What’s On TV Tonight? Our Pick Of The Best Shows: Friday 13th October

Australian Wilderness Ray Mears 13th October

Here the TV Times team of expert reviewers highlight three of the best shows on telly tonight for Friday 13th October including a new Ray Mears series…

What’s on telly tonight? Here the TV Times team of expert reviewers highlight three of the best shows on telly tonight for Friday 13th October including a new Ray Mears series…

Australian Wilderness, 8.00pm, ITV

Wildlife expert and survivalist Ray Mears has been to Oz several times before – but for this seven-part series he’s going deeper into the wilderness to discover its weird and wonderful wildlife. The first stop on his epic journey is the Ningaloo Coast, along the Indian Ocean. After a long, hot day trekking across the rocky desert of the Mandu Mandu Gorge, Ray arrives at Ningaloo Reef, where he fulfils a lifelong dream by swimming with a whale shark. With Australia’s amazing animals and breathtaking scenery, we know there’ll be lots more to see in this series – and we wouldn’t have anyone else but Ray as our guide. Rating: ****

Porridge, 9.30pm, BBC1

Porridge new series — (Image credit: BBC Studios)

We’re two weeks into the reboot now and things are bedding in nicely. Fans of the original won’t have been scared off by the opening credits and obvious studio setting, which stick so close to the 1970s original you can almost smell the Dettol. And Kevin Bishop is a likeable replacement for the irreplaceable Ronnie Barker. And, biggest relief of all, it’s pretty funny. This week’s shenanigans kick off when a prison tough nut asks Aziz to help get some illicit gear into the jail. Rating: ****

Lore, Amazon Prime Video

It’s Friday 13th, so why not give yourself the shivers with this delightfully chilling new series? Based on Aaron Mahnke’s hit podcast of the same name, Lore uses dramatic scenes and archive footage to delve into the strange-but-true stories that inspired myths, from vampires and werewolves to possessed dolls. First up is the dark tale of a desperate man driven to ghastly measures to try and stop consumption from picking off his family one by one. Cast members popping up in later episodes include Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and Kristin Bauer Von Stratten (True Blood). Pleasingly strange stuff! Rating: ****

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David is the What To Watch Editor and has over 20 years of experience in television journalism. He is currently writing about the latest television and film news for What To Watch.

Before working for What To Watch, David spent many years working for TV Times magazine, interviewing some of television's most famous stars including Hollywood actor Kiefer Sutherland, singer Lionel Richie and wildlife legend Sir David Attenborough.

David started out as a writer for TV Times before becoming the title's deputy features editor and then features editor. During his time on TV Times, David also helped run the annual TV Times Awards. David is a huge Death in Paradise fan, although he's still failed to solve a case before the show's detective! He also loves James Bond and controversially thinks that Timothy Dalton was an excellent 007.

Other than watching and writing about telly, David loves playing cricket, going to the cinema, trying to improve his tennis and chasing about after his kids!