What to watch on TV this week: The top 7 shows, from 'DI Ray' to 'The Staircase'

Wondering what to watch on TV this week?

It's a drama-packed schedule this week with some exciting new launches including DI Ray as well as the return of The Terror, but there's also the MasterChef final to look forward to.

Read more: Everything new streaming on Netflix this May

Here's our pick of the seven must-see shows this week.

What to watch on TV, Monday 2 May - Sunday 8 May, 2022

DI Ray - Monday - Thursday, 9pm, ITV

Line Of Duty's Maneet Bindra actor Maya Sondhi has written this new police procedural, with her old showrunner Jed Mercurio as executive producer.

You may think you know what you're getting from that combination, but it offers a fresh take on the genre with a look at identity and racism as DI Ray (Parminder Nagra) struggles with what she feels is a tokenistic appointment to a serious crime case.

Read more: Line Of Duty star landed Jed Mercurio collaboration by volunteering to be killed off

The series airs across four consecutive nights this week.

Davina McCall: Sex, Mind and the Menopause - Monday, 9pm, Channel 4

We've heard a lot about Davina McCall's work on her menopause documentary, and on Monday we finally get to see the finished article.

The TV presenter might have started making it a while ago, but it couldn't be more timely in the light of the current national HRT shortage.

MasterChef Finals Week - Tuesday - Thursday, 8pm, BBC One

It feels as though this series of MasterChef has only just begun, but we're already at finals week which will air across three nights.

Challenges include a trip to County Cork and a terrifying day working for Gordon Ramsay in his London restaurant, before John Torode and Gregg Wallace pick their champion and change the winner's life.

The Staircase - Thursday, 9pm, Sky Atlantic

If you watched the gripping Netflix documentary of the same name about Kathleen Peterson's death and her author husband Michael's apparent involvement, you won't want to miss this dramatisation.

Colin Firth and Toni Collette star as the couple, charting their troubled relationship and Michael's trial after he called in Kathleen's death to police claiming that she had fallen down the stairs at home.

Read more: All you need to know about drama adaptation The Staircase

Of course, viewers of the true crime original series will know there was a lot more to it than a misstep on the staircase...

The Dry - Thursday, BritBox

Streaming service BritBox continues its bid to draw in more subscribers, this time with new comedy-drama series The Dry.

The Fall's Roisin Gallagher stars as Shiv, a former hard partier who's returned home to Dublin from London determined to stay sober - which proves as difficult for her family as it is for her.

The Terror - Friday, 9pm, BBC Two

Menacing historical drama The Terror returns for a second series, although obviously, given the comprehensive nature of the series one finale, it's a completely different cast and story.

Read more: The Tourist boosts BBC iPlayer to its strongest ever quarter

This time, the real-life mystery being dramatised is the Japanese folklore of bakemono, an uncanny spectre that threatens a Japanese American community from their Southern California home through to their Pacific battles in World War II.

Episodes one and two air on Friday night.

British Academy Television Awards - Sunday, 6pm, BBC One

One of TV's glitziest nights of the year is brought to your living room on Sunday, where the biggest stars of the small screen will gather to celebrate the best telly of the past 12 months.

Look out for nominees including Kate Winslet, Olly Alexander and Stephen Graham, with nominations for TV favourites such as It's A Sin, Time, An Audience with Adele and Strictly Come Dancing.

Watch: Colin Firth and Toni Collette star in drama adaptation of The Staircase