Glee (E4, 9pm); Shameless (C4, 10pm); The Biggest Losers (ITV1, 9pm)

FOUR is the number tonight. BBC and ITV take a back seat as two popular series – Glee and Shameless – return to E4 and C4.

“E4 picks up new musical comedy series from Fox” ran the headline on the press release last year when E4 picked up the rights to premiere Glee in the UK. Little did executives know what a big hit they’d bought.

The series was the idea of plastic surgery show Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy, the idea coming from his own high school experiences. No one had managed to produce a successful musical series since Fame, so there was scepticism that he could produce a hit show.

Scheduling it after the top-rated American Idol was a masterstroke in delivering an audience that would enjoy the mix of high school angst, social issues and song-and-dance mixing old and new numbers.

Murphy wanted to write a feelgood series about happy endings and optimism. He’s tricked out the series with many of his favourite music – pop, classics and show tunes – as a high school music teacher (Matthew Morrison) attempts to inspire oddball teenagers to realise their true star potential and restore the school’s Glee Club choir to its former glory, getting them all the way to the nationals of the biggest school singing competition of them all.

The end of the last series saw New Directions failing to win at regionals, despite surprise backing from a sworn enemy. So now it’s a new school year and the troupe are determined not to come away with a loss again.

Once again, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch, with all the best lines) is hampering them at every turn, but a couple of new recruits look likely to make the choir shine. But there are a couple of Glee club members who aren’t too pleased at the thought of being upstaged by new arrivals.

Guest stars this season include Britney Spears in the second episode.

SHAMELESS returns for its eighth series and, with 22 episodes, its longest ever run.

To celebrate, C4 is showing an episode every night until Friday.

Events pick up where we left off, with talk of Libby and Frank’s upcoming nuptials on everyone’s lips.

MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 2011 northernecho.co.uk TV & ENTERTAINMENT 15 However, the wedding plans are thrown into disarray at Frank’s stag party, when all dignity is lost and a close encounter leaves the bridegroom abducted.

Meanwhile, it’s been months since Mimi unexpectedly gave birth, and everyone wants to know who the father is, including the new mum herself.

A job for Poirot or Miss Marple perhaps?

Elsewhere, newcomers Avril, Jackson and Letitia Powell have found their feet within the community and Avril volunteers to host Libby’s hen night, but celebrations are brought to an abrupt halt when disaster strikes for one of the Maguires.

AFTER the indulgences of Christmas and the New Year, The Biggest Loser may be just what the fat doctor ordered.

This larger-than-life reality series returns with a new presenter, Davina McCall (replacing last year’s Kate Garraway), at its helm.

Moving from Big Brother to The Biggest Loser, she will be pitting seven weighty couples against each other on a journey that will involve them undertaking an unforgiving training and exercise regimen, and facing the dreaded weekly weigh-in – all in an attempt to win £25,000 and, more importantly, adopt that much sought-after healthier lifestyle.

No-nonsense trainers Angie Dowds and Richard Callender oversee a tough fitness regime that means competitors will be intensely exercising up to five hours a day.

“The show offers contestants the opportunity to genuinely change their lives for the better,” says Mc- Call. “By altering their diet and training extensively, we’ll be arming them with the right tools to turn themselves around. I love it.”

In the first challenge, contestants must cycle a marathon, which leaves two of them needing medical attention and one team facing automatic elimination.