If only all science teachers were as sexy as Prof Brian Cox, there would be no skills gap among school-leavers.

Brian is back, with a Tuesday night primetime slot (Human Universe, BBC2, 9pm) for the next five weeks to ponder life’s big questions while accompanied by epic strings and shots of starry skies. He even dons a cosmonaut’s space suit for this series to utter meaningful soliloquies about our place in the universe, which is always a pretty far-out joy, whatever state you happen to find yourself in on a Tuesday evening.

But, it’s not just Brian on a mission to teach. Learning can come from anywhere, even the most seemingly hollow sources. These are a few educational highlights gleaned from a week’s telly viewing. None are as profound as Brian’s pronouncements, but he is the don.

1 It is possible to look ubersexy while hanging upside down, channelling your inner bat. America’s Next Top Model (Thursdays, 8pm, Sky Living) – which was bonkers viewing at the best of times – has cranked up the crazy. Tyra Banks and her acid-tongued fellow judges have this week been catfighting over the final five would-be supermodels using whichever mad idea pops into their heads – such as tying their young clotheshorses by their feet and suspending them from the joists of a Balinese temple. In lots of eye make-up. Surrounded by flying rodents. Make of this what you will.

2 Bob Monkhouse was a legend. The Marmite performer (backing Maggie Thatcher’s campaign to boost his popularity was not his finest hour) has always been oddly magnetic to me, but BBC Four’s The Secret Life Of Bob Monkhouse (BBC4 Sunday – now on iPlayer) has fed an obsession.

Footage of him being sacked live on air during The Golden Shot and given a leaving gift – a lame pen – under the watchful lens while offering witty asides to the camera, was more compelling than any fly-on-the-wall mockumentary.

We also got to marvel at a few of Bob’s cheesiest jokes – example: “My father was ruined by hard drink. He sat on an icicle.” Love him, hate him – you decide.

3 Nice Cheryl is much more uplifting viewing than Nasty Cheryl, but nowhere near as entertaining. This week, all four X-Factor judges whipped their young proteges off to a glamorous location. Louis took his groups to Bermuda, including the infuriating American sisters Blonde Electra (a pair even Tulisa branded cringeworthy after their rendition of Kanye West’s Gold Digger). But the land of sun and shorts seems to have short-circuited his brain (he put Blonde Electra through) as well as those of his fellow croon-critics.

Cheryl Whatshernamenow was more smily and huggy outside the arena, with Tinie Tempah by her side in the stunning yachtside vista of glamorous Nice (funny that) but did not put Lola through which shows money can buy you glamour, but not taste.

4 Derren Brown is the ultimate master of mind control and we should all worship at his feet.

His sell-out show Infamous, screened on Channel 4, resulted in the king of illusion, memory and stagecraft reducing me to tears at the surreal finale.

Meanwhile, if you prefer your illusionists to look like a 1970s-era Kate Bush, with piercing eyes, wafty hair and amazing cheekbones, then head to Watch which has commissioned a new series of Katherine Mills: Mind Games (Watch, Thursdays, 9pm).

This mix of magic, psychology and sociology is a welcome slice of female (93 per cent of the Magic Circle are still men) but simply does not mesmerise the same way as the engaging Derren.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.