Nadiya's Family Favourites (BBC Two, 8pm)

Believe it or not, there was a time when cooking shows just didn't matter.

They were cosy time-fillers that propped up the schedules while we waited for the likes of Top of the Pops, Tomorrow's World and super soaps like Dallas and Dynasty.

But then things changed. Yes, the humble cookery show was still cheap to make (a staple ingredient for any cash-conscious producer), but with the right person, or people doing their bit to cameras, it could be the stuff of TV gold.

Thanks to mavericks like Keith Floyd, who berated his producer and essentially directed the show himself inbetween glugs of wine, the nation realised cookery shows could be fun.

Yes, Delia Smith might be there like a stable rock with top cooking tips, but Floyd was a culinary rock star, who just happened to look like an eccentric professor.

Fast forward to 2018 and we have more cookery shows than we can shake a (chop) stick at. Every type of series, with a vast array of larger-than-life presenters, who travel the world and carry out cooking sketches in exotic locations while we at home dream mournfully over beans on toast.

One of the greatest finds of recent years is of course Nadiya Hussain, the Great British Bake Off winner whose bright ideas, offbeat sense of humour and magnetic screen presence ensured her fanbase grew faster than a proving loaf with too much yeast.

In the past three years since she became a household name, the 33-year-old Leeds mum of three has fronted compelling travel show The Chronicles of Nadiya; co-hosted The Big Family Cooking Showdown; helped edit the BBC's Good Food magazine; written a weekly broadsheet column, and is now back on the box with this lip-smacking new series.

She'll be showing viewers how to create the perfect dishes to compliment any kind of day, and meets some of Britain's most inspiring home cooks along the way.

Nadiya begins by demonstrating recipes for family days out, including chai-spiced vermicelli, cheese biscuits with tomato jam, a filling samosa pie, as well as a prawn saffron biryani to come home to.

Though you can of course add plenty of butter and full-fat milk to certain dishes, Nadiya is well aware that most of us are fighting the battle of the bulge, so she offers lighter alternatives.

Her quest to find the best homemade pasty in Britain takes her to Cornwall, and she also visits a rapeseed-oil farm in Northampton.

"For me, food is all about family, and those special moments when we all come together over a mouthwatering meal," explains Nadiya.

"I want to share some of my yummy family favourites. Dishes for every kind of day. I'm also going to travel the country, meeting inspirational home cooks who go the extra mile to make scrumptious products that most of us buy in the shops."

Be warned dieters: this may lead to a serious spot of fridge-raiding once those closing credits roll.

The Island That Saved My Life (BBC1)

Suffering from depression and with an accompanying trait of shyness, 23-year-old Sarah Moore found her life in Edinburgh tough. She found a solution, however - even though it meant leaving her family, she moved to the remote Orcadian island of North Ronaldsay, which boasts a population of around 50. There, she took up several jobs, and started to build a new life for herself; one which suited her down to the ground. Now, much happier in the beautiful surroundings of the Orkney Isles, she feels much more a member of the community - and, ironically, has a far more active social life than she did in the Scottish capital. This documentary, part of BBC One's Our Lives strand, tells her remarkable story.

University Challenge (BBC2, 8.30pm)

New series. Jeremy Paxman presides over proceedings as the academic quiz returns for its 25th series since the revival of the show in 1995, with competitors from 28 universities around the UK answering questions on all manner of subjects. The opening match of the first round sees four students from the University of Warwick take on a quartet from Exeter University, battle it out for a place in the second stage of the contest as they seek to succeed 2018 winners St John's College, Cambridge and lift the trophy.

Our Guy in Russia (C4, 9pm)

From lorry mechanic to daredevil racer to TV presenter, Guy Martin has had quite the career. Here, in the fourth in his series of adventurous travelogue programmes, he adds another string to his bow: limo driver. But that's only one of the many things on his off-the-beaten-track itinerary, as he ventures from Moscow to Siberia. Typically, he avoids the standard tourist traps (if Russia could be said to have any, asides from the recent World Cup), and instead tries to get to the heart of Russian life. This includes such activities as riding with the 'Night Wolves' - President Putin's very own biker gang - and putting his driving skills to the test behind the wheel of a priceless limousine.