Idris Elba: No Limits (Discovery Channel, 9pm)

FOUR speed-related challenges await man-of-the-moment Idris Elba, who starts off with his boyhood dream of tackling the famous and prestigious Circuit of Ireland race – in my day it was Monte Carlo, Le Mans or the Isle of Man TT.

The man best-known for playing maverick BBC1 detective John Luther, has the help of top rally driver Jimmy McRae in tackling the two-day, 1,000-mile event, travelling at speeds of more than 100mph. The narrow tarmac lanes of the course make for an intense experience, even for experienced rally drivers.

Idris meets manufacturers at the Ford plant in Dagenham, where he worked as a teenager, before taking possession of the Ford Fiesta in which he is to compete.

Next, he has to take his BARS rally licence test before meeting his co-driver, Michael Orr. Because of Idris’ tight schedule, the pair have to train in the London backstreets. Time is of the essence, and they need practice before flying to Ireland to tackle the winding country roads.

Born in east London, Elba got his big break in the role of Stringer Bell, the lieutenant of a Baltimore drug empire on HBO’s critically acclaimed 2005 series The Wire. Since then Elba has picked up six best actor or outstanding actor awards, and a host of nominations.

When he's not informing us about the benefits of Sky on commercials, Elba has been seen in Hollywood blockbusters include Prometheus and Thor; played Nelson Mandela in The Weinstein Company biopic Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom, earning a Golden Globe nomination. It's not surprising to learn that the actor does all his own stunts and he somehow finds time to become Big Driis and DJ for the night.

On childhood memories of rallying, he says :"Rally driving was always on the TV back in the day when I was a kid. It was like rainy weather watching, when I wasn’t allowed to play out. My dad worked at Ford and he used to bring home old steering wheels and I used to have them on my lap pretending to be a rally driver.

"Meeting Sebastian Ogier, World Rally Champion, was a magical moment. I got to see how it’s done. What I got to see was the control that he’s got. I watched him and thought, 'I don’t think I can do that'.”

Elba confesses he had real problems with his rally car. "I was thrown a curve ball. I’d been training in a right-hand drive and then when I arrived I was given a left-hand drive car. So the whole day I had to learn about adjusting to that style."

On next week's challenge, aerobatics, he says: "The biggest struggle for me is dealing with my fear of heights. Comfort zone-wise, this is pushing my fear factor to the limit. Driving is what I like to do – it’s on the ground."

The comes drag gracing. "I’d never felt anything like that in my life. I thought we were going towards the sky, it was that intense. And then it was eight seconds of just the most intense power. It’s incredible. I was genuinely scared."

Finally, a 180.361mph land speed challenge. "It’s a big task. The Bentley is a road car, and to try and make it worthy of that is a huge challenge. I definitely did think: 'Why am I doing this? One mistake and it’s all over'.”

Vet School (ITV, 8pm)

WE go behind the scenes at the University of Edinburgh's Royal School of Veterinary Studies. The would-be animal doctors face a dog that has been run over and requires complicated surgery, while they also treat a cat with alopecia and a tiny turtle with an eye problem. For those viewers who will always associate the profession with All Creatures Great and Small and James Herriot's rubber gloves, the farm vets also attend a calving.

Viv Hardwick