Telly Today: the story of 1952’s London smog disaster continues

Telly Today highlights for September 13th…

CHANNEL 5

Lasting just over four days, the Great Smog plunged London into a terrifyingly murky gloom – the acrid pollution seeping into homes, leaving Londoners gasping for breath, shutting down transport and emergency services, overwhelming hospitals and undertakers alike. It caused chaos and death. The Government was unprepared. Churchill, the great wartime hero, did nothing.

In this second episode, postponed from airing on September 8th due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Dr Xand Van Tulleken and Raksha Dave continue their investigation into the Great Smog of 1952 – the deadliest environmental disaster ever recorded and one of the world’s worst peacetime catastrophes.

Now in its third day, the Great Smog had plunged London into a terrifyingly murky gloom and the acrid pollution was seeping into homes. Now, healthy Londoners were being suffocated by the toxic smog, gasping for breath and flooding into hospitals. The smog had already shut down transport and emergency services, and now hospitals were overwhelmed, and undertakers were working 24 hours a day as the death rate spiralled.

This episode explores the fear that paralysed the city – from the public not knowing or understanding what was happening, the government’s lack of action, to the undertakers working 24 hours a day. And we’ll reveal how criminals took advantage of the gloom.

The programme hears first-person testimony from those who lived through the time. Channel 5 hear from London residents who were lost in their own street, bus drivers being guided through the pall by colleagues holding flares, and people desperately trying to get relatives to hospitals when emergency services stopped operating.

By day four, undertakers were working non-stop trying to cope with what was later called, in news reports ‘the greatest mass murderer of our time’. As the story concludes, the programme reveals why and how the smog lifted and London metaphorically and physically began to breathe again. Xand Van Tulleken will discover the devastation left in the smog’s wake and ask what the real death toll was.

The Great Smog: Winter of ’52, 10 pm on Channel 5

CHANNEL 4

The Great British Bake Off is back, as the nation’s most famous tent gets pitched in the grounds of Welford Park once again. Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas return to lead the latest batch of bakers through 30 brand-new challenges set by judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.

The series kicks off with Cake Week and the bakers’ first opportunity to impress the judges. In the Signature, they are challenged to produce 12 perfect mini cakes. Next under the gingham cloth are the ingredients for their first Technical… a striking sponge cake which should be familiar.

Finally, the bakers create a Showstopper that expresses their architectural skills as they make a scaled-down version of a home close to their hearts, entirely from sponge. Twelve bakers, three challenges, only one can be crowned star baker, and sadly, one will be going home.

Great British Bake Off, 8 pm on Channel 4

BBC ONE

It’s Finals Week on Celebrity MasterChef and the five remaining cooks are pushed to deliver food on a whole new level as they vie for the trophy.

First, the celebrities face their most daunting challenge yet – travelling to Alexandra Palace in North London, where the first ever live public service television broadcast was made. They are tasked to cater for a very special occasion. With 2022 marking 100 years of the BBC, the celebrities will have to create a spectacular afternoon tea for 12 iconic BBC names from the world of television, radio, and journalism.

Then, it’s back to the MasterChef kitchen, where the final five must each create one exceptional dish inspired by their childhood. The celebrities must impress John and Gregg by showing creativity, skill, and flair and proving that they have the determination to remain in the competition.

For the cook who doesn’t make the grade, their MasterChef journey will be over. The final four will be one step closer to being crowned Celebrity MasterChef 2022 Champion.

Celebrity MasterChef, 9 pm 0n BBC One

*Programmes are subject to time change or cancellation due to ongoing coverage of the Queen Elizabeth II week of mourning.