The Real Marigold Hotel (BBC2, 9pm)

WITH Judi Dench, Bill Nighy and Maggie Smith make the running in the hit movie, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, it took a lot of guts for some lesser-known celebs to take on the Brits abroad saga for real.

The original plot followed a group of British retirees who try to make their pensions stretch further by moving to India. The movie resulted in a sequel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and this new three-part travel documentary is the result.

Actress Miriam Margolyes, dancer Wayne Sleep, actor Sylvester McCoy, comedian Roy Walker, chef Rosemary Shrager, darts champion Bobby George, singer Patti Boulaye and former news reader Jan Leeming, take up residence in Jaipur, capital of the state of Rajasthan in Northern India.

All they’re given is a “haveli”, an Indian private mansion, but the other arrangements will be left to them as they decide on how they'll get around, how they'll spend their time, and whether they will divide the chores up among themselves or hire staff.

It seems likely Rosemary will be earmarked for some of the cooking, while Miriam admits she'd already decided on her own role: "I hoped it was to be, as I often am in a group, the form wag – the class clown."

But that doesn't mean the actress, whose credits include everything from Blackadder to Harry Potter, wanted to hog the spotlight, as she also enjoyed getting to know the rest of the group: "I really liked my fellow travellers; I marvelled at their talents.Bobby is a remarkable man, Wayne is deeply generous and gifted, Patti is a brilliant singer – and I got to know the others, who shared their private thoughts with me. I hope to know them all my life to come."

She also relished the chance to experience India. "In one day, we visited both the slums and the palace of the royal family in Jaipur. The slums were filthy on the outside, stinking and cramped. But the life there, the teeming, smiling, vivid life we saw, the puppet masters full of colour and imagination, real artists – that made it memorable and enjoyable."

In this first episode, they are somewhat unsettled by the realities of the heat, the hectic roads and the toilet facilities. Rosemary finds it particularly hard to unwind, but she gets some surprising results when she tries meditation for the first time, while Wayne is also keen to get in touch with his spiritual side.

But it's when the celebrities throw a party to meet their new neighbours that they really start to feel at home. Those already armed with a bus pass, will undoubtedly have considered something similar, but there is that business of a chicken’s throat being cut in front of you after you’ve decided to buy.

Winterwatch 2016 (BBC2, 8pm)

NEW series. Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and Martin Hughes-Games return to Aberdeenshire as they present from their base at Mar Lodge Estate in the Cairngorms National Park, where they'll be following the fortunes of animals including ptarmigans, deer and black grouse as they cope with this most challenging of seasons. The team will report on all the local wildlife characters using a mix of remote cameras, live expeditions and scientific revelations, as they assess how the warmest and wettest winter on record so far has impacted on the animals.

Sugar Free Farm (ITV, 8pm)

WITH the Great Sport Relief Bake Off on the horizon, what better than to pull together another group of famous faces and try to cure them of a sweet tooth.

Former Brookside actress Jennifer Ellison, comedian Rory McGrath, singer Jane McDonald, Towie’s James Argent, ex-Corrie star Tupele Dorgu and The Chase’s Mark “The Beast” Labbett take part in a three-parter where they attempt to kick the white stuff. Avoiding processed foods and earning fresh farm food by working with turkeys, pigs and buffalo soon creates a casualty when Ellison takes to her bed.

Viv Hardwick