Pick of the day: Jason and Clara: In Memory of Maudie
9pm, ITV1
Actor Jason Watkins and his wife Clara Francis talk movingly about their daughter Maudie, who died suddenly aged just two-and-a-half in 2011. Maudie died of undiagnosed sepsis, a condition where the body’s immune system overreacts to an infection, and ever since, Jason and Clara have been seeking to raise awareness of sepsis. Now, as the family are about to move from the flat where Maudie was born and died, they feel the time is right to tell their story. “It’s about breaking down the taboo of child loss,” says Watkins. “But I also want to talk about her so that people will know she was there.”
The Dog Academy
8pm, Channel 4
In this new series that should go down well with Britain’s ever-expanding army of dog owners, a team of top specialist trainers instruct beleaguered owners in dog management skills and dog psychology. Ferocious cockapoo Bear is driving a wedge between owners Paul and Louise. With their marriage under stress, the team must help tame Bear’s aggressive behaviour before it’s too late. Eleven-year-old Chihuahua Gina has a penchant for attacking other dogs, so mum and son Cindy and Cory have to carry her around in a special zipped-up safety bag. Can these latter-day Barbara Woodhouses teach old dogs some new tricks?
Gordon Ramsay’s Future Food Stars
9pm, BBC One
After the collapsed souffle that was Gordon Ramsay’s ITV overcooked culinary contest Next Level Chef, the shouty restaurateur returns with his shameless Apprentice knock-off for aspiring food and drink entrepreneurs. At least this time he doesn’t get the contestants to introduce themselves by jumping off a cliff into the sea. Instead, we’re riding up to a Scottish castle on a motorbike to meet the chosen dozen as they’re split into teams and given their opening task: creating a banquet that celebrates Ramsay’s birthplace of Scotland – to be eaten by performers from the Edinburgh Royal Military Tattoo.
Get On Up: The Triumph of Black America
9pm, BBC Two
Since winning the role as David Estes in Homeland, British actor David Harewood has lived and worked in the United States. The African American experience has had great resonance with Harewood while growing up experiencing racism in 1970s Birmingham – even to the point of hearing Martin Luther King’s voice during a psychotic breakdown aged 23 – and he here pays homage to its pioneers. In this opening programme, he recalls Sammy Davis Jr, Sidney Poitier, Motown and Blaxploitation movies while meeting Smokey Robinson, actor John Amos (Kunta Kinte in
the ground-breaking slavery drama Roots) and Lee Grant, Poitier’s co-star in In The Heat Of The Night.
Taskmaster
9pm, Channel 4
Barely has one series of Taskmaster finished than another one begins, which is absolutely fine for fans (such as myself) and for the comedians, who are provided with an almost matchless showcase. The latest collective to face weeks of “Little” Alex Horne’s suitably silly tasks and the mockery of host Greg Davies are Frankie Boyle, Ivo Graham, Jenny Eclair, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Mae Martin. It all leads to Eclair dancing around a giant golden pineapple in a wedding dress, and Boyle learning why cats love balls of string so much.
