London Calling

Paul Barfoot,
BBC Nordic Editor

So what’s in store for May? A wildlife biggie, cracking comedy, a Gok Wan marathon and celebrity chat and cook-offs. That’s what!

Mammoth beast fest

Dominating the airwaves in the coming month is Planet Earth Live – the ultimate global wildlife drama. Spanning six countries and five continents, and promising to capture key events and spectacular footage from within the animal kingdom, it is the most ambitious wildlife project in BBC (and possibly TV) history. Prepare to be amazed, and keep abreast of all the action here.

Wall-to-wall laughs

Leading the laughs in May is the next instalment of the award-winning sitcom Peep Show. And with Mark’s marriage and meeting the in-laws on the cards, the boys’ neurosis and interior monologues scale new comedy heights of utter ridiculousness.

Be sure to sit down for May’s stand-up season too, with gags and tomfoolery from some of Britain’s finest comic talent, including the sardonic Jo Brand, the surreal Bill Bailey and the madder than madcap Lee Evans.

And for all of you that like your laughs with a dash of intellect in the mix, the continuing new series of QI will prove to be the perfect TV fix.

Look-good TV

Style guru Gok Wan is back, armed enough with tips, tricks and on-trend advice to ship-shape your wardrobe and make fashion faux pas a thing a past.

In addition to back-to-back episodes of all three series of Gok’s Fashion Fix being beamed to your box, tour the UK with TV’s makeover man as he goes on the move to sprinkle his style dust across the length and breadth of his homeland in Gok Wan’s Fashion Roadshow.

Star-studded entertainment

May doesn’t run short on celebrities either.

Make a date with Celebrity MasterChef to see which showbiz personality can cut the culinary mustard in the kitchen. Soufflés will rise, desserts will be devoured, but as we all know, there can only be one winner.

And there’s also a brand new round of chat with such famous folk as heartthrob Johnny Depp, the queen of pop Madonna and comic geniuses Robin Williams and Joan Rivers on The Graham Norton Show.

So, switch on and make May a proper magnificent month!

Gok’s Fashion Fix (S1-3)

Throughout May

Gok rips the label off fashion to prove you don’t need to spend a fortune to look fabulous, and teaches us everything we need to know about what to wear and how to wear it.

Sourcing high-street alternatives to high-end designer collections, he stages catwalk face-offs and invites the public to vote on which look they prefer.

Alongside, he rummages through celebrity wardrobes in search of dirty laundry and style secrets, including the likes of icon Joan Collins, former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, actress Lynda Bellingham, broadcaster Janet Street Porter and comedian Alan Carr.

Show Me Show Me (S3)

From Saturday 5 May at 16:10

Let your young ones take the musical lift to the playroom in the sky and enjoy stories, adventures and a whole lot of fun.

In series three, presenters Chris and Pui peep through the telescope and spot a peacock opening its beautiful tail, King Teddington would like some peas to be delivered to his castle, and Chris and Pui build a fire engine and have a ball doing things a fire fighter might do.

Cash in the Attic (S10)

Saturdays at 20:10

Everyday people attempt to unearth hidden treasures in their homes, sell them at auction and put the profit towards such personal projects as a special holiday or home improvements. But even with the advice and guidance of the antique experts at hand, there’s no guarantee that the forgotten assets will reach their estimates.

Will teddy bear fanatic Joyce Parker – who aims to raise funds so that she and her partner John can share a pamper day to prepare themselves for their long haul flight to Australia – strike it lucky when the hammer comes down?

Gok’s Clothes Roadshow (S1)

Sundays at 18.20 and 19.10

Sultan of style, Gok Wan, returns to fashion fix the nation. But this time there’s a difference – he’s taking his show on the road.

Gok’s Clothes Roadshow rolls into towns and cities all over the UK, with Mr Wan on a mission to teach women how to dress for their shape and how to create a killer looks without killing their bank balance.

But that’s not Gok’s only challenge. His nemesis, designer diva Brix Smith-Start, is also in town and determined to gain victory in the high street versus high-end catwalk face-off.

Celebrity MasterChef (S4)

Sundays at 20:00 and 20:55

Top chef and restaurateur John Torode and food writer and ingredients expert Gregg Wallace are back, judging the cooking skills of 24 celebrities who claim to be mad about food and seasoned in making delicious dishes.

But who will wow with their plates created from surprise ingredients. And who will shine as a kitchen hand during a busy service in a professional restaurant?

Among those competing for the Celebrity MasterChef crown are TV presenter Jayne Middlemiss, former Olympic athlete Iwan Thomas and music producer Pete Waterman.

Planet Earth Live

Thursdays and Sundays at 21:00

Planet Earth Live follows the critical stages and events in the lives of some of the Earth’s most captivating animals as they happen, with Richard Hammond presenting live from Africa and Julia Bradbury covering all the action in North America.

Richard and Julia will be joined by species experts to provide professional commentary on all the animal behaviour, while specialist camera crews will use the latest technology to create spectacular cinematography, and an up-close wildlife experience in real-time.

An African Journey with Jonathan Dimbleby

Mondays at 21:00

The peoples of Africa are often perceived as victims of hunger, disease, poverty and conflict, but to view Africa exclusively through that narrow prism is to short-change the truth.

In this series, veteran journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby travels around the continent to reveal the true Africa – vibrant, innovative, talented, resourceful and alive with optimism.

Derren Brown: Trick or Treat (S2)

Sundays at 21:00 and 21:30

Derren Brown’s critically acclaimed series is back. But this time round, the game is raised for all involved.

As before, members of the public make a blind card choice. If they pick a ‘Treat’ card, Derren will use his skills to ensure something pleasant happens to them. However, if they pick a ‘Trick’ card, the consequences will be dark.

