AMBULANCE UK
***
7.30pm, Ten
The stretched resources of the North West Ambulance Service are a driving factor of this tightly edited factual series. The number of emergencies left unattended for frightening lengths of time is constantly reinforced; the call-out figures that flash up before the credits are mind-boggling. So it comes as no surprise when a mental health situation fails to reach a satisfactory outcome. This may be the UK, but there are alarm bells for our own sector.
CALL THE MIDWIFE
****
8.15pm, ABC
The ups and downs that punctuate this heartwarming period medical drama are as abundant as ever, but diehard fans are well advised to have the tissues handy as an adored regular faces her most trying battle yet. On a more positive note, recently arrived Caribbean midwife, Lucille (Leonie Elliott) gets involved in the local gospel group where she meets a friendly – if unintentionally cult-like – face from home.
BILL’S TASTY WEEKENDS
**1/2
8.30pm, SBS Food Network
International restaurateur Bill Granger gets back to basics with his old-school cooking show filmed in various havens dotted about the British countryside. There’s no slo-mo julienning going on here. Just a no-nonsense approach to making such hearty fare as an “Australian” meat pie, so that the cooks can get on with their weekend. Granger is a calm, practical and thoroughly likeable presence at the chopping board.