The Best Things On TV This Week

I look upon the coming week’s shows and wonder why my eyes are being drawn to BBC1’s The Best Job in the World (Thursday, 9pm).

Has the weather finally frazzled my brain? If you happen to have some free time and aren’t engulfed with curiosity as to what Gerry’s Big Decision actually is on Channel 4, then give up an hour to the BBC and we can decide if working as a caretaker on a Great Barrier Reef island, with a job description which requires the winner of this reality contest to "generally enjoy the tropical Queensland climate and lifestyle" really is the best job in the world.

Of course, if you want to forego the hottest week of the year so far and instead stay in watching telly, then do look forward to next Thursday because the best topical comedy quiz show on telly is returning to our screens. Yes, Mock the Week is back! If you’re not familiar with the format of the show, each week Dara O’Briain offers points to six comedy stars (including this week’s guests Frank Skinner and Gina Yashere) for their opinions and witty comments about the world events from the past seven days.

And now for something completely different, why not check out Ben Fogle’s latest adventure in On Thin Ice (Sundays, BBC2, 9pm)? OK, I’ll admit, I’m a Foglist. So, I’m somewhat biased towards this show, and why not? It’s for a good reason. The man is a strange juxtaposition of Tarzan and Dr Doolittle, and is even more so now that he’s recently survived, of all things, a potentially fatal flesh eating illness contracted from the tropical forests of Peru. The series will follow  Ben and Olympic rower James Cracknell as they compete in the 480-mile race to the South Pole. Fantastic!