Highlights include Derren attempting to turn one man into a genius in just seven days, and giving a nervous doubter the confidence to attend a speed-dating event.

Peep Show (S4)

Mondays at 22:45

The fourth series of the multi award-winning and critically acclaimed hit comedy begins with Mark and Sophie engaged to be married.

Unfortunately, Mark is having doubts, but when he is invited to spend Sophie’s birthday weekend down at her parents’ house in the country he is determined to make an effort. Foolishly, Mark invites Jeremy along, who ends up getting a little too friendly with Sophie’s mother.

The duo find themselves in hot water when Sophie’s father overhears Mark discussing his doubts over the marriage with Jeremy, but when Sophie stands to inherit her grandmother’s cottage things take a turn for the better.

The Graham Norton Show (S10)

Tuesdays at 22:00

The irreverent BAFTA award-winning chat show host is back with more hilarious conversation with top star guests, live music from chart-topping turns and lots of outrageous fun with the audience.

Guests include actress Dame Judi Dench and the queen of pop Madonna. Plus stonking performances from singing sensation Will Young and the incomparable Sinead O’Connor.

Richard Hammond’s Invisible Worlds

From Sunday 20 May at 19:00

The human eye is a remarkable piece of precision engineering, but all around us is an astonishing and beautiful world we cannot see. This series uses cutting-edge camera technology to reveal the full glory of these secret forces and hidden powers that impact on our everyday life.

Combining bold ideas with lucid scientific insights and stunning footage, Richard Hammond’s Invisible Worlds is packed with surprising facts as well as phenomena never seen before on TV, including deadly discharge leaking from high-voltage power lines, the hidden patterns and colours of a flower garden and a black hole at the centre of our universe.

The Great Rift: Africa’s Wild Heart

From Tuesday 22 May at 21:00

Visible from space, Africa’s Great Rift runs for thousands of miles, from the Red Sea to the mouth of the Zambezi, and is a diverse landscape of erupting volcanoes, forest-clad mountains, spectacular valleys, rich grasslands, vast lakes and mighty rivers.

Home to the greatest concentration of animals on Earth, including lions, crocodiles, elephants, hippos, flocks of flamingos and pastoralists such as the Maasai – this is a land in constant geological turmoil, and deserving of a documentary series of its very own.

Tiger – Spy in the Jungle

From Tuesday 22 May at 21:50

This revealing series follows the different stages of a tiger’s life, from playful cub to learning adolescent and hunting adult. And ingeniously, elephants become unlikely camera assistants, carrying cameras on their tusks and trunks and following the tigers wherever they go, even on the move.

Along the way, the camera-carrying elephants uncover a wildlife world every bit as rich as that of Africa, encountering sloth bears – a rarely filmed bear famous for carrying its comical babies on its back – and leopards, the tiger’s major competitor.

Tiger – Spy in the Jungle is a story filled with drama and humour, and the most intimate portrayal of tigers ever captured.

Jo Brand: Barely Live

Thursday 24 May at 22:00

Following her sell out run at the Edinburgh Festival and packed houses throughout her UK tour, Jo Brand hits London’s West End with a no-holds-barred gig at the famous Adelphi Theatre.

Showcasing her trademark sarcasm, biting wit and sublime sense of the ridiculous, she takes us on the side-splitting journey of her life, discussing the finer points of alcohol, motherhood and the stresses of approaching middle age.

Sleep with Me

Friday 25 May at 20:00

A hip, erotic thriller that begins between the sheets as 30-somethings Lelia and Richard conceive a child before going to a Christmas party. Though Richard, a newspaper editor, and Lelia, an academic, struggle with their careers and the question of marriage, they are content in their relationship.

Enter mousy Sylvie, a mysterious friend of a friend who soon seems to have them both under her spell. And as Lelia's pregnancy advances, the couple become bound up in a web of uncertainty and undisclosed memories.

Shot in a contemporary urban setting, this smart, suspenseful tale features psychologically intrigue and fantastical plot twists.

The Diamond Queen

From Sunday 27 May at 21:00

This documentary series celebrates Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 years as Head of State of the United Kingdom and Head of the Commonwealth, closely following her working engagements around the world for the period of more than a year and a half.

In addition to providing a concise analysis of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign and duties, The Diamond Queen features compelling interviews with prime ministers, world leaders and members of the Royal Family.

Nigel Slater’s Simple Suppers (S2)

From Thursday 31 May at 17:00

Food writer and fanatic Nigel Slater demonstrates straightforward, down-to-earth cooking, filmed at his home vegetable patch and on friends' allotments.

Each episode takes us through a week's worth of simple suppers, and features such recipes as traditional cottage pie, tasty meatballs, a sumptuous beetroot cake and mouth-watering chocolate cookies.

Along the way, Nigel also grows unusual varieties of produce – following the progress throughout the series, from seed to harvesting and cooking.

Superswarms

From Thursday 31 May at 21:00

This documentary series brings to life the amazing stories behind bizarre swarming phenomena in nature, and reveals the way that insects and animals organise themselves en masse.

When they swarm, they create a super-organism of incredible power. They can attack our food supplies, immobilise our transport systems, undermine our cities and even attack our energy supplies. They can stop us in our tracks.

From simple organisms such as swarming mayflies whose numbers can close entire roads, to the uncontrollable power of the locust swarm, this is a world of secret communication where the animal kingdom unite as one, often at human cost.

Lee Evans: Wired and Wonderful Live at Wembley

Thursday 31 May at 22:00

Lee Evans is one of the very few comedians in the world who can play over 100 dates on a triumphant nationwide tour.

His 2002 Wired and Wonderful show culminated in two sold out spectacular nights at Wembley Arena, with 20,000 people treated to almost two hours of sensational material, and a film crew there to capture it all.

Prepare to laugh – a lot!