The Martin Lewis Money Show (ITV, 8pm)

FINANCIAL journalist Martin Lewis has been frequenting our screens for years now, giving insider tips on how we can further tighten our purse-strings during these hard-up times... although I have to be honest that some of his advice sounds as appealing as signing up for a zero hours contract.

He is, after all, the man who suggested adults stopped buying presents for each other at Christmas. Alongside reporter Saira Khan, Lewis arrives on our screens at the time of year when most are going to do quite the opposite of getting on the wrong side of a significant loved one by sending them a happy yuletide message on Skype.

The series kicks off on what's become known as Black Friday, the date marking the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. But if you're already fretting because you don't even know where to start when it comes to present-buying this year, Lewis will be listing all the essential deals that you expect to find in stores and online.

Meanwhile, Lewis and Khan visit a family in Hertfordshire for a personal stock-take of all their belongings to help them raise money to pay for Christmas. And soon enough, any regrets they thought they'd have are forgotten, as they sell unused clothes, mobile phones, buggies and toys.

The Christmas Ideal Home Show is also on the to-do list this week, as they give members of the public handy tips on how to drum up a bit of extra cash for the festive period. Lewis dresses up for pantomime season as Dame Right-I-Am to show us how we can become wise consumers.

On his success he says: "I don't preach about how to make money. That's not really my thing at all or my passion to be honest. I was very lucky is the answer. I set up a website I believed in. It originally had no way of making money. I set up a business. I still don't consider myself to be an entrepreneur. I'm somebody who set up a website and I consider myself to be a journalist and consumer campaigner.

"Because the website got so big I needed a way to fund my servers, so I came up with the most ethical way I could think of to fund the site, and it did a lot better than I thought it would.

"I'm about providing information for consumers and fighting for consumer rights. I'm not about setting businesses up, and I think there are far more qualified people than me to talk about how to do that. I got lucky."

If Lewis is right about predicting the stores and days when flash sales are going to take place over the coming weeks, then he’ll be as popular as Santa this year.

Play It Loud: The Story of the Marshall Amp (BBC4, 10pm)

I COME from Bletchley, the home of Jim Marshall’s Marshall Amplification factory and the result of the 1960s rock drummer’s decision to create the loudest guitar sound on earth. The idea of making a guitarist as loud as the drummer helped to create rock history and was captured by 1984 film Spinal Tap when veteran British rocker Nigel Tufnel, showed director Martin DiBergi his Marshall Amplifier, and proudly pointed out that all the dials went to 11.

Of course the concept of an amp being "one louder" than the competition soon became the stuff of rock legend, with many amp manufacturers creating their own deafening speakers which also went to 11.

With contributions from rock musicians Pete Townshend, Lemmy and Slash, as well as an interview with the founder himself, this is a must for rock fans.

The Graham Norton Show (BBC1, 10.35pm)

TAKE That’s remaining members Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald will be plugging their latest single. Nicole Kidman will also be in the studio to promote the long-awaited, live-action version of Michael Bond's beloved bear, Paddington, along with co-stars Hugh Bonneville and national treasure Julie Walters.