What’s on TV tonight: Michael Portillo’s Long Weekends, Wetherspoons vs Toby Carvery and more

Friday 19 April

Michael Portillo’s Long Weekends
Channel 5, 9pm
After another week of train-based travelogues over on BBC Two (6.30pm), the ever-effervescent Michael Portillo is on the move again for Channel 5. In this absorbing three-part travelogue, he takes us on a trio of long weekends to some of his favourite European cities. Tonight’s first stop is the Spanish capital of Madrid: “A place that has set my heart racing since I was a boy.” Portillo revels in Madrid’s rich history and culture, sampling the restaurants, bars and landmarks it has to offer. The show’s charm, however, lies in its accessibility. Structured across three days, and filled with practical tips and recommendations, this is a trip that feasibly anyone could do.

Take Sobrino de Botín, officially the oldest restaurant in the world, which specialises in traditional suckling pigs; or the opulent Royal Palace of Madrid, home to almost 3,500 rooms, which is open to the public 360 days of the year. Even the Teatro Real opera house, which welcomes Portillo behind the scenes, is open seven days a week. What is not easily attainable however is Portillo’s emotional connection with Spain. He becomes visibly moved when he talks about how the Spanish Civil War tore his family apart. SK

Sugar
Apple TV+
Colin Farrell’s hardboiled PI is sucked further into the seediness of Hollywood this week, as his investigation into the disappearance of Olivia (Sydney Chandler) strays into Harvey Weinstein-esque territory. Also on Apple TV+ today: episode four of Michael Douglas’s American Revolution drama Franklin and episode seven of Abraham Lincoln conspiracy thriller Manhunt.

Wetherspoons vs Toby Carvery: Which is Better
Channel 5, 7pm
“Posh food critic” Philippa Davis reviews food from Wetherspoons and Toby Carvery – two of Britain’s cheapest menus – “like she would a fancy restaurant”. Davis is a good sport, although she cannot hide her disgust of Toby Carvery’s mac-and-cheese Yorkshire pudding wrap.

Unreported World
Channel 4, 7.30pm
Reporter Kiran Moodley travels to Columbia University, New York, to find out how the war in Gaza has created a freedom of speech crisis in America’s universities. Pro-Palestinian students argue that Columbia banning protests means it is shutting down criticism of Israel. Those in charge, meanwhile, insist that they have a responsibility to all who study and teach on campus.

Beyond Paradise
BBC One, 8pm
A woman has been found wounded on the moors with an arrow in her back. The thing that mystifies Kris Marshall’s DI Humphrey, however, is how the attacker was able to shoot her in such a wide open space without being seen. The truth is hidden amid a feud about protecting the environment of local peregrine falcons.

Have I Got News For You
BBC One, 9pm
Alexander Armstrong returns to the hosting chair for a whopping 41st time. Could this make him the new Angus Deayton? He will certainly hope not. Fittingly, he will be joined by fellow regular Jo Brand, who is the runner-up with 28 appearances as host. Tonight, she is content to be a panellist.

Disclosure: Dead Man Running
BBC Two, 9pm; NI, 12.05am; not Wales
In 2019, an “eccentric” Inverness street trader called Kim Avis fled to the US before he could stand trial for charges of rape and sexual assault. A couple of days later in California he attempted to fake his death. This disturbing documentary, which originally aired on BBC Scotland, tells the story of how American police brought him to justice.

Asphalt City (2023) ★★
Amazon Prime Video  
Asphalt City follows Ollie Cross (Tye Sheridan), a young paramedic assigned to the NYC night shift with seasoned partner Gene Rutkovsky (Sean Penn). The dark nights reveal a city in crisis: crime, violence and death lurk on every corner. With Rutkovsky’s guidance, Cross tries to keep afloat. The lead performances are solid – Penn, as ever, is supremely watchable – but the dialogue is stilted and the premise rather dull.

Rebel Moon – Part 2: The Scargiver (2024) ★★
Netflix  
Part one of Zack Snyder’s mega-budget sci-fi adventure may have been panned by critics, but the Justice League director doesn’t seem to care – according to him, it was more popular than Barbie. This sequel to the Stars Wars-lite tale follows the rebel agents as they gear up for battle against the evil forces of the Motherworld. Sofia Boutella, Djimon Hounsou and Ed Skrein star. At least the special effects promise to be terrific.

BlackBerry (2023) ★★★★
Sky Cinema Premiere, 8pm  
Among Hollywood’s craze for origin stories (Tetris, Flamin’ Hot, Air), this drama about the rise and fall of the mobile phone company stands out in a flooded market thanks to sheer shock value. It kicks off with brothers Mike (Jay Baruchel) and Doug (Matt Johnson) pitching their tech; it descends into a story of hubris and warning, as the BlackBerry goes from the Noughties most coveted accessory to a mere relic in the post-iPhone era.

