Arthur and George (ITV, 9pm)

THE death of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's wife, Louisa, led to the great physician and crimewriter taking on a case worthy of his creation Sherlock Holmes.

The novelist was in need of a project, particularly after the public rejected his other books, and he turned to the misfortunes of George Edalji, a hard-working solicitor and the son of Hampshire vicar, Reverend Shapurji Edalji and his wife Charlotte. George had served seven years in Pentonville Prison for sending threatening letters and allegedly mutilating animals, offences known as The Great Wyrley Rippings.

ITV often turns to Martin Clunes to play its drama-comedy characters and presenters, but this time the actor had to face up to the fears of playing someone who existed in real life.

"I was quite terrified by the thought of playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but my wife, Philippa (who is also executive producer), had spent a great deal of time optioning the book and doing deals with agents, writers and ITV," Clunes says.

"Arthur and George is a hugely successful book, and (writer) Julian Barnes didn't need us to make a television programme of it. Philippa very patiently and persistently pursued the idea. She swears there was no pressure, but there was pressure," Clunes jokes.

Though a versatile actor, he admits this has been his biggest challenge for some time.

"I am sure if somebody else had said: 'Why don't you do this?' I would have said: 'I'm a bit scared'. It is quite outside my comfort zone in a way. My comfort zone has been Doc Martin or documentaries about animals. That has been my life for so long, with little bits of acting along the way but never in the title role. This is quite big. Conan Doyle is a very famous Scotsman, so I had to speak with an authentic Scottish accent as well."

You have to be a bit of detective yourself to get much out of Clunes about the return of his Cornish comedy drama about a miserable medic.

"To work on it's terrific. I mean it's time consuming and the days are long, but given that's what we do, it's really nice to get to do it down there - to do it anywhere outside the M25 is rare, but to go to a holiday destination like that."

However, all he says of the actual run is: "Well it's all under wraps," he explains. "When we left it, it was pretty gloomy."

Inside Out (BBC1, 7.30pm)

A SPECIAL programme asks if our our GP service is in crisis and examines the issue of GP shortages and asks doctors (and trainee doctors) to diagnose the problems with the GP service. The film looks at the possible reasons for the shortage across England, including early retirement, people working abroad and the lack of interest from students in becoming a GP, with case studies for each.

Presenter Chris Jackson asks what has gone wrong and gets the view from the King’s Fund, an independent charity working to improve health and health care in England. In the North-East a the film crew follows the local out-of-hours service in Cumbria which is getting more calls from people who cannot get a GP appointment.

Inside Out also speaks to the Royal College of General Practitioners and gets their view on what needs to be done to ensure there are enough GPs to meet the patient demand.

More Tales from Northumberland with Robson Green (ITV, 8pm)

THIS week, Robson Green travels along the Coquet, Northumberland's longest river, during which he visits Warkworth Hermitage, an ancient chapel only accessible by boat. He moves on to Warkworth Castle and the port of Amble, hearing about a seal who surprised two surfers by hitching a lift last summer.

Then it's off to Coquet Island, an RSPB nature reserve where Green hopes to see Britain's rarest nesting seabird, the roseate tern.