed with finding out what happened, much to the concern of her husband and fellow cop Pat (Matt Stokoe).

Rundle says: “Everything that Pat loves about Jo – this slight recklessness and her persistence and doggedness – is also making him very nervous now. He’s just trying to protect her, but he is a bit clumsy with that sometimes. Jo loves him for it but when they start to butt up against each other that’s where the conflict comes.”

She adds: “When you’re pregnant you are more than just a vessel for this child. There are all these things going on between them that I think so many parents will relate to.”

He may feel even more nervous when Jo’s digging reveals there are even bigger issues at stake, especially as the flood threatens to expose the lies of local politicians and developers.

Sophie admits that she’s enjoyed being able to get her teeth into the case after one of her previous cop characters made an early exit from the first series of Happy Valley.

The actress laughs: “Yes, this is what PC Kirsten McAskill could have been maybe! It was fun to be the different person in the scene. It was fun now being the one figuring out the mystery.”

Grantchester (Thursday 11/01/24, ITV1, 9pm)

Words by Sarah Morgan

It’s survived a major cast change before, so fans are guessing it will do so again, but what will life be like in Grantchester once Tom Brittney’s Reverend Will Davenport moves on?

He came in, of course, to replace James Norton’s outgoing Sidney Chambers ahead of the fourth run of the gentle crime drama based on James Runcie’s popular books. Norton’s career has since gone stellar, with casting directors desperate to hire him. And if you believe the bookies, he’s still in the running to be the next James Bond.

Brittney will be hoping the programme leads to bigger things for him too, particularly as it’s a huge hit in the States, although one role he won’t be playing is Superman/Clark Kent in director James Gunn’s upcoming Superman: Legacy movie. US actor David Corenswet has been cast instead, despite the fact that Brittney and fellow UK actor Nicholas Hoult were said to be in the running.

“I’ve had the most incredible time playing Will Davenport for the last five years,” said Brittney when his decision to leave was announced. “I got to solve crimes with my best friend, and work with the best cast and crew I could ever ask for. I’ll miss it more than anything but it’s time for the baton to be passed, as it once was to me.”

His replacement is charismatic vicar Alphy Kotteram, played by Rishi Nair. But that’s all in the future – we still have one more series of Will to enjoy before he moves on, and it looks as if it’s going to be a very dramatic one.

“From the moment we first met Will, he’s always been struggling with his demons,” says Brittney. “What drives him in life is being the best man he can – everything he does, every case he helps Geordie with, every problem that he solves, he feels like he’s getting better and better as a person, morally.

“And then this thing happens that just seems to erase all of that in one instant. Everything he’s worked so hard for is gone just like that. It just destroys the way Will thinks of himself, because this action, whether it was an accident or on purpose, in the eyes of God and everyone else, he believes it’s unforgivable, and it really sets him down a dark path.”

Luckily, he has Geordie, played by Robson Green, to help him.

“A couple of series ago, Will was helping Geordie when he was going through his darkness,” explains Brittney. “He’s his best friend and his father figure. Geordie understands the guilt that Will feels, because he’s gone through it himself.

“The tragedy of this series is that everybody thinks they’re losing the Will that they love and Geordie has to watch it happen while also trying to deal with his own issues with his job and possible retirement.”

The new run begins as Will and Geordie investigate the death of a teenage biker following a charity motorbike race.

It’s a great, high-octane start to the series, one that features the directorial debut of Al Weaver, who plays the much-loved Leonard.

Tessa Peake-Jones, Charlotte Ritchie and Kacey Ainsworth also return as Mrs C, Will’s other half Bonnie and Geordie’s wife Cathy respectively.

Extraordinary Extensions (Friday 12/01/24, Channel 4, 8pm)

Words by Richard Jones

Growing up on the Aylesbury Estate in south east London, and dreaming of a music career, Tinie Tempah surely can’t have imagined he would be presenting a property makeover show on Channel 4.

The rapper, born Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu, was just 12 when he conceived his stage name after viewing the music video for So Solid Crew’s 21 Seconds.

But it took 20 more years for his music career to really take off,

After releasing a number of mixtapes, his debut album, Disc-Overy, containing No.1 hits Pass Out and Written in the Stars, topped the charts in 2010.

In February 2011, Tinie won two Brits for Best British Breakthrough Act and Best British Single, before releasing his second album, Demonstration in 2013, and a third, Youth, two years later.

Although music was, and probably always will be Tinie’s first love, he was also fascinated by property during his youth.

Talking about his upbringing in the capital, he says: “London is one of the only places in the world where you can live in a council block and see a beautiful semi-detached house across the street. Growing up around that was inspirational, it kept me motivated.”

After all the success he has had musically, Tinie is now back flexing TV presenting muscles, as he returns with a second series of his “side hustle”, Extraordinary Extensions, which first came about during lockdown.

“At the start of the pandemic, the music industry got hit really, really hard,” he told The Independent. “Obviously, there were no gigs. I was in the studio at home, scratching my head.

“I got this phone call, ‘We’re doing this property show, and we would love you to do it.’ At first, I was like, ‘I don’t know…’

“But I feel like this is a new challenge.”

As with the first series, the musician and property developer will follow brave homeowners as they build extraordinary extensions.

Travelling around the country, Tinie meets people realising their dreams by expanding their homes upwards, downwards or outwards.

From big budgets to ambitious architectural aims, we see the miraculous, and sometimes emotional, stories of diverse designs coming to life.

The latest run begins in Warwickshire, as the host follows a couple taking on a million-pound retirement project – adding an underground swimming pool and spa extension to their curved mega-home. But they face a battle with the property’s curves and to somehow make it eco-friendly.

Meanwhile, on the lookout for inspiration, Tinie also visits two other super-luxe subterranean extensions that are devoted entirely to lives of leisure.

When asked how his music career dovetails with his love of property, Tinie said in the interview with The Independent: “It’s not something you really talk about in your raps. Property was a way that we were able to move up the socio-economic ladder. I came out of a council-estate environment and, at 12, my parents bought our first property in Plumstead.

“Fast forward a couple of years, and they’ve got more than a handful. I grew up seeing my mum do loads of extensions.

“It’s just really the best thing in the world and gives you a whole new outlook and perspective on life and makes me very appreciative for where I am in my life.”