Dark Waters (2019) ★★★★
BBC Two, 11.05pm  
Mark Ruffalo really proved his chops in this pacy legal drama. He plays up-and-coming attorney Robert Bilott, a new partner at an old-school firm in West Virginia who becomes embroiled in a national scandal: a multi-million dollar chemical plant is polluting local rivers and farms and killing cattle. Think a male spin on Erin Brockovich; Todd Haynes (May December), who always directs with courage and verve, is at his best.

Saturday 20 April

60 Songs: BBC Two at 60
BBC Two, 8.25pm
When BBC Two launched, on this day in 1964, its remit was to provide the kind of highbrow programming underserved by the more populist BBC One and ITV. That focus, for better or worse, has blurred over the decades, along with the channel’s identity. To quote one former head of BBC Two, it is the “difficult middle child” of British TV. In recent times, however, the channel has leaned hard on its penchant for nostalgia – and music. Hence why tonight’s 60th birthday celebration is essentially a beefed-up version of the various “Artist at the BBC” programming it airs most weekends: a four-hour compilation of 60 songs that have been performed on the channel over the past 60 years.

You can expect clips of Joni Mitchell on In Concert in the 1970s; Stormzy and the Rolling Stones at Glastonbury; Adele and Kylie Minogue on Later... with Jools Holland; Bob Marley and Blondie on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Happily, BBC Two are also paying tribute to its history of producing sitcoms so good that they are inevitably poached by BBC One. The first comedy repeat is The Likely Lads, at 6.30pm, followed by classic episodes of Open All Hours, Butterflies and Miranda. SK

Bettany Hughes’ Treasures of the World
Channel 4, 7pm
Georgia was once home to the ancient kingdom of Colchis, where Greek hero Jason was said to have stolen the Golden Fleece. Tonight, a giddy Bettany Hughes explores the facts behind the myth, as well as taking a look at the earliest archaeological evidence of winemaking.

Britain’s Got Talent
ITV1, 7.30pm
After 17 seasons, you might have thought that talented Britons willing to embark on a reality TV career had all been discovered. But this new series, featuring a group of cheerleaders from Coventry, dancing dogs and a comedian prone to performing in a chicken mask, suggest not. Catch Gogglebox-style spin-off BGT Reacts on ITVX.

Our Dream Farm with Matt Baker
Channel 4, 8pm
Running a farm involves more than milking cows and shovelling manure – it also requires an aptitude for business. Tonight’s episode of the farming contest is themed around the applicants’ instincts for marketing and selling produce. Elsewhere, there is disagreement over the best way to take care of newborn lambs.

2024: A Hundred Days that Rocked the Royals
Channel 5, 9pm
The news that both the King and the Princess of Wales have been diagnosed with cancer has made 2024 a difficult year thus far for the Royal family. It has also united the country in concern. Here, their troubles are recapped by a cast of talking heads, who discuss how the Firm can weather the storm, together.

Wisting
BBC Four, 9pm & 9.45pm
The fourth series of the Nordic crime drama comes to a close with a twisty double-bill. Following last week’s botched rescue attempt, suspicion falls on the English parents of missing six-year-old Clifford (Smylie Bradwell). Could they have faked his kidnapping because of financial difficulty?

Traces
BBC One, 9.15pm
The hunt for the Dundee bomber takes an intriguing turn, as two suspects – both militant racists – are brought in for questioning by the police. That doesn’t stop the explosions, however. This week’s episode of the tense crime drama ends with a haunting scene in which we are treated to the vile inner monologue of a misogynistic terrorist. Martin Compston, Laura Fraser and Jennifer Spence star.

Spy Kids (2001) ★★★
ITV2, 4.35pm  
Gregorio (Antonio Banderas) and wife Ingrid (Carla Gugino) quit the world of espionage to raise a family. But after some of the world’s top spies start disappearing, they come out of retirement. When they are seized by evil techno-wizard Fegan Floop (Alan Cumming), only two people can save them – their own children, Carmen and Juni (Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara). Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams is on Sunday at 2.40pm.

Swallows and Amazons (2016) ★★★★
BBC Three, 7pm  
Arthur Ransome’s classic children’s adventure about messing about in boats in the Lake District comes to windblown, wave-tossed life in this absorbing and vivid adaptation by Philippa Lowthorpe. It’s peppy, period-honest and beautiful, and though it does add an alarming subplot involving Soviet spies, the tone is still sweet and heartwarming. Kelly MacDonald and Rafe Spall star.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) ★★★
Channel 4, 9pm  
For any discerning fan, only the first two films in the franchise are worthy of any attention. And so it is for this sequel, which disregards all the intervening films and TV series, with James Cameron resuming creative control for the first time since 1991 and Linda Hamilton returning as Sarah Connor. Arnie’s back, of course, and the result is okay, but nowhere near the brilliance of Terminator 2.

