Highlights

Steve Coats-Dennis,
BBC South Africa Editor

In June, we've got Royals, Returns and Recipes in a Rush...

Royal Bonanza

To help celebrate the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation, we've got a fantastic season, By Royal Appointment, which will premiere several documentaries looking at all things regal across the decades. The series will include The Making of a Queen, Elizabeth: Queen, Wife, Mother, William at 30, Diana: The Book that Changed Everything, William & Kate in the South Sea Islands and many more fascinating programmes.

Returning Hits

Some of our most popular shows are making a welcome return this month. Sir Bruce and Tess host the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing, Jenny, Trixie, Cynthia and Chummy are back for a bouncing second series of Call The Midwife and Phillip Schofield presents a new series of the nerve-shredding game show, The Cube.

...and Recipes on the Run

Pushed for time but still want a tasty meal? Throw away those takeaway menus as Jamie has some pukka and prompt recipe ideas for everyone to try. Join the ever-popular chef for Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals - now that's what we call fast food!

Our War Series 2

Wednesdays at 21:00

Compelling stories from the war in Afghanistan are filmed and told by the soldiers themselves.

Powerful and moving, these three films bring the harsh reality of war to the screens and offer a real insight into the lives and experiences of those on the front line.

How Sex Works

Friday at 22:00

Travel inside the human body to investigate the physiological, neurological and psychological changes that happen before, during and after sex. It also illustrates the science of lust and the mechanics of sex itself, and reveals how our bodies get ready for sex both physically and mentally, how male and female orgasms work, and what happens inside the body at the moment of conception itself.

Call the Midwife Series 2

Sundays at 21:00

More heart-warming stories of Jenny Lee, a young nurse working as part of a team of midwives from Nonnatus House who visit the expectant mothers of Poplar, providing the poorest women with the best possible care.

Series two continues to follow Jenny and the other midwives as they deal with the all the problems Poplar has to throw at them and is a fascinating portrayal of birth, life, death and a community on the brink of huge social change. Call the Midwife offers a gripping insight into a world that is so drastically different from how we live now.

The Cube Series 2

Sundays at 20:00

The Cube returns! It's the ground-breaking format where just seven simple physical and mental challenges stand between the contestant and £250,000.

The challenges appear to be simple – but games become fraught with extraordinary pressure and tension when played inside The Cube. ‘The Body’, the mysterious master of The Cube shows each contestant that every challenge is possible – but it’s not easy when you are in there, under the spotlight… Tasks include Trajectory, Equilibrium, Shatter, Contact, Memorise – and none are simple once inside this high-pressure claustrophobic world.

Ramsay's Hotel Hell

Mondays at 20:00

After more than a decade of running restaurants in some of the top hotels around the world, Gordon Ramsay knows first-hand the crucial importance of surpassing guests’ expectations. Now he will travel across the country to fix horrid hotels, awful inns and very bad bed and breakfasts.

To get to grips with the problems, Ramsay will endure hotels at their worst so you don't have to. From dirty bedrooms and mould-ridden bathrooms to incompetent staff or customer service that's not up to par, Ramsay will work with the hotel owners and employees to turn these hapless establishments around.

Embarrassing Bodies Series 4

Mondays at 21:00

Embarrassing Bodies takes a startling look at the nation’s most uncomfortable ailments. Desperate for some much needed medical attention are a brand new blushing array of highly embarrassed patients, all suffering from visually shocking and personally mortifying conditions.

In this series the doctors take their mantra “There’s no shame, we’re all the same” to seaside and holiday destinations around the UK, as well as to Spain.

Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals

Tuesdays at 20:00

Building on the success of his previous series, Jamie's 15 Minute Meals pushes the concept of fast, everyday food to the next level. Squeezing the cooking process even further, each half-hour episode will offer two, fifteen minute main dishes, back to back.

