FROM October 22-31 the Tower of London will be holding special Halloween nights. “Watched over by the ravens, you’ll follow in the footsteps of our infamous prisoners as you wander the Tower grounds at the spookiest time of the year,” the website promises. “Immerse yourself in mystical projections and eerie sound effects as we bring the spirit world closer than ever before.”

If you’ve read Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy there is no need for any special effects to enhance the Tower’s spookiness. What hideous deeds were performed within those walls. Pass the place at night and shivers scurry down the back, regardless of the time of year.

Most visitors experience the place as it is seen in Inside the Tower of London (Channel 5, Thursday, 8pm). As the fifth series begins, the Tower is preparing for the platinum jubilee celebrations. To mark the occasion the moat will be transformed into a river of flowers, all grown from seed and meant to be in bloom for the final weekend of the jubilee. But no pressure.

Also in the first episode we follow trainee Beefeater Emma Rousell, only the third woman in the job, as she prepares for her final exam. The yeoman warders, to give them their proper title, need to know “the story” before they can conduct guided tours. To do that, some 21 pages of facts and figures must be memorised and delivered in an entertaining way.

The rest of the episode is a must for Mantelites as chief curator Tracy Borman takes up the story of Thomas Cromwell. We see the room where the consummate political operator questioned“suspects”, and Borman plays a visit to the grand home he had built for himself in the City. Cromwell used the Tower so often that it must have seemed part of his private fiefdom. Then the tides and times changed, the King turned on Cromwell, and when he next arrived in the Tower it was as a prisoner.

Did you get the memo about the BBC turning 100? The corporation has made a programme or two to mark the occasion, and I believe the dancers on this week’s Strictly will be twirling to BBC theme tunes. Should be interesting.

For something funnier than Tony Adams’ choice of shorts, there is Love Box in Your Living Room (BBC2, Thursday, 9pm).

Written by and starring Harry Enfield, the cast also includes his mucker Paul Whitehouse and an assortment of other faces.

Love Box in Your Living Room is a mockumentary history of the BBC done in the fever-dream style of filmmaker Adam Curtis (whose brilliant series, Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone, is on iPlayer). In short, it’s a mash-up of archive footage and gags, and very amusing it is too.

One of Whitehouse’s tasks is playing BBC founder John Reith, a man who “despite being Scottish had an optimistic view of life”. It was Reith who had a dream that one day there would be the titular “love box” in every home. Well, no, not really. Believe it or not there is much here that simply isn’t true.

While the comedy could have been edgier in places it can still land a punch. Among those who should probably give the programme a miss are Richard Curtis, Tony Blair, and someone called “Raised by Dingoes”, whoever that might be.

Before Love Box there’s much adoration on display in Antiques Roadshow: 100 Years at the BBC (BBC1, Sunday, 5.45pm). Filmed for the most part at Alexandra Palace in London, the birthplace of TV, this special edition of The Royle Family’s favourite show features memorable moments alongside the memorabilia.

Among the famous faces turning up at Ally Pally is Playschool legend, Baroness Floella Benjamin. She brings two friends with her by the names of Humpty and Jemima. Not the originals, they are in a museum, but the rehearsal versions Floella was allowed to keep.

There are clips from previous Roadshows where BBC memorabilia featured. You might recognise a certain someone from the Edinburgh programme who brought along the most menacing looking office chair ever seen. It’s Sally Magnusson of course, and the chair was presented to her father when he finished his run as quiz master on Mastermind. If you look closely you can still see where the paint is chipped away on the arms. Some poor contestant heading for a low score perhaps.

Kate Adie, doyenne of war reporters, turns up with a few treasured pieces. Among them are the dog tags she wore while reporting on the first Gulf War (no penicillin in case you are wondering).

Finally, the sisterhood is back, doing it for themselves, as The Handmaid's Tale (Channel 4, Sunday, 9pm), returns for series number five. Heaven help the patriarchy.