1408 (2007) ★★★★
Film4, 11.25pm  
Mikael Håfström’s spookfest is undoubtedly one of the strongest 21st-century adaptations of a Stephen King horror story (the less said about 2013’s Carrie remake, the better). When cynical supernatural author Mike Enslin (John Cusack) checks into NYC’s haunted Dolphin Hotel – against the wishes of the hotel’s manager (Samuel L Jackson) – he soon realises that his stories are nothing compared to the terrors waiting in his room.

Sunday 21 April

Red Eye
ITV1, 9pm
Fans of schlocky conspiracy thrillers will find much to enjoy in this odd throwback to a time when Britain’s diplomatic relations with China were less icy. Richard Armitage stars as British doctor Matthew Nolan, detained upon arriving home from a conference in Beijing, and despatched back to China – on the basis of trumped-up murder charges – without question by a UK government keen not to derail an imminent nuclear energy deal. The one glowering light on Nolan’s horizon is DC Hana Li (Jing Lusi), the Met Police officer reluctantly assigned to escort him on the flight back, who just happens to have a sister, Jess (Jemma Moore), who’s a rookie investigative reporter.

For an action-packed thriller, tonight’s opening episode (of six, box-setted) – played out in featureless Border Force offices and on a cramped airline passenger deck – is decidedly earthbound despite efforts to milk jeopardy from every unlikely moment. Things do take off eventually, though, and there’s decent entertainment to be had so long as you don’t let minor quibbles (Britain doesn’t actually have an extradition treaty with China) or high expectations get in the way of this tall tale. GO

Our Changing Planet: Restoring Our Reefs
BBC One, 6pm
The excellent series looking at the world’s most endangered ecosystems turns to coral reefs and the extraordinary efforts being made to halt their decline, including IVF programmes in the Maldives, reef construction in Cornwall and Florida, and a bizarre – but effective – “Live Aid for reefs” that involves playing fish-song through speakers to attract baby corals.

Mammals
BBC One, 7pm
Another eye-popping edition explores the wide variety of ways in which mammals have evolved to cope with the cold. From polar bears on Svalbard, to seals in Greenland, arctic foxes in Canada and snow leopards in China, adaptability proves key to survival.

This Town
BBC One, 9pm
Hard as it is to keep up with the multitude of competing storylines in Steven Knight’s ode to the West Midlands of the 1980s, one clear goal appears early on tonight: Dante’s (Levi Brown) assessment that, if he’s to write songs with any maturity, he’ll need to dispose of his virginity. Unfortunately, his unpoetic way of going about it limits his likelihood of success.

Mary Beard Remembers... Civilisation
BBC Four, 9pm
Ahead of a rerun of Kenneth Clark’s influential 1969 cultural-history series, Mary Beard recalls its impact on her as a 13-year-old, and how it set her on a path to academic success and her own broadcasting career. The opening episode, on art in the Dark Ages, follows.

60 Classical Years: BBC Two at 60
BBC Two, 10pm
With six decades of top-notch archive to choose from, there’s a terrific array of talent on display in this three-hour clip-driven extravaganza celebrating 60 years of classical music on BBC Two. Among the highlights are performances by Maria Callas, Jacqueline du Pré, Jessye Norman and Sheku Kanneh-Mason.

Good with David Tennant
BBC Four, 10pm
A welcome opportunity to see David Tennant’s acclaimed performance in the National Theatre’s recent revival of CP Taylor’s chilling play, which depicts the complacency with which many Germans embraced fascism in the 1930s. Sharon Small and Elliot Levey are also hugely impressive, juggling multiple characters in support.

Tea with Mussolini (1999) ★★★★
Channel 5, 11.30am  
An impressive cast of Joan Plowright, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Cher star in this beautiful, if slightly chintzy, semi-autobiographical drama from writer/director Franco Zeffirelli. In Florence, on the brink of war, a young boy is fostered by a group of arty elderly English ladies after his mother dies. But soon the women are taken into custody by Mussolini’s troops. More Dench and Smith follows with 2004’s  Ladies in Lavender.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013) ★★★
ITV1, 12.40pm  
In this sequel to the wacky but wonderful 2009 animation, based on the 1978 children’s book by Judi Barrett, inventor Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader) and friends must rescue the island of Swallow Falls from being overrun by food-mutated animals. It’s no triumph of screenwriting or subtext, but it’s a feast of ingeniously rendered gastronomic insanity.

The Gold Rush (1925, b/w) ★★★★★
Sky Arts, 8pm  
The Gold Rush is a flawless example of Charlie Chaplin’s masterly fusion of comedy and tragedy. The silent film star resumes his “Little Tramp” persona to head deep into the mountains in search of gold; riches that could change his fortunes for the better. On the way, he meets dodgy characters, greedy sellers and ferocious grizzly bears. Chaplin considered it his best, saying it was the film he most wanted to be remembered for.

