TV Times top picks for today
What’s on telly tonight? Here the TV Times team of expert reviewers highlight the best shows on Friday 20th April
Home from Home, 9.30pm, BBC1
After a successful pilot, this fun family comedy is back for a very welcome full series. Johnny Vegas plays bumbling Neil, who is extremely proud to be able to holiday at his very own Lake District lodge. The only issue is that his fellow holidaymakers, posh and super-critical Penny (Emilia Fox proving she has very funny bones) and her genial, ultra-successful husband, Robert (Adam James), cause him untold misery. The opener finds Neil panicking that he’s been fired from his job, so when he learns that a mobile phone mast is to be erected next to his lodge (so Penny can get Wi-Fi), his temper gets the better of him and he stages a protest… Rating: ****
The Button, 8.30pm, BBC1
Cross Gogglebox with Big Brother, add a bit of The Cube for good measure, and you have this new game show. Five families across the UK are set a variety of tasks for the chance to win money in the comfort of their own home. A talking Button (hence the title) goes from green to red when it’s time to play; part of the challenge is to notice when it turns red – something the Marchants from Yorkshire find difficult. If nothing else, it’s a chance to nose round other people’s homes… Comedian and Taskmaster star Alex Horne voices the Button. Rating: ***
Episodes, 10pm, BBC2
As this dry, smart series passes the halfway mark, Carol is back with the gruesome Merc Lapidus, not realising Merc is also seeing the plastic-fantastic Summer on the side. And in a similar triumph of hope over experience, Sean and Beverly are back with Matt, spit-balling ideas for a new show. Matt’s thinking in terms of something smart, something sophisticated, possibly something that involves him shooting people. Rating: ****
More previews tomorrow.
