Sometimes in life you have to set yourself a challenge. But at a certain age you realise the options are perhaps limited, to wild swimming, reading Don Quixote in Spanish - or plumping the backside on a sofa and watching a TV series that began 10 years ago.

Now, I don’t like the cold, my Spanish is rustier than my old mountain bike so tackling Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (BBC1) it is.

Yes, you may wonder why this Wolf task wasn’t embarked upon a decade ago, and there are several reasons for this. One, I can’t really remember. Two, I think Hilary Mantel’s version of Thomas Cromwell’s ascent to power in the reign of Henry V111 was declared a little fanciful by some historians. And Three, well perhaps I didn’t fancy Mark Rylance in the lead at all; is he truly one of Britain’s greatest actors who does wonders with meaningful silences and the merest arch of an eyebrow – or is he simply imbued with having major talent? Is he attempting to register acute deliberation - or about to wreak magnificent malevolence.

Or perhaps he’s simply wondering what to have for his tea.

Regardless, I took to the sofa to see what all the fuss was about. But the job in hand was as awkward as dropping in on your auntie unannounced, only to discover she’s entertaining the bloke from the British Legion.

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There’s the history to catch up with; already Wolf Hall has revealed the king’s marriage to Katherine of Aragon, his break with Rome, the crowning of Anne Boleyn and this week . . . well, the valves in the telly had barely warmed up before Anne Boleyn and her head had parted company.

That said, it was easy to catch up with Cromwell and co, thanks to some clever, subtle low key writing by Peter Straughan. This deliciously Machiavellian character is now Lord Privy Seal, displacing Anne’s father, Thomas Boleyn and creating a whole new strata of enemies. Meanwhile, TC is faced with the task of bringing Henry’s rebel daughter Mary to heel, knowing if he can’t then her head will fall into the same wicker basket as that of her dad’s dead wife.

Yes, the cinematography was a little too atmospheric, (all shot in natural, or candle light) which created an expensive wedding venue atmosphere. And at one point the imperial ambassador and Cromwell have a meeting during a thunderstorm, which should have resulted in the director being placed on the cliché naughty step for a few hours. But overall, the task was worth taking on. And Rylance’s meaningful silences actually worked well when underscored by a little recorder, or dainty lute music.

But at the heart of the success of the series is tension, the drama underpinned by the knowing that King Henry, a certifiable psychopath, is capable of having anyone axed at any moment – literally. And what (sadly) helped in the immediate accessibility to the series was the stark realisation that mankind has travelled no distance really since the 16th century. Crazed dictators are very much the order of the day.

And we’re very much in an era where royalty controls billions in revenue (see last week’s Dispatches on Channel 4). Still, we occupy tiny space alongside the avaricious and the ruthless.

Having braved the braved the challenge of exploring new (to me) television, it was time to fly off into a world of someone who is entirely off the scale when it comes to flying in the face of danger head on.

Liam Byrne, a wingsuit pilot from StonehavenLiam Byrne, a wingsuit pilot from Stonehaven (Image: free)The Boy Who Can Fly (BBC2) told the story of 23-year-old Liam Byrne, a wingsuit pilot from Stonehaven. For those who don’t know what a wingsuit pilot is, imagine putting on a plastic suit covering that looks just slightly stronger than the stuff that comes with your drycleaned suit - and then leaping off the top of a mountain twice the size of anything Scotland has to offer.

However, this wasn’t just a story of a young man who loves the adrenaline rush that comes with near death experience on almost every flight. It’s about how he views the alternative in life. Liam, we learned, doesn’t fear death. He fears an office job and ordinariness. You get the sense that in another time he’d have been exploring the Antarctic or Africa. “Every time I walk to the edge of the cliff to take off I become that 13 year-old who dreamed of flying,” he says, wistfully.

Liam Byrne’s crazy, peripatetic life spent travelling Europe to find the best flying arenas, has no room for girlfriends. Nor second thoughts. He prepares, he jumps, and he soars like an eagle. He needs to fly. And all we can do is watch him. And pray that his every landing is pillow soft.

Big Adventure: Paris to Istanbul Big Adventure: Paris to Istanbul (Image: free)You become aware very quickly that the very likeable Sue Perkins’ latest travelogue Big Adventure: Paris to Istanbul (Channel 4) doesn’t feature much risk taking at all, apart from a little tummy ache from eating crickets, or getting a head cold as she takes a sports car to Munich. The risk does exist however, but relates to the viewers who senses are stunned by the lack of inspiration which has gone into this awfy dull series.