This series includes classic British and Mediterranean family staples, but Jamie also draws inspiration from Asia including Thai, Indian and Chinese ideas, to uplift the household menu and offer some new flavours to the family palate. Jamie's 15 Minute Meals will inspire and excite viewers and show them just what they can achieve in a little amount of time, every single day of the week.

The Real Hustle S9

Thursdays at 21:00

The Real Hustlers are back for another series, as original scammers Jessica-Jane Clement, Alexis Conran, Paul Wilson and recent recruits Jazz Lintott and Polly Parsons return in the world’s most successful scam show. Once again they are joined by celebrity friends who will help them con unsuspecting members of the public into handing over their hard-earned money.

Food Glorious Food

Thursdays at 20:00

Food Glorious Food is a competition for budding cooks where the winner gets to see their dish on the shelves of Marks & Spencer stores as well as receiving a cash prize of £20,000.

Carol Vorderman tours the country in search of the great and the good plus she finds out what – or who – inspired them to enter. Then at Judges HQ, the four remaining regional contestants have to cook their beloved recipe again, this time for all four judges to taste, only six contestants will reach the semi-final stages.

Contestants try and battle their way through to the final - but who will see their dishes on sale on the supermarket shelves?

Strictly Come Dancing Series 10

Sundays at 19:00

It's time to dust off the ball gowns and slap on the fake tan; the glitz and glamour returns with a tenth series of Strictly Come Dancing. Victoria Pendleton, Louis Smith, Michael Vaughan, Kimberley Walsh, Nicky Byrne, Richard Arnold, Dani Harmer, Johnny Ball, Jerry Hall, Sid Owen, Colin Salmon, Fern Britton, Lisa Riley and Denise Van Outen are the famous faces who have signed up for the challenge.

Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood are back to cast their experienced eyes over the new set of eager debutants assisted by a new panellist, retired ballerina Darcey Bussell.

Our Queen

Tuesday 11 June at 21:00

Our Queen is an in-depth portrait of the world’s most famous woman, charting an extraordinary year in the life of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

With unique access to the Queen’s staff, Prime Ministers, and palaces during the triumphal Diamond Jubilee year, Our Queen is an enthralling study of the Sovereign today. A world leader since the age of 25, how does she retain her hold on the nation’s affections when political and social currents have transformed so much around her? How does she stay true to the past, yet adapt to the present?

DCI Banks Series 1

From Friday 14 June at 20:00

Stephen Tompkinson and Andrea Lowe star as the tenacious and stubborn Chief Inspector Alan Banks and the feisty and headstrong Detective Sergeant Annie Cabbot in three thrilling crime stories.

In Playing with Fire, Banks is called to investigate an arson attack that caused two narrow boats to go up in flames. In Friend of the Devil, Annie Cabbot investigates the murder of a woman found out on the moor with her throat cut. Meanwhile, Banks is called to a murder of a young girl in the centre of town. And in Cold is the Grave, Banks is asked by his boss, Chief Superintendent Gerry Rydell, to find his missing teenage daughter...

Nature’s Miracle Babies

Sunday 16 June at 18:00

Zoologist Martin Hughes-Games follows the dedicated and inspirational individuals working to save some very special babies - nature's miracle babies - who are the lifeline to preserving some of our planet's most critically vulnerable species.

Martin visits projects all over the world, from the outback of Australia to the savannahs of East Africa, from some of the most prestigious local zoo breeding programs to relocation in the Amazonian region of Brazil. He discovers how extraordinary hi-tech science is being used to help miracle babies and how treatments developed for people are being adapted for animals, from IVF to ultrasound.

Gok’s Clothes Roadshow Series 2

From Sunday 16 June at 17:00

Gok Wan returns to fashion fix the nation for a second season. Gok’s Clothes Roadshow rolls into towns and cities all over the UK teaching women everything they need to know about clothes and how to dress for their shape.

