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For broadcasters, Easter is a bit of a head-scratcher. It's a public holiday, like Christmas, so in theory they ought to make a bit of a fuss of it. Except, of course, at Christmas everyone's kettled inside, desperate for anything to distract them from drunken relatives arguing about Brexit, whereas at Easter we're all supposed to be in the fields and taking part in various chocolate egg hunts around posh properties. With the return of light evenings and (in theory at least) sunshine, it's just not telly weather.

There are still a handful of big guns being wheeled out over the weekend, though - not least the long-awaited return of Doctor Who (Saturday, BBC1, 7.20pm) after an 18-month lay-off. It's the final run for Peter Capaldi's fabulously flinty Time Lord, and also for outgoing showrunner Steven Moffat, who's promised a 'back to basics' approach with more emphasis on fun and adventure after the darkness of recent series. Opening episode The Pilot (see what they did there?) certainly lives up to that billing, introducing new companion Bill Potts, winningly played by Pearl Mackie, in a witty adventure that's best described as a sci-fi remake of Educating Rita. Yes, really.

The Time Lord faces a deadlier enemy than Daleks, though, in Simon Cowell and Britain's Got Talent (Saturday, IT( 8pm). Fellow judges Amanda Holden, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon are all back in the harness, too, along with hosts Ant and Dec, who have hinted this may be their last time playing ringmaster to BGT's honkers novelty circus of singers, comedians, dance troupes and, of course, dogs.

The weekend's 'big film', as they • used to say in the era before movies on demand, is Guardians Of The Galaxy (Easter Monday, BBC1, 8.30pm). Chris Pratt leads a gang of intergalactic misfits, including a smart-mouthed raccoon and a walking tree (just go with it) in Marvel's fizzy, laugh-out-loud 2014 space adventure, making its terrestrial debut just days before the sequel arrives in cinemas.

We're soon going to need a new cliche to describe Rowan Atkinson, as the 'rubber-faced funnyman' plays Chief Inspector Maigret so straight, he's virtually immobile. Maigret's Night At The Crossroads (Easter Sunday, ITV, 8pm) is Atkinson's third outing as Georges Simenon's French sleuth, this time investigating the murder of a diamond merchant at a country mansion.

The detectives everyone will be talking about, though, are Alec Hardy and Ellie Miller (David Tennant and Olivia Colman), closing their final case in the last Broadchurch (Easter Monday, ITV, 9pm). After the gripping first run, Chris Chibnall's muddled second series came as a disappointment, so it's been a joy to see it find its feet again in this compelling farewell outing, ensuring one of TV's all-time greats goes out on a high. Definitely worth staying in for.

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A round up of TV this Easter weekend - Revision history

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