Tuesday's TV tips
It’s a fact: we’re a nation of animal lovers.
So whether it’s documentaries about the habitats and lives of animals in their natural environments, or fly-on-the-wall shows following vets and other professions at work, the Beeb can never throw too many into the schedules.
The latest of the crop is the latter actually, and follows students during their final year at London’s Royal Veterinary College as they get hands-on experience with the animals for the first time, whether it’s conducting operations, or delivering newborns.
In the first offering, Ellie Berry must anaesthetise a kitten with breathing problems, and Charlie Tewson is put under pressure when an aggressive dog enters the consulting room.
Catherine Needham researches the reproductive anatomy of a rabbit, Amy Clithero tends to a critically ill Shetland pony, and mature student Judy Puddifoot performs surgery for the first time.
A place in the UEFA Champions League group stage is up for grabs in this play-off 1st leg.
Tommy Martin introduces the action with analysis from Kevin Kilbane.
Commentary from Brian Kerr and Trevor Welch.
We’ve got a big problem – quite literally – or at least our dogs have.
Yep, it would seem Britain is facing an epidemic of dog obesity; as many as half of all dogs in the UK may be fat. So this new three-part series uses surveillance filming and works with some of the world’s leading experts to discover why our dogs are getting fatter, as well as looking into what can actually be done to help them.
Cameras follow three fat pooches Chancer the Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Molly the bulldog and Cassie the labrador, as the programme reveals the ways in which dogs manipulate us into feeding them and how these weight problems are only the beginning of more serious health issues.
Meanwhile, vet Mark Evans explores challenges facing the 21st-century dog owner, and finds out just how much good a scientific approach to food and exercise might do our dogs.
Telly bosses aren’t daft – they know that following near-novices while they train to get up to standard in certain professions makes for great viewing, so it was only a matter of time before a documentary series following pilots-in-training crept into the schedules.
Cameras follow the young British pilots working for Indonesian airline Susi Air, as they fly and land planes in some of the most remote and dangerous places in the world.
You see, Susi Air offers opportunities for those struggling to get into the industry; for the fledgling pilots who have as little as 250 hours flying time behind them and who want to clock up the hours in an attempt to be in with a chance of getting a job back home. But it’s one of the most dangerous places to fly in the world.
In the first instalment, the new recruits try to absorb the challenges ahead of them.
Gordon Ramsay is back for more Hotel Hell, and while it’s something a little different to what we’re used to from the chef, it’s little wonder he’s been invited back for a second series of the show in which he fixes America’s struggling hotels, motels and B&Bs.
First up, he visits Meson de Mesilla, a Tuscan-style hotel in Las Cruces, New Mexico. But it has to be questioned whether owner Cali Szczawinski is in the business for the right reasons.
As a former child star, she bought the hotel so that she could perform Cher songs every night to a captive audience, and as Gordon investigates, he ponders whether the hotel is failing to meet its guests’ needs because Cali is too busy trying to hit the high notes on stage.
With frequently empty bedrooms, the hotel’s restaurant struggling, and a shocking exit that no-one sees coming, can Gordon breathe new life back into the hotel?
Matt is a handsome young man left nursing a broken heart when his girlfriend Nicole walks out on him. He has no problem attracting other women, but he isn’t interested in them.
Instead, he just wants Nicole back and decides to prove his devotion to her by refraining from any sexual activity of any kind for Lent – an entire 40 days and 40 nights.
Cue lots of cold showers as Matt realises the task he’s set himself is not going to be an easy one.
This film is very funny, and actually quite thought-provoking, although you may end up a touch embarrassed when you realise just how much modern life revolves around the horizontal tango.
Josh Hartnett, Shannyn Sossamon, Vinessa Shaw, Paulo Costanzo, Adam Trese.
A band of teens in middle America receive an online invitation for sex, and think their luck is in. They head out to meet up with their new contact.
Unfortunately for them, it transpires the message was sent by a fanatical religious sect led by a preacher who is on a mission to kill all who he judges to be sinners.
Clearly the teens are in trouble, but when the local sheriff suspects the cult are up to no good, the hunters soon become cornered animals when the law descends on their church.
Writer-director Kevin Smith proved there is far more to him than foul-mouthed and hilarious comedies like Clerks and Mallrats with this powerful thriller. It deals with a far more serious subject matter – but retains a keenly satirical edge throughout.
Michael Parks, John Goodman, Melissa Leo, Kyle Gallner, Michael Angarano.
