KAT AND ALFIE: REDWATER, BBC1, 8pm

DON’T worry: this isn’t just an EastEnders spin-off; it’s a story in its own right. This six-part series takes two of the soap’s best-loved characters, Kat and Alfie Moon, and transplants them to a cute village in Ireland.

The lovely Redwater is probably as far as you can get from the chaos of Albert Square without leaving the planet. The Moons arrive there for a holiday, but they are also on a very personal quest.

Kat has a long-lost son who is now an adult. An old postcard makes her believe he could be in Redwater, so she and Alfie rent a holiday home, try to make friends in the community and do a bit of low-key detective work.

Of course, Kat is incapable of being subtle and her pointed questions at the ice-cream stall begin to arouse suspicions among the locals. This might not be the cosy little village Kat expects, especially after the sinister opening sequence featuring a drowning at sea.

 

ITV LEADERS’ DEBATE, STV, 8pm

I WONDER how Spitting Image (God rest its gloriously cheeky soul) would portray Theresa May, given they used up all their grey jokes, grey paint and grey clothes on the John Major puppet?

There are many criticisms to be made of the Prime Minster, and the most trivial, but also the most prominent, is that she is interminably dull. What hope is there of engaging people in politics with her at the helm?

She won’t be present tonight for this debate and some will say that’s a travesty for democracy – but it just might be a blessing for TV viewers, it allows the debate to lift itself out of those “strong and stable” doldrums.

If the PM won’t appear then neither will Citizen Corbyn, but Nicola Sturgeon will and so will Tim Farron and Ukip leader Paul Nuttall. I hope ITV will “empty chair” those who have chickened out.