The must-see TV this week: From The Apprentice and Strictly finals to The Witcher

Competitions, fantasy dramas and brutal documentaries make up the best telly for the next seven days

It’s less than two weeks until Christmas and the British public is in that strange state of limbo where we’ve just had the election results but it’s not quite acceptable to drown our sorrows with alcohol at breakfast just yet – so many of us will be seeking distraction on our televisions.

Competition finals, from Strictly to The Apprentice, lead the charge this week and there’s a new series from the writer of Doctor Foster to get stuck into over three consecutive nights.

There’s also a new Netflix drama that’s being pegged as “the next Game of Thrones” and a documentary about female cage-fighting – both of which look gloriously un-Christmassy.

Check out the best telly of the next seven days, below.

Strictly Come Dancing: The Final

Saturday at 7.05pm on BBC1​

CBBC presenter Karim Zeroual sashays into the final three (BBC)

While it appears that the Strictly curse may have died down this year, the show has still made its fair share of headlines: almost 200 complaints were made when a same-sex couple danced together and there have been a multitude of different injuries. Now it’s time for the three remaining couples – Anton du Beke and Emma Barton, Kelvin Fletcher and Oti Mabuse and Amy Dowden and Karim Zeroual – to compete in the final for a chance of lifting the Glitterball trophy that Stacey Dooley won last year.

Sticks and Stones

Monday at 9pm on ITV

Suited and booted: Ken Nwosu takes the lead in ‘Sticks and Stones’ (ITV)

Doctor Foster writer Mike Bartlett is back with a new three-part thriller about office politics and bullying in the workplace. “Something in us breaks if we are not respected, we’re bullied, or we are pushed to a point deliberately – something in all of us that becomes animalistic. And I find that fascinating,” Bartlett recently told The Independent.

Inside the Cage: The Rise of Female Fighters

Tuesday at 10.35pm on BBC1​​

Cage rage: MMA fighter Molly McCann (Rex)

This documentary follows women who compete in Mixed Martial Arts, a brutal sport combining 15 combat disciplines, in order to build themselves a better life. It’s not for the faint-hearted – no eye-gouging is one of the few rules of the sport – and champion Molly “Meatball” McCann has an extensive list of gruesome injuries.

The Apprentice

Wednesday at 9pm on BBC1​

Lord Sugar picks his new business partner in ‘The Apprentice’ final (BBC/PA)

This series of The Apprentice has been marred with racism claims against controversial contestant Lottie Lion, who was recently banned from speaking to press after she criticised the channel’s bosses for the way she had been treated. Despite almost making it to the end of the competition, she won’t be in the final. Instead, Scarlett Allen-Horton and Carina Lepore will be battling it out for Lord Sugar’s cash.

The Witcher

Friday on Netflix

Monster hunter: Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in ‘The Witcher’ (Netflix)

This new series stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter who inhabits a world known as The Continent. His character teams up with a powerful sorceress and young princess – here played by Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan, respectively – to battle interdimensional demons. According to first reactions, the show’s battle scenes “make Game of Thrones’ look awful”.