TV week ahead

PICK OF THE WEEK

Marple – Towards Zero
STV, today, 8pm

Despite the long shadow cast by Joan Hickson, ITV's modish take on Miss Marple has been one of the beleaguered channel's more unlikely recent triumphs. Anchored by Geraldine McEwan's impish performance, populated by five-star supporting players and imbued with a glossy cinematic sheen, there's no denying its credentials as a Sunday night diversion. Yet, beneath the exquisitely appointed Cluedo trappings, there's also an undercurrent of wit and self-awareness.

Eileen Atkins cameos as an upper-crust matriarch whose weekend soirée is derailed by familial tensions and marital discord. Leading this convergence of strife is errant stepson Greg Wise, a dashing Wimbledon also-ran whose decision to invite both his ex-wife Saffron Burrows and "scarlet-toed creature" Zoe Tapper provokes indignation and ire.

Elsewhere, lovelorn bachelor Julian Sands mopes, duplicitous gigolo Paul Nicholls plots, and eccentric family friend Tom Baker drops ominous hints about an unconvicted murderer in their midst.

BEST REALITY SHOW

The Secret Millionaire
Channel 4, Tuesday, 9pm

With most reality programming devoted to uglier human impulses, there's something genuinely life-affirming about this philanthropic TV venture. Here, in the inaugural episode of a new run, thirty-something businessman James Benamor visits the supposed "ASBO capital of Britain", Manchester's Moss Side.

Feigning poverty and acting as incognito as one can whilst being trailed by a camera crew, he's anxious to find worthy recipients for his largesse. But his voyage proves to be unexpectedly emotional, with memories of his own wayward adolescence prompting empathy for the area's troubled teens.

Also try: Can't Read, Can't Write (Channel 4, Monday, 9pm). Heroic dominie Phil Beadle enters his class of late learners for Government-approved literacy tests in the final part of this revealing exposé.

BEST SCOTTISH

Passage
BBC2, today, 9pm

In 1845, the British Admiralty, eager to find the fabled North West Passage, sent Sir John Franklin on a perilous and ultimately doomed Arctic trek. But though the Franklin Expedition was widely mourned, the explorer who revealed its grisly fate, Orkney-born doctor John Rae, was banished from historical memory. In this splendid two-parter, filmmaker John Walker redresses that inequity.

Also try: Highland Emergency (Five, Tuesday, 7.30pm). Five's excellent look at the work of the Highlands and Islands emergency services.

BEST GUILTY PLEASURE

CSI: Miami
Five, Tuesday, 9pm

With its visual trickery now hopelessly devalued by spin-offs and imitators, the CSI franchise seems to be ageing like fish rather than wine. Still, the brand retains an irresistibly daft allure. Here, in the first of a fresh caseload, David Caruso's forensic 'tec investigates the murder of a parole officer. But when the DNA evidence implicates his own hitherto unmentioned son, our stoic hero finds himself wrestling with a dilemma so severe he may yet have cause to remove his sunglasses.

Also try: Bonekickers (BBC1, Friday, 9pm). The discovery of a First World War tank reveals an unlikely historical conspiracy in another episode of the not entirely plausible adventure series.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

The WI Guide To Brothels
Channel 4, today, 10pm

Last year, Britain's sex workers found an improbable champion when the Hampshire wing of the WI began actively campaigning for the reform of our prostitution laws. Fascinated by their forward-thinking zeal, journalist Nicky Taylor follows WI stalwarts Jean Johnson and Shirley Landels as they embark on a global fact-finding tour.

The matronly duo seem wildly out of place in Amsterdam's red light district but, with the safety of working girls uppermost in their minds, there's no doubting the sincerity of their mission.

Also try: The Genius Of Charles Darwin (Channel 4, Monday, 8pm). Richard Dawkins commemorates the 150th anniversary of Darwin's Origin Of Species with this new three-part guide to the wonders of evolution.