Undercover golden touch

THE new series of Undercover Boss puts adult retailer Ann Summers under scrutiny.

Chief executive officer Jacqueline Gold hasn’t got where she is today by doing things by halves.

One of Britain’s best-known businesswomen, she has moved the image of the business away from the male “raincoat brigade” and ensured it has become a female-friendly staple of every high street.

“I’ve always been very forward thinking.

At just 21 I went to the board of Ann Summers and suggested launching a party plan, an idea that for some of the board members was a little hard to comprehend,”

she has said.

“In fact, one of the board member’s main concerns was that women didn’t even like sex so why would they want to go to an Ann Summers party.

“I knew then that I had to make my idea work as women needed me.”

Jacqueline regularly tops various magazines’ most successful businesswomen polls and for the purposes of this programme, it was felt she was too famous to snoop around the business herself without being instantly recognised. So she sends her sister and deputy managing director Vanessa on the jaunt.

Vanessa has worked for the company since she was 16, but still struggles to overcome her nerves when facing customers, and is daunted by the prospect of having to answer their intimate questions. What Jacqueline wants to be sure of, though, is that Vanessa’s reluctance to talk all things sexy with the customers isn’t mirrored by the rest of the staff.

THE nearest most of us come to proper Mexican grub is a plate of chilli con carne knocked up from a jar with some boil-in-the-bag rice.

In new series Mexican Food Made Simple, 2005 MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers tries to broaden our horizons by travelling around the Central American country in search of tasty recipes, before demonstrating how to prepare them back in London.

She begins by visiting the villages of the Oaxaca valley, where she samples a cream guacamole for starter, a fruity chilli for main, and a sorbet dessert made from raspberries and tequila.

People who are not fans of spicy food should not be put off – there are many subtle flavours in the mix too. Also for those watching their calories, Tommi’s dishes are created using the freshest ingredients, so there’s no need to abandon your summer diet if you fancy recreating some of her ideas.

IN Resotration Home, Caroline Quentin follows owners of crumbling historic buildings as they save them from ruin by restoring them into 21st Century dream houses. With the help of architectural expert Kieran Long and social historian Dr Kate Williams, the historical and architectural gems begin to reveal their intriguing pasts.

St Thomas a Beckett Church, in Somerset, is on the heritage critical list.

A flood in 1968 led to its eventual deconsecration and it is just one of many churches in Britain that has been declared redundant. Can it really be transformed into a dream property?

FORMER ER star Noah Wyle heads the cast of US import, the sci-fi drama Falling Skies. He plays unassuming history lecturer Tom Mason, who finds himself thrown into the role of military leader after Earth is besieged by alien forces.

His knowledge of warfare techniques has made him an invaluable part of the resistance that has sprung up in an effort to take back the planet, with the series taking place roughly six months after the sudden alien attack.

The world’s military forces were caught completely unaware and now civilisation has been left in tatters. In a desperate move, the remnants of humanity have banded together on the outskirts of cities in order to wage a revolutionary war against the intergalactic occupying forces.

Will Patton and Drew Roy co-star, as does Moon Bloodgood, who has good form for taking on apocalyptic scenarios thanks to her role in 2009 action flick Terminator Salvation.