WHAT TO WATCH

ITV1, 9pm

A ROYAL GRAND DESIGN

This documentary has been more than 10 years in the making. Richard E Grant narrates how, in 2007, the Prince of Wales (Duke of Rothesay in Scotland), as he then was, bought Dumfries House, a Palladian mansion in Ayrshire, along with all its original 18th-century furniture. It cost £45million and was purchased through a consortium led by his charity, the Prince’s Foundation, whose vision is to “provide holistic solutions to challenges facing the world today”. In 2010, a film crew started following the project, and we see restorers and conservators at work on the Chippendale furniture, but it’s the

King’s ambitious – and, to some, controversial – plans beyond the house that are most interesting.

He took this “appalling risk”, he says, “to try and make a difference to the local area… because it has been so deprived since the loss of the mining industry”. The “heritageled regeneration” project was to make the house financially self-sustaining, and build a horticultural and education centre, an outdoor adventure centre, an artists’ studio and a teaching farm on the estate – creating local jobs in a green economy. His benign social engineering is still a work in progress but his heart is definitely in the right place. Veronica Lee interview about her long career, and discusses previously unseen footage – much of it shot by her late husband, the musician John Dankworth.

THE ICE CREAM WARS BBC Two, 9.10pm

The conclusion of this gripping documentary, which includes an interview with one of the two men found guilty of a murderous arson attack on a van driver and his family, covers the 20-year fight to clear their names. The convictions were quashed and the killers remain unknown.