TV & Satellite Week – 17 August 2019

Corfe Castle,

Dorset

Big Week at the Zoo

Monday-Friday, Channel 5 HD, 8pm

Broadcasting live from Yorkshire

Wildlife Park, Helen Skelton and

Nick Baker pay tribute to the work

of Britain’s zoos and zookeepers in

the care of endangered species.

They’re joined by stars including

comedian Susan Calman, Strictly

dancers Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette

Manrara, and JB Gill from JLS.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Tower of London was home to

a royal zoo for 600 years. Find out

more about the history of the iconic

London landmark in Inside the

Tower of London, Tuesday,

Channel 5 HD, 9pm.

hundred of years before you.

Maybe I should start riding a horse

to comedy gigs.’

DORSET BRANCH

The 36-year-old had assumed that

her mother’s roots would lead to

Britain after a few generations, and

after researching as far back to the

late 1700s, Ryan eventually finds

what she’s looking for as she traces

a branch of her maternal family

tree to Dorset.

It turns out that her

eight-times great-

grandfather,

Nicholas

Cobb,

was a pub landlord in the village

of Corfe Castle, and was thrown in

jail for speaking ‘scurrilous words’

against local magistrates.

‘That was a great moment,’ she

laughs. ‘I feel like my family left

Britain 230 years ago and I have

brought those scurrilous words

back with me!

‘It was Nicholas Cobb’s daughter

who eventually set sail for the New

World, but I like the sound of him.

My daughter will be impressed

that he lived in Corfe Castle –

although I won’t tell her that’s

the name of the village and he

actually lived in a pub!’

Do you feel the need? The need

for speed? It’s been more than 30

years since Tom Cruise roared on to

the big screen in 1986 film Top Gun,

which followed high-flying fighter

pilots at a US naval school.

A sequel is due to land in cinemas

next year, but this week, ITV is

journeying into the ‘danger zone’

with a new three-part documentary

series charting the highs and lows

for real-life fighter pilots at Britain

and America’s ‘Top Gun’ academies.

ONLY THE BEST

At the RAF Valley in Anglesey, North

Wales, a new squadron is in training

to learn how to fly Britain’s newest

and most advanced fighter jet to

date – the F-35 Lightning.

They need skill, determination

and a steady nerve, but

only the best will be

chosen to join the

Lightning force.

‘I think I’ve got what

it takes, but I don’t

want to make any

mistakes,’ says

student pilot Sedge,

a former windsurfing

instructor. ‘I wouldn’t

say I have a massive

issue with authority,

but I do like to

unwind and have

a bit of a laugh.

‘I’d say I’m just coping with the

course so far,’ he adds. ‘But every

time you go up there, you’ve got to

be at the top of your game.’

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic

at the US Marine Corps base in

South Carolina, British F-35 pilot

Bally has completed his training

and is now preparing to take the

£100million jet for a spin.

KEEPING COOL

‘The excitement comes before and

after the flight,’ explains Bally. ‘While

you’re actually up there, you focus

on the task in hand. That’s what all

the training is about.’

But logging into the F-35’s

state-of-the-art computer system

is Bally’s first test.

‘Like anything, sometimes you

have to turn it off and on again to

get it to work,’ he smiles. ‘But the

F-35 is light years ahead of anything

I’ve ever flown, and probably

anything that’s ever existed. It’s

absolutely breathtaking!’

Danger zone

NEW FACTUAL

Fighter Pilot: The Real

Top Gun

Tuesday, ITV HD, 9pm

Trainee fighter pilots fly state-of-the-

art jets in Britain’s answer to Top Gun

Katherine (far right)

aged five, with her

sister Joanne and maternal

grandmother Dorothy

Pilots from RAF

Valley in training

Bally and the

F-35 in South

Carolina