TV week ahead

PICK OF THE WEEK

Teen Mum High
BBC2, tomorrow, 9pm

Contemporary teenagers have, in theory if not practice, unprecedented access to health care, sexual education and contraception. Alas, social pressures and the adolescent tendency to confuse lust with love frequently conspire to undo this safety net. So, for all the cries from well-intentioned politicians and parents, the UK teen pregnancy rates still dwarf those of our European neighbours. Stockport's Moat House, a unit for teenage mums, may not offer a solution, but, judging by this moving documentary, it provides something more valuable: an adequate response.

Addressing the immediate and long-term consequences of their plight, Moat House's pupils are offered valuable lessons in parenting and, more crucially, a chance to continue their education.

Amid the inevitable tales of absent boyfriends, two figures dominate. With a sense of self-assurance seemingly at odds with her youth, 13-year-old Kayleigh is intelligent and innately likeable. And, with her supportive extended family rallying to her aid, her touching emotional journey suggests Juno as remade by Mike Leigh.

Meanwhile, Kayleigh's teacher, herself the adopted child of a teenage mother, displays both empathy for her young charges and a heroic commitment to change. Teaching a class on Jane Eyre, she's keen to emphasise its most pertinent lesson: the misfortunes of youth need not be a barrier to adult fulfilment.

BEST ARTS

The South Bank Show
STV, today, 10.50pm

Lauded for his gripping Red Riding Quartet, David Peace is one of the few British crime novelists whose work stands comparison with the American giants of the genre. Yet, as Melvyn Bragg reveals here, there's more to this scribe than his celebrated brand of Yorkshire Noir. As the BBC prepares to film his sporting novel The Damned United, Peace discusses his influences, reveals his acute sense of dislocation, and explains the unlikely inspiration behind his "occult history" of Brian Clough.

Also try: Genesis Night (BBC4, Friday, from 9pm). The BBC celebrates Phil Collins and co with a night devoted to the Prog Rock survivors

BEST COMEDY

The Colbert Report
FX, tomorrow to Friday, 11pm

Most faux TV presenters, however entertaining they initially seem, are quickly scuppered by the law of diminishing returns. Even the peerless Alan Partridge only really achieved longevity after being banished from his chat show comfort zone. Thankfully, Steve Colbert, the host of this long-running but only recently exported American satire show, seems to be an exception to the rule.

A Fox News-inspired "Megamerican" with a neat line in neologisms, a pathological aversion to Earth logic and a tub-thumping commitment to an ideal he calls "Truthiness", Colbert is both an inspired comic creation and, in his own mind at least, the most important American anchorman since Walter Cronkite. Little wonder that only the bravest American politicians dare confront this aggressively "eneagled" commentator.

Also try: Love Soup (BBC1, Saturday, 10.10pm). Alice confronts her romantic destiny as the bittersweet sitcom finishes its current run

BEST TRAVEL

Wild China
BBC2, today, 8.05pm

Thanks to Beijing's long-standing mistrust of western media, China's tantalising vistas have seldom been glimpsed on our screens; an oversight corrected with considerable élan by this spectacular new series.

In this inaugural episode we venture into the sub-tropical wilds of southern China. What is revealed is an astonishing landscape where peasant farmers plough with domesticated water buffalo, fishermen are assisted by tame cormorants and mysterious limestone caverns hide wondrous rock formations. And, while it's generally a redundancy of terms to describe any of the BBC's recent travelogues as stunning, this is a programme of extraordinary beauty.

Also try: Dan Cruickshank's Adventures In Architecture (BBC2, Wednesday, 9pm). Cruickshank continues his odyssey with a visit to the ancient towers of Yemen