Andrew Mercado’s TV Guide: Bold and The Beautiful down under + Eurovision!

TV critic Andrew Mercado’s rundown on what to watch on the box this week

The Bold and The Beautiful

SS-GB – Sunday 8.30pm on BBC First

Not to be confused with Amazon’s The Man In The High Castle, this British production imagines what might have happened if Britain lost WWII and found itself under the rule of Nazi Germany in 1941.

After an opening shot that shows Buckingham Palace bombed and occupied, the action shifts to a Scotland Yard detective (Sam Riley) who is being forced to work with the Nazis while also turning a blind eye to the building Resistance. Aussie Maeve Dermody plays Riley’s lover and Kate Bosworth plays an American journalist as he investigates a murder while dealing with a scary new Nazi official.

Have You Been Paying Attention? – Monday 8.30pm on TEN

It was great to see this quiet achiever winning Most Outstanding (as voted for by the industry) and Best (as voted for by the readers of TV Week) awards at the Logies because both are well deserved.

HYBPA is constantly hilarious and on its return, expect many jokes to be made at Sam Pang‘s expense as to why he isn’t hosting Eurovision this year. It’s followed at 9.30pm by Working Dog’s animated series Pacific Heat, which previously screened on The Comedy Channel.

It should come as no surprise, given Foxtel productions like Gogglebox Australia and Whose Line Is It Anyway? Australia both got free-to-air runs on Ten, with Gogglebox going from strength to strength. The same can’t be said about WLIIA which got dumped to a late night slot.

MORE: 2017 TV Week Logie Awards – Behind the winners

The Last Resort – Tuesday 7.30pm on Nine

Nine is at pains to point out that this is “something different” but this is just another Seven Year Switch with more than a dash of Married At First Sight. Even its tropical island setting isn’t new, given that’s been the premise for several similar overseas shows.

You don’t even see much of Fiji in the opening episode – just judgmental group dinners and bedrooms adorned with rose petals in the shape of love hearts. The best thing about this is its clever title but let’s hope it does better than a 2004 flop which also took place on a Fijian island. Anyone else remember Jon Stevens and a cast of hotties in The Resort for Ten? Launched alongside another infamous Ten flop, The Hothouse, The Resort was yanked off mid-air and never got an ending. But that was then and this is now and in this new world of neverending relationship reality series, there’s every chance that the most horrible couple will get enough tabloid exposure to ensure a place on another reality TV show. Sigh.

Eurovision Top 40 Songs – Wednesday 8.30pm on SBS

New hosts Myf Warhurst and Joel Creasey count down the Top 40 songs from its rich (aka cheesy) history alongside Dami Im, who did such a good job representing Australian last year. It’s a teaser for the weekend’s spectacular which starts on Friday with the first semifinal, before the broadcast of the Grand Final at 5am on Sunday live from Ukraine.

The Bold and The Beautiful – Friday 4.30pm on Ten

The synopsis for Friday’s episode says “The Forresters board the plane to Australia”, which means plugs for official partner Qantas kicking off several weeks of Australian storylines.

It is the second trip down under for the world’s biggest soap after they last came down for its 20th anniversary. Ten years later they have returned for their 30th year milestone which will feature yet another wedding at the Sydney Opera House (although the bride arriving at the ceremony via a zipline from the Opera House peak could be a first).

Look out for cameos from Jonesy and Amanda and several Studio 10 personalities, plus location filming at Manly. And later on tonight during The Living Room, Amanda Keller meets the cast in what has become a regular event for her and this show.

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