TV choice can be bewildering

Tucked away late on BBC2 last week was In Case You Missed It.

Hosted by fast-talking Dara O’Briain, this was a gem with a quirky look at shows, real and imaginary, ranging from the National Health Lottery to a preview of a Mary Berry Powertools Special.

But amid all the natter and nostalgia, one of Dara’s informative asides was that UK viewers have nearly 600 channels to watch.

So, with such a bewildering choice on offer there always seems more to miss than to watch.

That doesn’t seem to be the case midweek with tonight’s line-up featuring the penultimate episodes of favourites old and new on BBC1 - The Great British Bake Off and the Suranne Jones whodunit Doctor Foster - plus the continuing murder mystery series Midwinter of the Spirit (ITV1) with Anna Maxwell Martin as Merrily Watkins, a priest and trainee exorcist.

On Sky1 there’s another priest in action, this time a rogue one played by Rob Lowe, in a new, comedy drama You, Me and the Apocalypse in which bank clerk Jamie (Matthew Baynton from The Wrong Mans) is baffled when he is arrested for cyber-crime.

BBC2 opens the doors on what it’s like to be an ordinary Muslim in Britain with Welcome to the Mosque ahead of stand-up comedian and well-known vegan Romesh Ranganathan revisiting his Sri Lankan roots in a six-part series Asian Provocateur (BBC3).

Back home, there’s an England/ Scotland dimension to the psychological drama From Darkness (BBC1, Sunday) in which former Manchester constable Claire Church (Anne-Marie Duff from Shameless) turns her back on life on the city and escapes to the Western Isles with new partner, Norrie, and daughter Megan.

But when four bodies are unearthed on a Manchester building site, Claire is forced to revisit her past as police suspect the discoveries are connected to cases dating back to 1998 when a number of women were reported as missing.

After the weekend it’s time to say goodbye and hello to two TV favourites.

Heading off into the sunset is New Tricks (BBC1, Tuesday) with the UCOS team investigating one last case while The Job Lot re-opens for those seeking work, or dodging it, on ITV2.