PICKS OF THE WEEK: 02-08 NOVEMBER 2026, WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK
Our picks of what to watch during the week ahead.
DEAL OR NO DEAL
Monday, ITV1
Hosted by Stephen Mulhern, the series sees contestants opening the iconic red boxes as they try to win a life-changing cash prize, in a nail-biting game of nerves and intuition. But standing in their way is the Banker ready to unnerve, entice and outwit our players. With tensions running high in the studio, who will have what it takes to beat the Banker?
MASTERCHEF: THE PROFESSIONALS
Tuesday, BBC One
Six ambitious chefs enter the MasterChef kitchen ready to prove they have what it takes to succeed in the competition. Across two demanding challenges, they’ll need to demonstrate skill, creativity and precision to impress renowned chef Monica Galetti and culinary legend Marcus Wareing. Only those who can deliver excellence under pressure will make it through.
THE RISE OF THE ROCKSTAR CHEF
Thursday, BBC Two
In the late 1980s, the British culinary scene was dominated by the traditions and techniques of French cuisine, and the kitchen hierarchy was rigid and unforgiving. Then, a working-class northerner with no interest in the rules became the most talked-about chef in the country. Marco Pierre White burst onto the scene and changed the future of British gastronomy, setting the standard that Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal would later be measured against.
BLACK DOVES
Thursday, Netflix
The second series sees the return of Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice, The Imitation Game), Ben Whishaw (This Is Going to Hurt, Peter Hujar’s Day), Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley, Julia), Andrew Buchan (Code of Silence, Apartment 7A), Kathryn Hunter (Ann Droid, Ladies First, Poor Things).
In the second series, Helen (Keira Knightley) is still betraying her nation’s secrets to the covert organisation she serves: the Black Doves. But after the misadventures of last Christmas, and with her husband Wallace (Andrew Buchan), preparing to become Prime Minister, she is walking a more treacherous line than ever.
RETURN TO PARADISE
Friday, BBC One
Following the shocking departure of pathologist Glenn Strong (Tai Hara), Mack throws herself into her workload alongside the ever-faithful detective Senior Constable, Colin Cartwright (Lloyd Griffith). Mack and Colin find themselves untangling some of Dolphin Cove’s most impossible murders: an artist stabbed in full view of an audience; a wildlife worker killed in a locked cage and a famous film director shot at her own screening. But the biggest and most perplexing mystery of all will be Mack’s own heart.
THE ASSASSIN
Friday, Prime Video
Hitwoman Julie (Keeley Hawes) and Edward (Freddie Highmore) reluctantly team up once again, when Edward’s dream honeymoon with Kayla (Shalom Brune-Franklin) is hijacked by the arrival of a mysterious new threat. Plunged back into a world of international crime, kidnapping and high-speed car chases, to survive the job and mend an already fragile relationship, they’ll have to take down Spain’s corrupt underworld…and hopefully not each other first.
THE FAMOUS FINISH LINE
Saturday, BBC One
Roman Kemp hosts this quiz show with sidekick Sarah Greene. Five celebrities, Rick Edwards, Harley Moon Kemp, Mollie Pearce, Molly Rainford and La Voix, race in moving podiums across a star-spangled-themed studio to try to win £10,000 for their chosen charity.