A Hidden Life (2019) ★★★★★
Channel 4, 12.50am  
American director Terrence Malick found the inspiration for his best film in decades in the horror of the Second World War. A Hidden Life’s first close-up centres on newsreel footage of Hitler, before the drama whirrs to life as we meet Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), who faces execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis. A stunning portrait of human empathy, even in the face of pure evil. Also streaming on C4, given the late hour.

Monday 22 April

The Jinx Part Two
Sky Documentaries, 3am & 9pm
When Andrew Jarecki released his documentary The Jinx back in 2015, no one could have predicted the consequent boom of true-crime media. What was once a fringe genre in TV, radio and literature has uncomfortably become our dominant source of “entertainment”, largely thanks to streaming services such as Netflix (whose countless true-crime hits include Making a Murderer, American Conspiracy and The Murdaugh Murders). The Jinx told the story of New York real-estate heir Robert Durst, who stood accused of murdering his first wife, Kathleen, and two friends.

As any viewer of that series will recall, The Jinx’s collection of interviews (with Durst, psychologists and law enforcement) culminated in a stunning – if slightly dubious – “confession”: “What the hell did I do?” he asked himself. “Killed them all, of course!” This follow-up, released two years after Durst’s death, revisits the case aided with new evidence, including his chilling phone calls from prison. Interestingly, it also considers how the original film’s popularity led to more witnesses coming forward – a thought-provoking riposte to critics who suggest true-crime serves only to exploit. PP

Jamie’s Air Fryer Meals
Channel 4, 8pm
Jamie Oliver’s muscling in on TV’s obsession with air fryers does at least produce some quick and tasty-looking recipes. He rustles up child-friendly chicken and mushroom pastry parcels, a zingy summer dish of Mediterranean vegetables served with a cheat’s flatbread and healthy stuffed salmon.

Golden Age: Milos at Blenheim Palace
Sky Arts, 8pm
Renowned Montenegrin guitarist Miloš Karadaglić performs some of baroque’s most stunning pieces, including the Minuet from Handel’s Suite in B-flat major, from the palatial surroundings of Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.

Blue Lights
BBC One, 9pm
Series two of the Belfast-set cop drama is shaping up to be just as thrilling as the first. Rookie officers Grace (Siân Brooke), Annie (Katherine Devlin) and Tommy (Nathan Braniff) must contend with worsening tensions following a spate of Loyalist attacks, while Jen’s (Hannah McClean) digging leads her firmly to the door of retired bobby Robin (Casualty’s Derek Thompson).

Pompeii: The New Dig
BBC Two, 9pm; NI, 11.15pm
We’re well-versed on the tragedy that occurred when Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, leaving Pompeii in ruins, but the stories of those who managed to escape are rare. Tonight we meet the experts using obscure Latin inscriptions to identify survivors; as well as the fact that the site contains virtually no remains of carts or horses, implying that some did manage to flee.

Martin Clunes: Islands of the Pacific
ITV1, 9pm
The actor’s epic trip takes him to three of the 7,000-plus islands that make up the Philippines archipelago. But it’s not all beaches, idyllic bike rides and primate-spotting – after leaving the capital Manila, he visits the “black magic” island of Siquijor, where activities involve watching a farmer sacrifice a chicken. Eek.

Murder Case: The Digital Detectives
Channel 4, 9pm
Probably not one for viewers prone to queasiness, but this forensics series does offer fascinating insight to the latest technology used by police. Tonight, the body of a 27-year-old man has been found badly burned in a remote forest in Angus, leaving the Scottish team to piece together information and find the killers.

Tiger (2024)
Disney+  
Released to mark Earth Day, Disneynature’s handsome documentary feature brings to life the daily routine (following a culmination of 1,500 days of filming) of a streak of Indian tigers in the vast and bustling jungles. Led by fearless young tigress Amber, who is raising her cubs amid threats from vicious rival predators, including pythons and bears – it’s like a real-life Jungle Book. Indian actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas provides the purring narration.

Miranda’s Victim (2023) ★★★★
Sky Cinema Premiere, 4pm  
A terrific cast – Luke Wilson, Ryan Phillippe, Andy Garcia, Donald Sutherland and Kyle MacLachlan – leads director Michelle Danner’s powerful courtroom drama about a victim of sexual crime in the US in the 1960s. Little Miss Sunshine’s Abigail Breslin plays shy teenager Trish, who is abducted on her way home from the cinema and assaulted; most of the film centres on her gruelling cross-examination.

Funny Pages (2022) ★★★★
Film4, 10.50pm  
This terrific debut feature from young director Owen Kline takes its cue from the best scuzzball comedies of yesteryear, from Charlie Chaplin’s satirical silent films to Ealing Studios’s wartime yarns. Comic-book artist Robert (Daniel Zolghadri) decides to abandon his plans of attending a fancy university and pursue art full-time, much to the chagrin of his parents (Josh Pais and Maria Dizzia). Surprisingly moving and packed with heart.

