Springwatch (BBC2, 8pm)

A DECADE on from its fledgling days, Springwatch presenters Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and Martin Hughes-Games still have plenty of features in store for viewers as they host a three-week-long extravaganza following the fortunes of wildlife around the UK from their base at the RSPB's Minsmere reserve in Suffolk.

The Suffolk coast is one of the wildest parts of the UK, and Minsmere is widely-regarded as one of the best nature reserves in Europe. The trio, along with a whole host of other experts and guests, will be exploring the rich diversity of internationally important habitats on and around Minsmere's sand dunes, shingle beaches, saline lagoons, reed-bed heathland, woodland and grassland.

Marsh harriers, avocets, nightjars and bitterns, as well as old favourites such as otters, woodpeckers and red deer, are also likely to feature. Nestcams have long been a staple of Springwatch, but never underwater. This year the plucky male stickleback is filmed as he defends his nest of eggs against all comers.

In the Iron Mouse Challenge, a purpose-built Rodentorium will put Minsmere's rodents through their paces over a succession of obstacles, including rolling bars and stepping stones, before a metre-long swim and the final underwater diving challenge.

Back in January, GPS trackers were fitted to three families of badgers living on the reserve, and the team have got to know them as individuals and more importantly studied what impact they're having on other wildlife on the reserve.

The action is not just restricted to the East Coast, there are camera teams are out and about covering the best of the season's wildlife stories around the UK.

The series will feature three urban nests in Bristol, as cameras fixed on swift, gull and a feral pigeon nests will feed into Springwatch HQ, before "The Urban Birder" David Lindo investigates the science behind these city dwellers.

Roving reporter Iolo Williams and his team will be sending daily updates from the far north of the British Isles as they journey from John O'Groats to the Shetland Islands, catching up with puffins, eagles and killer whales.

Williams will also stop off at Orkney, where he'll see the first breeding pair of white-tailed eagles on the island for 100 years and snorkel over First World War wrecks in Scapa Flow in search of anemones, nudibranchs and other colourful marine life.

It's going to be a tenth anniversary to remember for the team, but it doesn't end there. To celebrate, the show has been given a present that money can't buy – exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the wildlife story of the year, the return of the beaver to the English countryside.

Churchill: When Britain Said No (BBC2, 9pm)

WINSTON Churchill continues to be regarded as Britain's finest Prime Minister – in fact, a 2002 BBC poll saw him named the greatest Briton of all time. Yet when the country went to the polls 70 years ago, just weeks after VE Day, the people didn't vote to re-elect the man who had led them through the dark and difficult days of the Second World War. Instead, Churchill suffered a humiliating defeat, and his Conservative party was almost wiped out. Now 70 years on, this documentary takes a fresh look at Churchill's legacy and, with the help of historians and first-hand witnesses, asks why Britain apparently rejected him. Was it an act of ingratitude, or had the electorate made a mature decision that the qualities needed for a great war-time leader did not necessarily translate to peacetime?

Benefits Street (C4, 9pm)

THE North-East-made documentary series catches up with Maxwell as he fixes his front door after another police raid searching for drugs. The rebellious Kingston Road, Stockton, resident is determined not to return to jail and pleads his innocence. Meanwhile, Sue anxiously waits for her daughter Lisa to give birth, and mum-of-six Julie shares her thoughts on parenting as she celebrates her 53rd birthday at home with her family.