Italy inspector

THE only hotel inspections here will be that of an indulged travelog presenter as Alex Polizzi reveals hers lifelong love of Italy, providing viewers with a personal and revealing guide to this beautiful Mediterranean country.

Across the series, The Hotel Inspector star will travel the nation, from North to South, taking in breath-taking cities like Venice, Milan and Rome. She’ll travel along the stunning Amalfi coast before ending her journey unearthing hidden tourist gems in Puglia – Italy’s best kept secret.

As always, Polizzi can’t avoid a little controversy and shows disdain for tourists like us because she has the advantage of interweaving the stories of her family heritage in the country with visits to the places that mean most to her – from the childhood holidays she spent in the foothills of Rome to the places she worked during her twenties.

She says: “This series is a sort of homage to my grandparents (her grandmother was Venetian) and the different regions of Italy they came from. I spent years living in Italy in my twenties, and this was an amazing opportunity to revisit the sites of so many family holidays and celebrations, as well as discovering some new wonders along the way.”

Ben Frow, Channel 5’s director of programming, adds: “Not only do we get to see a different side of Italy, as seen through and experienced by Alex Polizzi, we also see a different side to Alex Polizzi – a personal and emotional side that lifts the spirit and warms the heart.”

Like many, I’m planning a holiday in Italy next year, so this makes my trip all the more fascinating. I’m not sure I’ll find time to visit the village of Bagolino, where Polizzi meets a cheesemaker whose family has been creating Bagoss cheese for 700 years. In Milan she learns how to make Panettone and also goes backstage at the La Scala opera house.

Away from the tourists traps, Polizzi manages a tour of a women’s prison, where the inmates haven’t given up on their beauty regimes.. and there’s even a cosmetics lab and a fruit and veg shop inside.

Marvel’s Agents Of Shield (Channel 4, 8pm)

WITH Sky about to unleash yet another superhero with the dubious title of The Flash (raincoat not included) it makes the comic book world of sci-fi and fantasy even more crowded at the moment.

That hasn’t stopped C4 bringing back Marvel’s Agents of Shield for a second run starting tonight, with Lucy “Xena: Warrior Princess” Lawless playing the role of mercenary Isabelle Hartley being added to the opening episode.

Following last season’s explosive cliffhanger, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) needs to set about rebuilding Shield. He's going to have his work cut out, because he and his agents are now wanted.

Problems are compounded when former agent Browning tries to sell information to Hartley’s bunch of mercenaries, but it transpires they're all working undercover for Shield. It's not long before Browning meets a sticky end, however - at the hands of sinister new threat Carl 'Crusher' Creel, better known as the Absorbing Man.

The Feeling Nuts Comedy Night (Channel 4, 11.05pm)

WITH perhaps the most painful of puns at his disposal, Jack Whitehall hosts this evening of comedy, entertainment and music aimed at raising awareness of testicular cancer.

Keeping one step ahead of the condition by regularly checking oneself is an example of perfect behaviour in men – which is the perfect reason for Men Behaving Badly stars Martin Clunes and Neil Morrissey to reunite 16 years after last appearing on their beer-soaked sofa in a new mini-episode of the sitcom.

Also appearing are Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse for some sketch-based fun, and James Corden and Rizzle Kicks who join forces for a musical collaboration. Elsewhere in the show are One Direction, Nina Conti, Cardinal Burns, Terry Mynott, Angelos Epithemiou, Daisy Lowe and Cara Delevingne, while Jimmy Carr and Jamie Cullum form an unlikely alliance.