Tuesday 23 April

Glitter: the Popstar Paedophile
ITV1, 9pm
Unarguably, Erica Gornall’s documentary about Paul Gadd, who sold more than 20 million records as comical glam-rock figurehead Gary Glitter before being convicted of a string of child-sex offences decades later, makes for a skin crawling, distressing watch. Yet it is also an important one. The story of Gadd’s perversions, often hidden in plain sight by dint of his outrageous alter ego, is in one sense familiar. Compared to Jimmy Savile, however, whose depravity was exposed after his death, the most shocking realisation from Glitter is how long Gadd’s was known in the public domain.

Key figures in his prosecutions both here and in South-East Asia carefully and sensitively relate Gadd’s downfall (victims who came forward remain anonymous, their testimony taken from past films). As with Savile, occasional intimations of his activities (most notably with Paula Yates on The Big Breakfast in 1992) were missed. Even a 1993 tabloid splash was more interested in Gadd’s baldness than the fact that he had “schoolgirl sex” with a 14-year-old. Operation Yewtree saw his behaviour treated with long overdue severity, but lessons clearly remain to be learnt. GT

For the Love of Dogs with Alison Hammond
ITV1, 8pm; not UTV
Alison Hammond continues to make a decent job of following the irreplaceable, late Paul O’Grady, her warmth and sense of fun on full display tonight as she follows the journeys of traumatised bulldog Duchess, an abused lurcher and an especially hirsute bichon frisé.

Changing Ends
ITV1, 8.30pm
Having grown up in Northampton in the 1980s, I can attest that Changing Ends’ rich seam of tragi-comedy perfectly fits the region. Alan Carr’s sitcom is wonderfully detailed, heartfelt and blessed by a star-making turn from Oliver Savell as young Alan. Tonight, the schoolyard bullies start to take their toll.

MasterChef
BBC One/BBC Two Wales, 9pm
Another six chefs arrive in the kitchen for week four. With prawns on the menu, three previous finalists among the diners and two slots in the quarter finals up for grabs, there is plenty at stake.

Michael Palin in Nigeria
Channel 5, 9pm
Having lost none of his appetite for new experiences, Michael Palin begins the second leg of his journey in northern Nigeria where, among many absorbing encounters and acute observations, he meets a survivor of the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram and engages in a lively debate over colonial legacy with a visual artist.

Love Triangle
E4, 9pm & Channel 4, 10pm
Few broadcasters can have devoted themselves so determinedly to the search for new dating formats as Channel 4, creators of First Dates and Celebs Go Dating. This new show offers singletons two romantic prospects: one individual proposing what they want, the other providing what they need. After moving in with both of their potential partners, the singleton must choose which one with whom to pursue a relationship.

Democracy on Trial
PBS America, 9.45pm
The reliably authoritative Frontline strand presents an alarming overview of Donald Trump’s federal trial on charges of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election – on one level, a seemingly open-and-shut case, but in legal terms a fiercely complex one whose implications extend far beyond the borders of the USA. With the next election in November, the world will be watching.

The Small Back Room (1948, b/w) ★★★★
Talking Pictures TV, 1.35pm  
In this atmospheric film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, David Farrar plays a bomb-disposal expert whose grumpiness at the British military has led him to alcoholism and misanthropy. His girlfriend (Kathleen Byron) finally has enough and walks out – just as Michael Gough’s Army captain turns up with an offer of work, and perhaps even redemption.

Sherlock Holmes (2009) ★★★
Comedy Central, 9pm  
The mockney maestro Guy Ritchie turns his hand to the great fictional detective in this energetic and explosive reworking of Conan Doyle’s sleuth – which predates the Benedict Cumberbatch BBC phenomenon. Robert Downey Jr is a wry delight in the title role, Jude Law makes for a smart and witty Dr Watson, and Mark Strong hams it up as the evil Lord Blackwood. As usual, Ritchie totally overdoes the flash, but it’s fun nonetheless.

Man on Fire (2004) ★★★★
Film4, 11.25pm  
If you can look past its soppy ending, there are thrills to be had from this redemption tale from director Tony Scott. It stars Denzel Washington as a former CIA assassin who wreaks revenge on the people who kidnapped the nine-year-old child (Dakota Fanning) he’d been hired to protect. Be warned: this adaptation of the AJ Quinnell novel is brutal, violent and more than a little sadistic.

