PRIME's blog

8:30pm Friday, June 1 on Prime

Reality Series

Comedian Paul Merton sets his sights on discovering the wonders of modern Europe – a continent of unparalleled diversity and the home of many of the globe’s oldest cultures. It is a land of huge contrasts – economically, geographically, religiously and culturally. Beginning in Germany, Paul meets the leader of a political movement known as the Apple Front, before enjoying a ‘chess boxing’ match in a Berlin sports hall. Next, he meets a former truck driver who practises the dying art of giant bunny breeding, and samples the delights of naked bowling. The first leg of Paul’s tour ends with a bizarre spa treatment in a hotel on the Austrian border.

7:30pm Friday, June 1 on Prime

Reality Series

The junior chefs face their first US offsite Team Challenge at LA’s infamous Venice Beach, otherwise known as “Muscle Beach”. They are broken into two teams and given a two-hour challenge of creating hamburgers for the public. The public are told to give points to the team they liked the burgers of best and both teams are neck and neck until the crucial last minutes. For the pressure test, they meet at a Mexican restaurant and must recreate a prawn quesadilla, putting their own twists on it. But they are all still in for a big surprise when Gary tells them it is their last day in LA. They are off to… Disneyland!

9:45pm Thursday, May 31 on Prime

Comedy

Outnumbered follows the daily chaos of family life with two parents and three young children locked in an unequal contest (hence the title). Containing elements of improvisation, this comedy is an honest portrayal of the well meaning parental incompetence that happens in most homes, as Sue (Claire Skinner) and Pete (Hugh Dennis) attempt to raise their kids with the minimum of emotional damage for all concerned. Tonight, Pete is suffering from a terrible hangover, and it seems worse as he struggles against a rising tide of superstition, astrology and conspiracy theories that seem to be taking over the family. Meanwhile, Ben takes time off from re-enacting the crusades to show a couple of prospective buyers around the house.

8:35pm Thursday, May 31 on Prime

Drama

Sir Hallam finds himself at the centre of a national crisis when his friend, the Duke of Kent, asks for help. Meanwhile, storm clouds are gathering within 165 Eaton Place, with Lady Agnes’ growing fear over the imminent arrival of her baby, and the servants’ concern for Lotte, who refuses to speak. But, as the king finally abdicates, Hallam makes a discovery that will change his life forever.

7:30pm Thursday, May 31 on Prime

Documentary

Her face has been on our stamps and money for nearly 60 years and over 20 million people worldwide tune in to her Christmas Day Speech every year. Queen Elizabeth II is surely one of the most iconic women in the world. With her unmistakable hairstyle, resplendent in ceremonial garb or in her signature tweed and accompanied by her corgis, the Queen has a unique personal image. And more than that, she has lived through the most dramatic events of the 20th and 21st century and she has been at the very heart of them: the Second World War, the end of the British Empire, the death of Princess Diana. The Changing Face Of The Queen examines the royal image and royal wardrobe as a fresh way to tell the story of the life and times of both the Queen and her subjects.

8:30pm Wednesday, May 30 on Prime

Drama

This powerful mini-series brings the Gunpowder Plot and the events that inspired it vividly to life. Peopled with infamous characters, driven by compelling drama and rife with love, lust, politics and prejudice, Gunpowder, Treason and Plot offers a gripping ride through a fascinating period of history. It is the late sixteenth century and Elizabeth I is the protestant Queen of England. Her cousin Mary returns from France to Scotland and is hailed as Mary Queen of Scots, a catholic queen. She is a threat to Elizabeth as she has a claim to the throne of England.

And so begins a historic drama about the struggle for power between the Catholics and Protestants, of dirty politics, family rivalry, murder, deceit, lust and betrayal. Mary’s son James finally accedes to the English and Scottish throne after the death of the childless Elizabeth, but is faced with growing discontent from the Catholics culminating in an attempt by Guy Fawkes to blow up the houses of Parliament and kill the king. Starring Robert Carlyle, Emilia Fox and Clemence Poesy. Part one of two.

7:30pm Wednesday, May 30 on Prime

Documentary Series

By spring 1943, the Pacific war had reached a turning point. The United States had stopped the Japanese advance, now it launched a two-pronged attack to drive it back. One prong advanced through the jungles of the Solomon Islands and then New Guinea, while the other island hopped across thousands of miles of the central Pacific. To achieve this, the US Navy had to pioneer new forms of warfare, using amphibious troops backed by carrier aircraft and supported by an extraordinary seaborne supply system. The Japanese resisted savagely on all fronts, fighting to the death rather than surrender. But in barely a year, US commanders faced the decision of whether to invade the Philippine Islands as General Douglas MacArthur was desperate to do, or to concentrate on the naval advance.

8:35pm Tuesday, May 29 on Prime

Action Movie

A computer hacker, recruited by a shadowy figure, has executed the largest disaster to hit California, completely shutting down the state’s vulnerable electrical system. With the outage comes chaos, as record heat waves and the dark of the night create a city by city panic. As residents across the West Coast fight to survive, Agent Strickland of Homeland Security’s Cyber Terrorism Division enlists a squadron of experts to outwit the conspiratorial source of the blackout. Starring Anne Heche and Billy Zane.

7:30pm Tuesday, May 29 on Prime

Lifestyle Series

With fruit sales falling in the UK and the nation eating less fruit than almost every other country in Europe, Hugh sets out to test the state of our relationship with fruit. To do this he heads off to a typical suburban street and sees if he can get the locals excited again by nature’s original sweet treats. Through his infectious enthusiasm and a clutch of clever recipes, he’s soon turned some sceptic kids into confirmed consumers of raw fruit. Hugh also demonstrates how to turn fruit into a fantastic ingredient for delicious desserts, from all-fruit lollies that prove a hit with the local school kids. But the biggest challenge comes when Hugh meets a man who hated his wife’s apple crumble so much he cut down her apple tree! Can Hugh get him to turn loathing to loving when it comes to cooked apples?

9:30pm Monday, May 28 on Prime

Reality Series

Each week two very contradictory families from across the country participate in a two-week long challenge: the wives exchange husbands, children and lives (but not bedrooms) to discover daily life in another woman’s shoes. This astonishing experiment repeatedly changes lives and redefines families. In this episode, an organic goat farming family who believe you should “meet your meat before you eat” swap lives with a family of divas who ensure their kids’ popularity by putting them through “cool school”.