Here’s our TV tonight picks for Friday, August 22 (for more information about what’s on TV, see our TV Guide)…
007: Road to a Million, Prime Video
Succession star Brian Cox is back as The Controller in 007: Road to a Million season 2 as eight new duos of ordinary people embark on a thrilling James Bond-inspired adventure to get their hands on a £1 million cash prize. And, this time, the stakes are higher as the teams must go head-to-head, rather than competing individually, in 007-style missions, with the poorest-performing pair each episode eliminated. First up, contestants bungee jump off Switzerland’s Luzzone Dam, echoing Bond’s iconic leap in the 1995 film GoldenEye. It’s not for the faint-hearted, and is certainly not something you’d catch Brian doing in a hurry. ‘I’d never bungee jump in a million years,’ he says. ‘One person’s definition of fun is quite different from another’s!’.
Invasion, Apple TV Plus
The sci-fi thriller chronicling an alien invasion through globe-spanning perspectives returns. Following an apparently fatal attack on the alien mothership, Navy SEAL Trevante Cole (Shamier Anderson) turns up two years later to find he’s an international hero. But while the alien threat is thought to be over, the extraterrestrials have been secretly evolving. Can our heroes join forces to save humanity?
Gardeners’ World, BBC2, 8 pm
This week sees Adam Frost tend to his mini-meadow, and he also has an autumn container to plant up. In West Yorkshire, prairie-planting is the order of the day when a retired GP shows Frances Tophill around his stunning garden. At Long Barn Gardens in Kent, Advolly Richmond retraces the footsteps of renowned garden designer and writer, Vita Sackville-West. Cameras also focus on a chef-turned-gardener who loves growing a tasty array of veg.
Peacemaker, Sky Max and Sky Showcase, 10 pm
If you caught James Gunn’s fantastic new Superman movie at the cinema, you’ll have spotted a cameo from John Cena as Peacemaker, popping up just long enough to characteristically badmouth the Man of Steel. Season 2 of the anti-hero’s anarchic, spiky and often racy own show follows on a month after the events of that film, as Peacemaker finds himself feeling a little rudderless while he tries to become a better person – and discovers a parallel universe that might offer a chance to completely rewrite his own life. But is the grass really greener?
Lost in the desert… with Nick Knowles, 5, 9 pm
The presenter shines a light on Mongolian culture as his expedition takes him into the depths of the Gobi Desert. Since becoming fully independent in 1990, the country has been keen to celebrate its traditions and, at a festival dating back to the time of Genghis Khan, Nick is introduced to the ancient skills of the Mongolian warrior. Challenged to a wrestling match, will his own ancient skills on the rugby field stand him in good stead? He also joins an eagle hunter as he trains his magnificent bird of prey, but not before trying his hand at motorcycle camel herding – at which he’s such a success he’s gifted a camel! That’s going to cost a few bob in excess baggage on the flight home…