TV Times tops picks for tonight
What’s on telly tonight? Here the TV Times team of expert reviewers highlight three of the best shows on telly tonight for Friday 17th November
Children In Need, 7.30pm, BBC1 & BBC2
It’s impossible not to admire a telethon that managed to raise £60 million in 2016 – nearly £47m of it pledged in a single night. This year, Mel Giedroyc joins Pudsey and the team. West End musicals will be a big feature, with leading ladies from Dreamgirls and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, as well as Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood as Annie’s Miss Hannigan. Celebrity specials will include Strictly Blue Peter, The Weakest Link (BBC2, 10.00pm) and Graham Norton and Mel hosting Countryfile, and keep an eye out for Ore Oduba – we know he can dance, but can the presenter sing? Rating: *****
Australian Wilderness with Ray Mears, 8.00pm, ITV (ex Wales, Scot, NI)
With its lagoons and miles of unspoilt, secluded beaches, the rugged Dampier peninsula in Australia is a holidaymaker’s paradise. But Ray’s not here to sunbathe – he’s off out to sea to watch dolphins searching for food in the surf! He also takes a trip to an island of shells, where he finds the world’s biggest oyster. Rating: ***
Gregory Porter’s Popular Voices, 9.50pm, BBC4
Get your listening ears on as Gregory Porter takes us through a musical history of his favourite 20th-century showstopping vocalists. He starts this three-part series in Italy, where Caruso brought opera to the masses in 1902, then heads to New Orleans, the home of Mahalia Jackson, whose Take My Hand became an anthem for the 1960s civil rights movement. He also looks at how Freddie Mercury could whip up a crowd, and marvels at the high-note kings and queens of pop like Prince, Whitney and Mariah. This is music that has Gregory, a natural in front of the camera, laughing and crying – but it always touches his heart. Rating: *****
More previews tomorrow.