As always, Gok will be sharing his haberdashery tricks of the trade to demonstrate how to get a unique look, without breaking the bank. The road-testers continue their quest for finding the best looks on the high street, when they put pencil skirts through their paces while learning the tango.

The Toughest Place to Be... Series 3

From Wednesday 19 June at 21:00

The hugely successful job swap format returns for a third run as ordinary workers leave a life of relative luxury at home and taste what it is like to do their job under some of the toughest conditions on Earth.

This series sees Londoner Colin Window, a Bridge Officer on the Woolwich ferry, travel to Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he works as a ferryman crossing one of the most congested rivers in the world, the Buriganga. Maria Connelly swaps nursing in Preston, Lancashire for the Hospital General in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where she encounters a community terrorised by drugs wars. Finally Craig Notman, a former miner, now works in mine rescue. How will he find life in the mines of Mongolia where desperate workers dig dangerous shafts into the often frozen earth for just a few pounds worth of gold?

Fatal Attractions Series 2

Wednesday 19 June at 22:00

What drives people to bring deadly animals into their homes?

Meet Antoine Yates, a man who had a 500 pound tiger hiding in his New York apartment; snake owner Ted Dres who was bitten then asphyxiated by his 13 foot python; and Karen Noyes, who was arrested and banned from her home for three years for feeding the bears that gathered every day in her back garden.

Engineering Giants

From Thursday 20 June at 21:00

How does an oil platform work? What keeps a Boeing 747 up in the air? How big is the engine of a cross channel ferry?

Engineering Giants reveals these monster machines like never before. With access to some of the most fascinating demolition jobs on the planet, find out how some of the largest things mankind has ever created really work.

Nina and the Neurons: Engineering Series 7

From Monday 24 June at 16:00

Nina and her five animated sense Neurons return to show young viewers the magic of engineering. Any child who has built a tower from blocks knows that tall towers don’t stay up on their own! Nina shows how engineers have learned to defy gravity; constructing amazingly tall buildings that seem to almost touch the sky!

In each episode, Nina and a team of junior ‘engineers’ investigate a fascinating question like what makes bridges so strong, how do aeroplanes fly, how do tall buildings stay up, and how do space rockets blast off?

Justin’s House

From Monday 24 June at 17:25

Justin is moving into his new house. Little does he know there are already two characters living there! How will Justin and his new friends get on? Later in the series there’s also a near-disastrous house-warming party, Robert’s amazing hair tonic that turns everyone’s hair the wrong colour, and a mystery visitor who makes a mess during the night. Who could it be?

Mister Maker

Double episodes from Monday 24 June at 16:35

Expect the unexpected as the pictures, objects and artworks that Mister Maker has created come to life.

Mister Maker is a real-life character who takes inspiration from everything around him to make art. Set in his own fantasy art room that he has created, anything can happen, as pictures, objects and things that he has made come to life. Do you want to know how to make a permanent sandcastle? Or how to make alien eyes in under a minute? Mister Maker shows us all this and more in each episode.

Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents Series 3

From Sunday 30 June at 21:00

Holidaying abroad with your mates is the ultimate teenage rite of passage – you are finally free to drink, fornicate and generally party hard.

What these fun-loving boys and girls don’t know is that their parents are secretly along for the ride, via crafty hidden cameras. It makes for highly emotional, high impact TV – a potent mixture of debauchery and disgrace combined with genuinely funny and touching moments.

The Only Way is Essex: Totally Vajazzled

From Sunday 30 June at 22:00

Hang onto your nail extensions, flutter your false eyelashes, slap on your fake tan and get ready as The Only Way is Essex. continues.

This programme contains flash cars, big watches and false boobs. The tans you might see are fake but the people are all real. Hunky Essex lad Mark, ditzy beautician Amy, glamour model Sam, the loveable Arg and the super bitchy Lauren continue their soap opera-like lives.

From the nail bar to the nightclub, the series fondly known as TOWIE will have you hooked, tanned and vajazzled!