Great British Menu (BBC2, 7.30PM)

IT'S Scotland for starts as the Great British Menu returns with 24 of the nation’s top chefs challenged to plate up perfection. They’re fighting it out for the chance to cook at a glorious banquet marking the centenary of the Women’s Institute, at London's historic Draper’s Hall.

This year’s challenge is to produce 21st Century dishes worthy of the custodians of first class home cooking. The dishes must honour the generations of women who have helped to make Britain the great culinary nation it is today. The chefs have taken inspiration from the women in their families - and the pioneering women of the institute - to turn home cooked classics into modern masterpieces.

Today three of Scotland’s top chefs, Jak O’Donnell, Jimmy Lee, and Graham Campbell, attempt to impress this week’s veteran judge. Having missed out last year, returning finalist Jak is determined to make it to the banquet

Cookery writer and judge Prue Leith says: "Chefs in this country, and in fact the whole British restaurant scene, owe a great debt to the WI. They were the original home economists, teaching us how to grow fantastic produce and get the most from our ingredients. For a century, the women of the WI have been a pioneering force for change and for good in this country."

Judge and award-winning critic Matthew Fort says: "Great home cooking won't be enough to get a dish to the banquet at this year's GBM. Any dish must honour the standards of the WI, but also build on them with imagination and skill to create a masterpiece of modern gastronomy."

Only two competitors can make it through to Friday's edition, when they'll present their entire menu to Leith, Fort, restaurateur Oliver Peyton, and special guest judge and real-life WI "calendar girl" Angela Baker.

Flying to the Ends of the Earth (C4, 8pm)

FORMER Royal Marine and Channel 4 Paralympics presenter Arthur Williams flies to some of the world's smallest and most dangerous landing strips to find out why people want to live at the ends of the earth, and discover how tiny planes are opening up some of the planet's most remote and most beautiful wildernesses. His first journey, to Nepal in the Himalayas, reveals the dangers of flying in the mountains when local pilot Max feels the effects of low oxygen and Arthur has to take the controls. Arthur then joins a flight to Lukla airport, one of the most dangerous in the world, and speaks to the the air-traffic controllers who work there. Then it's on to the country's most inaccessible region where yarsagumba, small mummified caterpillars, are in great demand as an aphrodisiac.

Travel Guides (ITV, 9pm)

NARRATED by Johnny Vegas, this entertaining new travel series sends the members of five ordinary British households to review some of the world’s most popular holiday destinations – from an all-inclusive sojourn in Tenerife to a five-star hotel in Dubai. Each week the same

households travel to a different destination and experience identical holidays, before offering their opinions about what is on offer, from the accommodation to the food to the activities on offer. This week, the action kicks off in Thailand. With miles of tropical beaches and an exotic climate, the country attracts more than 26 million tourists each year. Thailand is the most popular destination for Brits visiting Asia, but it also has a reputation for dangers and unforeseen problems. Our households spend a week on the island of Koh Samui. The trip does not start smoothly for the Chapman-Blackwells from Bradford. Hairdresser Craig has to battle with mosquitos and cope with the very basic beach hut accommodation. The Boyles are wowed by the street food available, while bargain hunter Simon Brearley cannot believe how cheap everything is. Burnley painter-decorator Pete and his wife Linda reveal themselves to be secret experts, having visited the country 26 times before. Glamour girl Riah visits a local detox spa which offers raw food and coffee enemas.

Viv Hardwick