Wednesday 24 April

The Red King
Alibi, 9pm
There’s an impressive cast in this six-part mystery thriller created by Being Human’s Toby Whithouse (the man who will soon be rebooting Bergerac). Anjli Mohindra plays police sergeant Grace Narayan, once a high flyer but now posted (as a punishment, it appears) to the remote – fictional – Welsh island of St Jory, which has more than a touch of The Wicker Man about it. She is handed a cold case – the disappearance of local teenager Cai – but soon butts heads with the islanders, including Marc Warren as Ian Prideaux, Cai’s father and the local GP, Adjoa Andoh as Heather Nancarrow, the lady from the Big House, and Mark Lewis Jones as Gruffudd Prosser, Narayan’s bullish, unhelpful predecessor.

The story is a tantalising mix of police procedural and supernatural drama, as Narayan soon becomes suspicious that the island’s past devotion to a pagan god called the Red King and the cult of the True Way is not, in fact, ancient history. The programme’s creators perhaps try too hard to muster up the atmosphere – all pagan imagery and eerie music – but the cliffhanger at the end of episode one should still draw you in. Available as a box set. VL

The Big Door Prize
Apple TV+
We’re back in Deerfield for the second series of David West Read’s (Schitt’s Creek) excellent fantasy-comedy. The Morpho machine is now asking if people are “ready for the next stage” as Dusty (Chris O’Dowd) and Cass (Gabrielle Dennis) decide to separate, while Hana (Ally Maki) and Father Reuben (Damon Gupton) try to find the machine’s real purpose. Three episodes drop today, with the rest following weekly.

Race Across the World
BBC One, 9pm
The thrilling travel challenge continues as the contestants have to get from Hanoi, Vietnam, to the next checkpoint in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The current leaders, mother-and-daughter Eugenie and Isabel, worry about the language barrier, while their closest rivals, youngsters Alfie and Owen, think that cultural differences may stymie them. Which pair will get eliminated?

Professor T
ITV1, 9pm
The detective drama meanders along as criminology professor Jasper (Ben Miller) lands in more trouble when his biggest rival is murdered at a university conference and he has to prove his innocence.

Great British Sex Scandals: The Earl & the Escort
Channel 5, 9pm
This well-constructed documentary tells the story of the “charming and capricious” 10th Earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, who was murdered in the south of France – where he lived a playboy existence – in 2004. Contributors include journalists, detectives and his estranged wife.

Hold the Front Page
Sky Max, 9pm
How much you’ll enjoy this returning series about local newspapers will depend on how much you like comedians Josh Widdicombe and Nish Kumar – and their hapless reporter’s shtick– as they try to land a front-page article. Tonight they’re working at the Isle of Wight County Press, whose biggest story of the year is Cowes Week – one of the oldest and most respected regattas in the world.

Mammoth
BBC Two, 10pm
The smart time-warp comedy continues as the resurrected Tony Mammoth (Welsh comedian Mike Bubbins) and prodigal daughter Mel (Sian Gibson) warily get to know each other. The jokes about Mammoth’s 1970s dinosaur views crashing against 2024 sensibilities come thick and fast.

No Name on the Bullet (1959) ★★★★
5Action, 2.25pm  
Better known for his science-fiction movies of the era (It Came from Outer Space, Tarantula), Jack Arnold directs this effective, morally complex Western, starring an against-type Audie Murphy as cold-blooded hitman, John Gant, aka the “Angel of Death”. The town of Lordsburg erupts in panic when famed assassin Gant strolls into town – whenever he arrives, someone dies, but who will it be?

Bewitched (2005) ★★
Great! Movies, 6.50pm  
Romcom maestro Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally...) directed and co-wrote this homage-cum-remake of the hit 1960s TV drama. However, she saddles it with a cumbersome plot about a Hollywood actor who inadvertently casts a real witch in his remake of the classic-but-not-terribly-funny show. Will Ferrell provides a few chucklesome moments, but Nicole Kidman is not at her bewitching best.

Gran Torino (2008) ★★★★
ITV4, 9pm  
Clint Eastwood directs himself as a curmudgeonly, recently widowed Korean War veteran who growls racist insults at the Asian family who have settled into his traditional, blue-collar Detroit neighbourhood. But after he catches a teenage neighbour trying to steal his lovingly cared-for car (a 1972 Gran Torino), he begins to find that he has more in common with the Hmong immigrants next door than he thought.

Thursday 25 April

Johnson & Knopfler’s Music Legends
Sky Arts, 10pm
It’s legends all the way as AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson and Dire Straits’s Mark Knopfler – who, we’re reminded, have sold more than 300 million records between them – sit down with a selection of their musical heroes. The format is pleasingly stripped back and easygoing: three straight-backed chairs arranged in a semi-circle and an invitation to chat for an hour – with Knopfler wielding his acoustic guitar like a fifth limb, making it clear that impromptu warbling will be accommodated.

