Unless you're a real fissure freak, making the subject of geology an interesting one presents something of a challenge, writes Sian Brewis. BBC One has decided to tackle it by launching a charm offensive.

Two of their most amiable presenters, Hugh Dennis and Julia Bradbury, marvel at nature in The Great British Countryside (BBC 1, 8pm).

She's made for the bracing air, is Julia, a very likeable, athletic type who is the closest thing the BBC has to a Going for a Nice Country Walk correspondent.

Here she journeys underground to explore limestone caves which have been hewn for centuries.

There are blacked candle marks left behind from Saxon times and signatures there scrawled back in 1750, and "wow," breathes Julia. "That's a proper we woz here mark."

In Devon and Cornwall, as everywhere else in the country, the rocks have been twisted, heated, amalgamated and moulded into a remarkable "mixed lasagne", as one expert put it.

Here, rocky outcrops create the breathtaking gloom of Dartmoor, while in Cornwall, the muddy clay pits are so soft that artists can scrape them up with their hand and take it away to their modelling studios.

In Tintagel, the copper-rich seam discovered by geologists could be worth a fortune, as a rock sample glitters obliging for its close-up.

Hugh, meanwhile, is given the fun stuff: watching people dive into smugglers' coves, a helicopter ride to a lighthouse, and meeting pit ponies.

He also reveals an unexpected talent for limbo. As they lean into the bracing Cornish wind, he almost manages to go horizontal.

"It's a very British thing to be standing here in November," he says, as the waves crash around him in his sensible kagool. "But I love it."

After the mawkishness of Valentine's Day, Strictly Soulmates (BBC 3, 7pm) was a thoroughly entertaining hour of romance in the real world.

Chirpy, charming Jason, 23, of Essex, was looking for love online, in the pub, abroad – anywhere. His mates were helping, too.

"Take out gambling," one advises, on seeing his online profile.

Richard, 27, is trying to pluck up courage to tell his parents about his non-Jewish girlfriend Laura (going on telly ought to do it). Natalie, meanwhile, was having to face up to the fact that she may have been a little picky.

"He has to be tall," she tells matchmaker Linda. "At least 5ft 10, has to be intelligent, has to be ambitious, good job, strong academic background..."

Linda's face pales: "You're making a bit of a list here." she says, gently. "That's why I'm single!" says Natalie, only half joking.