Midsomer Murders (ITV, 8pm)

JUST for a change Britain's villages that most TV watchers would kill to avoid in real life are home to new lifel. In this latest series, DCI John Barnaby is adjusting to being a father - and that's brought with it some fresh challenges for actor Neil Dudgeon as well.

"Barnaby becoming a doting dad is a strong storyline in the new series so we now have domestic scenes with his wife, dog and baby, which actually means two babies, as we work with twins. You know exactly what you're supposed to be doing in the scene and then on comes one baby, who starts crying, so we get the other one, and then discover that Sykes the dog has wandered off," he says.

Dudgeon took on the role of Midsomer's leading sleuth following the departure of John Nettles in 2011 and cheerfully admits it can be grisly work thanks to sheer inventiveness of the killers.

"In the new series, a man gets drowned in a bowl of eggs and live eels. It's a nasty way to go but there's a reason for it. The ingenuity is marvellous and there are some pretty rococo ways of dying in Midsomer. My favourite has to be from an episode set at a vintage car rally when unfortunately a young man is killed by a starting handle. I also liked the one when Martine McCutcheon was killed by a giant wheel of blue cheese. The more bizarre the better," he jokes.

We start with death by electrified roulette wheel. The unlucky spinner is artist Suzie Colebrook, who illustrated the Jed Dagger detective novels by the late writer George Summersbee. Her death comes just as a newly-discovered Dagger story was about to be unveiled at a local crime festival - and the police can't help noticing that Suzie's publisher husband appears more concerned about the theft of the manuscript than his wife's murder.

It's the first Dagger novel, Wheels of Justice, that catches the eye of Barnaby's sidekick Nelson (Gwilym Lee) though, as he realises its plot line seems to have inspired Suzie's unusual death. With the potential suspects played by guest stars including Liberty Mills, the dotty Una Stubbs and Georgia Taylor, and a very unlikely murder weapon, it looks like being classic Midsumer Murder mystery.

Churchill: The Nation's Farewell (BBC1, 9pm)

ON January 30, 1965, Winston Churchill became the only commoner in the 20th Century to receive a state funeral, but that wasn't the only thing that made the event remarkable.

Over a million people lined the streets of London to pay their respects as his coffin was taken from Westminster, where it had been lying in state, to St Paul's Cathedral, while millions more watched the ceremony on television.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the death of the man who led Britain to victory during the Second World War, Jeremy Paxman tells the story of that momentous day, hearing from those who were there, ranging from soldiers who bore the coffin to members of Churchill's family, and a dockworker who remembers how his colleagues bowed their cranes along the Thames.

Wolf Hall (BBC2, 9pm)

THIS week, Cardinal Wolsey (Jonathan Pryce) has been forced out of court, but Cromwell remains convinced this is only a temporary retreat, and sets about trying to get close to Anne Boleyn (Claire Foy) as a means of restoring his mentor to the King's (Damian Lewis) favour.

He doesn't even have to find an excuse to meet up with her, as she summons him to see if he can be an ally - well, it gives her something to do other than hanging around to see if Henry can get his marriage annulled, and taking her frustrations out on her ladies-in-waiting.

Meanwhile, the King himself has also started to take notice of Cromwell, appreciating his loyalty and his honesty - but that could all change when a vengeful Harry Percy (Harry Lloyd) arrests Wolsey for treason.