It’s not all grizzled rock greybeards either. The guestlist over the coming weeks is eclectic enough to appeal to all tastes: Emmylou Harris, Nile Rodgers, Cyndi Lauper, Carlos Santana and even the comparatively youthful Sam Fender. But it is the one and only Sir Tom Jones who gets things rolling tonight. A good choice, as Sir Tom’s well-honed ability to reminisce – and chuck an occasional song in, too – about the good old days with Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis in Las Vegas, as well as the ongoing success that has him still touring in his eighties, easily smooths over his hosts’ inexperience in the art of the interview. Captivating, and fun too. GO

Dead Boy Detectives
Netflix
Neil Gaiman’s DC Comics characters Charles Rowland and Edwin Paine come to life – or as close as they dare – in this ghoulish teenage comedy. George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri play the ghostly crime-busting pair, whose confinement to the afterlife is mitigated by Crystal Palace (Kassius Nelson), their clairvoyant bridge to the living.

Reuben: Life in the Dales
Channel 5, 8pm
Reuben “son of Amanda” Owen from Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm is back, growing his new plant machinery business in the Dales. This week, the 19-year-old takes on a dilapidated haulage yard for his expanding fleet. But with a derelict barn to clear and a pot-holed track to level, it’s an uphill struggle.

Murder, They Hope
BBC Two, 9pm
Johnny Vegas and Sian Gibson team up again as former Middlesbrough coach-tour operators Terry and Gemma, now putting their finances on the line to launch a private detective agency. At first the cases fail to roll in, until a fierce auction bidding war over a red-eyed bunny seems to hold the key to a series of local deaths. First shown on Gold.

Instagram’s Worst Con Artist
ITV1, 9pm
The story of Australian influencer Belle Gibson, who duped millions into believing she cured her terminal cancer through wellness practices and healthy eating. But as she was making a fortune building a social media empire, journalists were beginning to hear rumours that she never had cancer at all.

GPs: Treating Rural Britain
More4, 9pm
There’s a surprising dearth of waiting lists and impossible face-to-face appointments in this new series looking at life for doctors working in rural practices. Lochgilphead, Cartmel and Looe are the idylls visited tonight, where GPs still have time to chat and enjoy abundant resources.

Joe & Katherine’s Bargain Holidays
Channel 4, 10pm
A charmingly daft travelogue, where 8 Out of 10 Cats’ resident havoc-maker Joe Wilkinson attempts to convince luxury-loving comedian Katherine Ryan that it’s possible to have great holidays on a minimal budget – at home and abroad. Tonight, they’re in Norfolk enjoying church camping, paddleboard yoga and an owl sanctuary.

An Affair to Remember (1957) ★★★★★
Film4, 2.20pm  
Leo McCarey’s romantic comedy has deservedly been hailed as one of America’s all-time greats. A man (Cary Grant) and a woman (Deborah Kerr) have a romance while on a cruise from Europe to New York, and, despite already being engaged to other people back home, promise each other that they’ll reunite at the top of the Empire State Building in six months time. Grant, as ever, is spellbinding.

23 Paces to Baker Street (1956, b/w) ★★★
Film4, 4.35pm  
This noirish mystery thriller bears more than a passing resemblance to Rear Window: a disabled protagonist is a vital witness to a crime, but the police fail to take him seriously. Here, Phillip Hannon (Van Johnson) is a blind playwright who overhears a conversation relating to a kidnapping, and uses his acute hearing to help search for the child. It’s no Hitchcock, but gripping nonetheless.

Philomena (2013) ★★★★
BBC Four, 10pm  
Based on the work of journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), this is the gripping true story of Philomena Lee (Judi Dench), an Irishwoman then in her seventies, as she searched for her son, Anthony, whom she was forced to give up for adoption years earlier. Stephen Frears’s film delivers some savage emotional blows, as well as a number of harsh, necessary truths about the unrelenting grip of the Catholic Church on Ireland.

Friday 26 April

Thank You, Goodnight: the Bon Jovi Story
Disney+
Forty years after forming, the members of Bon Jovi look back over a long career in this authorised four-part documentary. That the band had a more successful career than their peers in 1980s stadium rock is largely thanks to the formidable drive and ceaseless professionalism of their frontman, although the presence of at least half-a-dozen of pop-rock’s most indelible anthems doesn’t hurt either.

Yet the slick persona of Jon Bon Jovi makes him inherently less intriguing for the same reason, even if he cuts a more vulnerable figure these days. Their journey from bar-band chancers to globe-conquering behemoths is intercut with coverage of Jon’s present struggle to regain full range after surgery on his vocal cords. Despite running to an indulgent five hours, there is still much to enjoy for casual fans and, to its credit, dissenting voices are embraced (including sideman Richie Sambora). The archive footage of hair-metal silliness is also glorious, while Jon’s late-life bond with fellow New Jersey icon Bruce Springsteen proves genuinely touching. And his greatest regret? That Livin’ on a Prayer key change. GT

Morten
Channel 4 online
The latest obscure but entertaining European import in the Walter Presents strand is this Dutch political thriller, following centrist minister Morten Mathijsen (Peter Paul Muller), whose smooth path to prime minister is hampered by a pressing in-tray of problems: his drug-dealing daughter; a mysterious blackmailer; parliamentary rivals; and, above all, a gifted new intern with her own murky agenda.

