British builders have been subjected to fairly tough scrutiny in recent TV exposes, but The Builders, a new eight-part documentary series on their lives, work and reputations, starting tonight on BBC 1, 8.30 p.m., seems to redress the balance a little.
As the German bosses decide the fate of thousands of Rover car workers in Britain, The Money Programme, Sunday BBC 2, 7.30 p.m., focuses on British industry and asks whether it is terminally uncompetitive. The programme comes from Birmingham where workers, employers and policy-makers debate the current state of business and possible remedies to bring back those lost orders.
The final programme in Raising the Roof, Monday, BBC 2, 8 p.m., the series investigating the darker side of housing professionals in Britain, focuses on Freeholders and their exploitative practices.
The reality of life as a fireman is captured in a new six-part documentary series, D-Watch, starting on Monday, RTE 1, 8.30 p.m. It was filmed over two months last summer in the Phibsborough station in Dublin and captures all the drama and stress of work in a fire station.
Workers at War continues on Tuesday, BBC 1, 9.40 p.m., with Wanted, a film on the pressures facing the modern worker attempting to get a job in today's ruthlessly-competitive marketplace.
House Proud, Tuesday, BBC 2, 8 p.m., focuses on people in Britain who have opted to build their own homes. It follows several projects over a year and provides a survival guide to building, from a ready-made kit home to an architect-designed house or elaborate conversion.
The personal finance programme, Your Money Or Your Life, returns to BBC 2, on Tuesday, 8.30 p.m. for a new series. It offers financial advice and also looks at the psychology behind people's attitudes to money.
Mick Sheehan spent 20 years building a career but gave it all up to return to farming. Ear to the Ground, Tuesday, RTE 1, 8.30 p.m., shows how Mick and his father are exploring new ways of keeping the 50-cow dairy herd going on the family farm.
Good business is all about good timing, and Vogue magazine, that icon of glamour and fashion, couldn't have chosen a worse time for its multi-million pound launch in post-Communist Russia.
Four days before the first issue, the Russian government devalued the rouble and the exchange rate went haywire. Trouble at the Top: To Russia With Vogue, Wednesday, BBC 2, 9.50 p.m., follows the struggles of the team to produce the world's glossiest magazine in the middle of economic meltdown.
