Week 23 highlights 2012

23 May 2012

The House the 50s Built

 

Here are the best programmes on Channel 4 for week 23, Saturday 2nd  - Friday 8th June.

First, here are some irrelevant facts of the week:

Sigmund Freud had pteridophobia, a morbid fear of ferns.

Bird droppings are the chief export of Nauru, an island nation in the western Pacific.

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both frontlegs in the air, the person died in battle; If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

 

Saturday 02/06/2012
7:20pm
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The concluding part of Peter Jackson's epic fantasy trilogy, from 2003. Frodo (Elijah Wood) the Ring-bearer and his faithful companion Sam (Sean Astin) are within sight of Mordor, guided by Gollum (Andy Serkis). Meanwhile, the remainder of the Fellowship, led by Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), must defend the last stronghold of man against Sauron's might. And then they must march to the very gates of Mordor to distract Sauron's gaze from the Ring-bearer as he gets ever closer to Mount Doom, into the fiery depths of which the Ring must be cast.

 

Sunday, 03/06/2012
8pm
Superscrimpers: Hot Summer Tips
In this SuperScrimpers Jubilee summer special Mrs M reveals her top ten sizzling money-saving summer tips from one of Britain's top holiday destinations - Brighton. With an estimated three million more Brits than usual choosing to holiday at home this year, Mrs M shows how to save a packet on everything from accommodation to sunscreen and fun days out.

 

Sunday, 03/06/2012
9pm
District 9
The network premiere of Neill Blomkamp's debut feature is a thoughtful sci-fi thriller about aliens stranded on Earth, confined to a shabby suburb in South Africa, District 9. Twenty years after their arrival the entire population of 'prawns', as the aliens have offensively been labelled, are to be moved to a distant detention camp, with Afrikaner bureaucrat Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) placed in charge of their relocation. But when a grim accident befalls van de Merwe, he's given a radically different perspective on the affair, as well as little choice but to team up with the extra-terrestrials.

 

 

Monday, 04/06/2012
8:30pm
Gok Cooks Chinese 3/6
Gok Wan fires up his wok to showcase his other great passion in life: Chinese cooking. In this edition Gok demystifies dim sum with a how-to guide to conjuring up an amazing feast at home. There's chicken and leak dim sum - made of minced chicken, ginger, and finely chopped leak in wanton wrappers. There's also salt pork ribs and black beans dim sum, squid with cucumber salad, a guide to Chinese teas, and prawn and scallop moneybag dumplings.
An interview with Gok is available here:
http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/gok-wan-interview-for-gok-cooks-chinese

 

Monday, 04/06/2012
9pm
The Secret Millionaire 4/7
Millionaire Carol Hayes is a London-based agent representing celebrities such as Gok Wan and Arlene Phillips. Now she's on a mission in East Glasgow's Easter House Estate to find charities she feels passionate about and won't settle for anything less. It's one of the most deprived areas in the UK, where life expectancy in some places is just 54. Once Carol finds charities she really cares about she throws herself into volunteering, and the people she meets help her get in touch with her softer side.

 

 

Tuesday 05/06/2012
9pm
Jimmy and the Giant Supermarket 2/3
In this episode, Jimmy tries to transform Tesco's best-selling own brand sausage, which sells in the millions. Jimmy wants to see if he can produce a free range version for the same affordable price and looks for ways to use pigs reared to higher welfare standards in his own bangers. He seeks out the cheap cuts and parts of free-range pigs (such as offal) which would otherwise go to waste or be exported abroad. But will he be able to convince Tesco and their customer tasting panel that a free range sausage made from offal will go down well with the public?

 

Tuesday 05/06/2012
10pm
All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry
Grayson Perry, one of Britain's leading artists, has always been fascinated by taste - why people buy the things they do, wear the things they wear and what they are trying to say about themselves when they make those choices. In this three-part series, Perry goes on safari through the taste tribes of Britain, not just to observe our taste, but to tell us in an artwork what it means. He begins his journey in Sunderland, a city with strong working-class traditions. Originally from a working-class background himself, Perry is interested in how our own family background and the class journey we take shapes the way we define ourselves.

 

Wednesday 06/06/2012
8pm
Secret Eaters 4/6
In this series Anna Richardson exposes the country's secret eating habits. Each episode helps people who are mystified as to why they're piling on the pounds by uncovering what they're really eating. In this edition the Meakin family - mum Sue, daughter Natalie, and son Dave - look for help to solve the riddle of why they're putting on weight. And the show heads to a supermarket to test the theory that if we're hungry we will buy higher calorie, fattier foods.

 

Wednesday 06/06/2012
9pm
24 Hours in A&E 4/14
The RTS award-winning series continues, offering a dramatic and revelatory insight into love, life and loss on the frontline of the NHS. Filmed around the clock for six weeks at King's College Hospital in south London, one of Britain's busiest A&E departments, each programme focuses on people treated within the same 24-hour period. This episode takes a warm-hearted and moving look at the different ways that grown men deal with pain and injury.

 

Thursday, 07/06/2012
8pm
Phil Spencer: Secret Agent 5/5
Phil visits Birmingham where he tries to sell two tricky terraces on the same street with completely different problems. First up are Vicky and Phil who struggle to contain the kiddie clutter they've collected since their two kids came along. And at the other end of the street, Phil and wife Martha-Ann's décor is a medley of colours that's causing mayhem. Will Phil have enough time to get their homes ready for the re- launch?

 

Thursday, 07/06/2012
9pm
The House the 50s Built 1/4

To coincide with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, this new four-part series celebrates the science behind the inventions and innovations that transformed the way we used to live, and catapulted an exhausted, post-war country into the modernity of 1950s Britain. Engineer and showman Professor Brendan Walker sets out to discover the ingenuity and life-changing technology behind the inventions that took post-war Britain and launched it into a Technicolor-drenched world of the future. The first programme focuses on the engine room of the house - the kitchen.
A press pack for this series, including an interview with Professor Walker, is available here.

 

Friday, 08/06/2012
7:30pm
Unreported World 8/8: Honduras: The Lost Girls
Reporter Ramita Navai and director Talya Tibbon travel to Central America to investigate the mysterious disappearance of hundreds of young Honduran women. They discover that many of them have been enticed to travel to Mexico with the promise of jobs but end up trafficked to brothels and forced to work in the sex industry.

 

Friday, 08/06/2012
9pm
Alan Carr's Summertime Specstacular
Alan Carr has been left in charge of Channel 4 HQ and is set to throw the mother of all summer parties as he celebrates everything from the Jubilee to the great British summer holiday. A plethora of celebrity guests join him for the two hour extravaganza in various guises including sketches, entertaining and ridiculous games. Alan's guests include David Walliams, Justin Bieber, The Saturdays, Rizzle Kicks and the cast of Made in Chelsea.