Hi Most now do 3 time zones and 7 day mine came from screwfix and
combined with a digital stat that has 2 periods this combination
should be enough for any one. and the mostly do use the standard plate.

A have a programmable room thermostat (Sunvic) which can have up to 12
on-off periods a day. However, it can only be switched an hourly intervals.
You'd need to replace your room thermostat with it and set your original
programmer to always on.

Christian.