From Hungry Ghosts to the Windsor Castle fire

BETWEEN THE COVERS

In episode five Sara Cox is joined by presenter Nick Knowles, comedian Sara Barron, presenter and actor Ore Oduba, and Saturday Kitchen’s wine expert and author Helen McGinn, who will be championing their favourite books and reviewing this week’s two book choices.

This week the New Book Pick is Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein, and the novel set in a Eurovision country (Italy) is I’m Not Scared by Niccolò Ammaniti.

Between The Covers gives BBC audiences across the UK the opportunity to take part in an inclusive book club inspiring new readers as well as ardent bookworms. The 12 selected books featured in the series will be labelled with Between The Covers stickers in shops, libraries and online so that audiences can read and join the conversation on social media using #BetweentheCovers

BBC Two, 7pm

LAST WEEK TONIGHT WITH JOHN OLIVER

Comedian, actor, and writer John Oliver returns for a brand-new, tenth season of his acclaimed half-hour series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

A satirical, insightful, and meticulously researched look at current events stateside and around the globe, the weekly series features Oliver’s hilarious, expertly honed perspective on today’s pressing political, social, and cultural issues, as well as lesser-reported topics that both inform and entertain.

Shot in New York, this tenth series features the show’s weekly topical insights, signature deep dives, and distinctive comedy pieces.

SKY Comedy, 9pm

WHY DIDN’T THEY ASK EVANS?

The death of Bobby’s friend and mentor, the amiable Dr Thomas, and the reluctance of the local police to investigate the circumstances, stiffens Bobby’s resolve. But what good is resolve without a plan?

Fortunately, Frankie Derwent has been at the drawing board, and she lays out her Trojan Horse scheme to Bobby as they travel to London. Frankie will infiltrate the house of Roger Bassington-ffrench, their principal suspect, with the help of two willing foot soldiers:  Dr George Arbuthnot, a long-suffering friend, and Ralph “Knocker” Beadon, Bobby’s one time shipmate and now business partner.  Knocker is a good man to have at your side in a tight corner, and that is exactly where Frankie is headed.

Bobby, for as long as he can bear it, is relegated to observer – his is the one face that Bassington-ffrench might recognise – but his protective instincts are too strong to withstand, and soon Bobby too is inside the lion’s den.

ITV1/STV/UTV, 9pm

THE WINDSOR CASTLE FIRE: THE UNTOLD STORY

November 20th 1992 saw a fire break out in Windsor Castle. It destroyed 115 rooms, including nine State Rooms. The late Queen Elizabeth II, having seen family issues splashed across tabloids – three of the queen’s four children separated from their partners across the year – was gifted this final end-of-year further blow to which she described 1992 as an ‘annus horribilis’.

The Royal Collection Trust note that ‘the fire started in Queen Victoria’s Private Chapel, where a faulty spotlight ignited a curtain next to the altar. Within minutes the blaze was unstoppable and had spread to St George’s Hall next door. The fire was first spotted around 11:30 in the morning and within three hours 225 firefighters from seven counties were battling the flames. At the peak of the operation they were using 36 pumps, discharging 1½ million gallons of water.’

The fire was finally extinguished at 2:30am on Saturday, 21 November, but it had burned for 15 hours. Now Channel 4 look at the story beyond what the news reported at the time.

Channel 4, 8pm