1. Fans of Sky1-abandoned Rescue Me will be able to see the fourth series exclusively on iTunes.
2. Bad news for Virgin 1’s The Riches – they’ve been axed.
3. Nip/Tuck’s Peter Dinklage has been shooting scenes with Tina Fey for 30 Rock.
4. The Guardian is hosting a web chat with Lost/Fringe supremo JJ Abrams on Friday - get your questions in now.
5. Absolutely Fabulous is to be remade over the the States. Will it reach the dizzy heights of Kath & Kim US? (We jest, of course…)
9pm, The Riches, Virgin1
Trying to live a lie is getting harder and harder as Wayne faces trouble when he meets an old friend from the past at a Bayou Hills investors’ meeting. However things are worse for Dahlia as she begins her parole with a job gutting fish.
10.45pm, Medium, BBC1
Allison dreams about a deaf girl being kidnapped and awakes from her sleep to find that she has totally lost her hearing. This means that Joe and Cynthia have to help her solve the case so that hopefully her hearing can be restored.
10pm, The Nine, Five US
More twists this week when a note is found which leads the group to believe that they are being watched. Also worryingly Lizzie goes missing, while Jeremy and Egan turn to Nick for help.
10pm, The Nine, Five US
Lucky Kathryn receives the mayor’s support for the office of District Attorney, which could lead to a turning point in her career, fingers crossed for her! Meanwhile, eight of the nine hostages are brought to the DA’s office to discuss the security guard’s death. Also, Lizzie becomes aware of the relationship between Jeremy and Franny.
9pm, The Riches, Virgin 1
Back at Eden Falls, Dahlia and Wayne are visited by the police who have arrested Cael after he was found tampering with the school’s computer, when will that boy learn? Meanwhile, Hugh is deemed unfit to handle the Bayou Hills deal because of his depression and a traveller, who has just been released from prison, turns up.
10.45pm, Medium, BBC1
Always someone to make the most out of a bad situation, Joe manages to persuade Alison to look for a girl who has disappeared. This girl just happens to be the daughter of one of his prospective employers. If Allison does find the girl then it looks like Joe will get the job! More importantly lets hope the girl turns up in one piece!
9pm, The Riches, Virgin 1
Cael’s attempted car theft has gone very very wrong, and Dahlia, Nina and the kids are all taken hostage by the scary redneck who was last seen pointing a gun at them all. Cue an epic scam to get them out of their latest fix. Meanwhile Wayne and Dale have to dispose of Pete’s body, and Wayne still hasn’t figured out how to get rid of Dale. That shovel in his hand, coupled with a freshly dug grave, would certainly tempt me!
10pm, The Nine, Five US
Jeremy finally faces up to his actions during the 52-hour stand-off, opening up about what really went on between him and Lizzie in the bank, Nick receives a visit from his ex-wife Juliana, a fellow cop, leading to trouble, and Franny uncovers the secret Eva has been hiding in a safety deposit box inside the bank’s vault.
10.45pm, Medium, BBC1
Alison tries to help Cynthia find a missing teenager, but it’s Ariel who has the insights as the excitement of her first proper date leads her into a dreamworld that is based around a 1980s high school, seemingly that of her mother as a teenager.
9pm, The Riches, Virgin 1
NEW SERIES The second series of the black comedy drama begins with things looking grim for Dahlia and Wayne. It looks like their cover’s about to be blown, so Dahlia and the kids hit the road, accompanied by wannabe drifter Nina and doting grandma Rich. Meanwhile Wayne stays behind to try to sort out Dale, Hugh and Pete, but somehow everything ends up more complicated than ever.
10pm, Desperate Housewives, Channel 4
IT’S BACK! It’s not a new series, just a resuming one - and the Wisteria Lane gals are recovering in the aftermath of that tornado. Lynette tries to turn to God in spite of Bree’s objections, Gaby’s no longer blind to the truth about Carlos’s condition, and Susan’s cousin Tim reveals some surprising information about Katherine’s past. There’s a top trailer for the show’s return below.
10.45pm, Medium, BBC1
NEW SERIES We’re really getting spoiled tonight aren’t we! Alison, on the other hand, is being treated less well. The public outing of her ability has led to her and Joe both losing their jobs and, with Devalos off the scene and Scanlon distancing himself, there’s no-one she can turn to when she starts to have visions about a missing boy - until she meets private investigator Cynthia (played by the magnificent Anjelica Huston).
When’s it back? Virgin 1, Wednesday 3 September
The world’s always a better place when Eddie Izzard is on the telly, even if he’s not doing stand-up routines about cats driving Pavlov round the bend.
If you’ve never seen it, The Riches stars Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver as Wayne and Dahlia, a pair of con-artist drifters who stumble upon possibly the best ruse ever, almost seamlessly taking on the identity of the Riches, a couple killed in a car crash en route to a new life.
For most of series one they enjoyed the white-picket-fence life of suburban America with their three kids, but things started to go horribly wrong as people started to pop up who knew they weren’t who they said they were – including the real Doug Rich’s lifelong friend, Pete.
From what we’ve been reading, it seems the second series of The Riches will be much, much darker than the first – is that possible? Dahlia has to hit the road with sweetly senile Grandma Rich, adventure-seeking Nina and the kids, while Wayne stays behind to clear up the Pete-shaped mess, which is quickly turning into a Dale-shaped disaster. I’m starting to grind my teeth just thinking about that man.
The family will be staggering from one nightmare scenario to another for a somewhat limited run this time, as season two only has seven episodes (at this rate it’ll be 2020 before we stop feeling the repercussions of that flamin’ writers’ strike!), but thankfully a full-length season three is in the pipeline.
In the meantime, you might enjoy Izzard’s chat with the good folks from satirical site The Onion, or check out this site for some great promo clips. Alternatively, just kick back and enjoy these wonderfully improvised webisodes – Izzard at his best (they are also on the series one DVD)…
Prison Break’s Wentworth Miller reveals why he prefers being behind bars, the women of Wisteria Lane face up to life after the tornado in Desperate Housewives, and The Riches‘ Eddie Izzard tells us why keeping up an American accent drives him nuts. All this plus, stacks of gossip about all your favourite US dramas!
Click the thumbnail pictures below for a closer look.