Unreported World
Channel 4, 7.30pm
The total breakdown of society and takeover by organised crime in Haiti would in its own right be a fine subject for Unreported World, but here reporter Guillermo Galdos finds a new angle. He examines the fallout of the crisis from the borders of the Dominican Republic, to where thousands of Haitian women are fleeing in order to give birth in relative safety in the face of deportation and border patrols.

Beyond Paradise
BBC One, 8pm
Concluding a series that has managed to counterbalance the knowingly daft mysteries with a surprising amount of emotional depth, Humphrey (Kris Marshall) and Martha (Sally Bretton) are finally getting married, only for the grandiosity of the day and – naturally – some opportunistic criminals to threaten their happy ending.

Have I Got News For You
BBC One, 9pm
Money-expert Martin Lewis makes his debut as host of the political panel show this week, wrangling team captains Paul Merton, Ian Hislop and, among the guest panellists, comedian Ignacio Lopez.

Michael Portillo’s Long Weekends
Channel 5, 9pm
Essentially Great Railway Journeys minus the railways, tonight’s instalment sends the former Conservative minister to Prague, where he ticks off plenty of familiar sights (castle, bridge, cathedral) while also venturing a little off the beaten track to explore secret nuclear bunkers and try his hand at glassblowing.

Avoidance
BBC One, 9.30pm; Wales, 10.40pm
Romesh Ranganathan’s sitcom continues to juggle wry comedy with genuine pathos as Jonathan (Ranganathan), faced with the prospect of a fresh start with Megan (Aisling Bea), cannot help but be drawn back to old flame Claire (Jessica Knappett), especially when they are forced to put on a united front for the latter’s oblivious parents.

Land of Bad (2024) ★★★
Amazon Prime Video  
In the mood for a bit of all-guns-blazing macho action? This bombastic flick from William Eubank (House of the Rising Sun) follows a US Air Force contingent who are ambushed by enemy pilots in the Philippines. A stellar cast includes action stalwarts Liam Hemsworth (who plays newbie Sergeant JJ “Playboy” Kinney, tasked with saving the day) and Russell Crowe. Think Apocalypse Now by way of Jason Bourne.

21 Jump Street (2012) ★★★★
ITV2, 9pm  
Notionally, this is a remake of the 1980s TV show, starring Johnny Depp, in which police officers go undercover as teenagers. It’s actually a chance for co-writers Michael Bacall and Jonah Hill to hilariously send-up the PC hypocrisies of Generation Z. Hill and Channing Tatum make for a wonderfully silly partnership as officers Schmidt and Jenko, while Dave Franco and rapper Ice Cube have great fun in support.

Magic Mike (2012) ★★★★
BBC Three, 9.30pm  
Steven Soderbergh made a surprise decision to swap car chases and machismo for tackling the world of male strippers in Florida, and exceeded every expectation: it’s one of his most enjoyable films, filled with heart, humour and great performances. Channing Tatum, in a story based on his own life, is truly revelatory – while Soderbergh works similar wonders with Matthew McConaughey as a seedy choreographer.

Sudden Impact (1983) ★★★
Channel 5, 10.30pm  
The fourth instalment in the Dirty Harry series, and the only one directed by Clint Eastwood himself, is far from the best. It does, however, provide one of the most famous lines: “Go ahead, make my day.” And Eastwood is good value as always. This time, Harry is sent to a sleepy town where a woman (Sondra Locke) is taking revenge against the men who raped her and her sister, brutally killing the perpetrators one by one.

Film of the Week: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) ★★★★
BBC One, 11.35pm
Three ordinarily tough-guy actors (Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp) star as two drag queens and a transgender woman who travel in a rickety bus nicknamed “Priscilla” to get to a cabaret gig in the middle of the Australian Outback in Stephan Elliott’s rollicking black comedy. Their journey brings them face to face with everyone from friendly Aboriginals, for whom they perform as part of a traditional corroboree, to alarmed homophobes living in the rural counties. Celebrating its 30th birthday this week, the film – which introduced LGBT rights to a new, global audience – is still as hilarious and camp as it was upon release, and has become a cult hit. It won an Oscar (for Best Costume Design) and was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival. Fun fact: Brits Rupert Everett and Colin Firth were on the producers’ hit list, while Pearce’s Neighbours co-star Jason Donovan was originally considered for the role of Adam and would go on to play the part in the West End musical adaptation. Fans can also check out the immersive London experience, Priscilla the Party, which recreates scenes from the film. Riotous dancing is advised.

Television previewers

Stephen Kelly (SK), Veronica Lee (VL), Gerard O’Donovan (GO), Poppie Platt (PP) and Gabriel Tate (GT)