FACTUAL 7 TO WATCH.

10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LOSING WEIGHT, BBC1, Wednesday, 8pm: Medical journalist Michael Mosley looks at the latest scientific breakthroughs in slimming. He investigates the benefits of eating soup (healthy but potentially very dull), how the brain responds to skipping meals and how low-fat dairy products contribute to weight loss.

UNCOVERING OUR EARLIEST ANCESTOR, BBC1, Tuesday, 9pm: Sir David Attenborough brings viewers the story behind what could be one of the most important scientific discoveries of the 21st century. He is set to throw extraordinary new light on our understanding of human evolution, by showing the University of Oslo's two-year journey to secretly analyse a fossil called Ida who could be the first link to all humans.

SOUTH PACIFIC, BBC2, Sunday, 8.30pm: The epic journeys of sperm whales from one side of the ocean to the other in search of food and a mate are among the featured items in this episode of the stunningly-shot series. Plus the tropical penguins and sea lions of the Galapagos Islands.

You may want to look away when the sharks hunt the poor albatross chicks.

THE INCREDIBLE HUMAN JOURNEY, BBC2, Sunday, 9.30pm: Dr Alice Roberts examines the journey of mankind's ancestors from Africa to Europe and how homo sapiens managed to survive the harsh Ice Age conditions, plus see off the Neanderthals with their bigger brains.

WHO'S WATCHING YOU, BBC2, Monday, 9pm: With millions of CCTV cameras and one of the largest DNA databases, the UK has become one of the mostwatched places in the world. This new series explores the hidden world of surveillance to ask whether being watched makes us more secure or is an unnecessary and unregulated intrusion into our privacy.

GOING POSTAL, BBC2, Monday, 10pm: This film looks at five high school, campus and workplace shootings which have cast a shadow over American society over the last 20 years. Featuring interviews with relatives of the victims and perpetrators, plus one of the killers, it asks what causes such violent behaviour.

MY EXTREME MAKEOVER MISERY, ITV1, Friday, 8pm: Fiona Foster talks to woman who have undergone multiple cosmetic surgery and are counting the cost with psychological problems, painful teeth and leaking breast implants..