10.40pm, BBC One
“I apologise in advance,” quipped Claudia Winkleman when it was announced that she would be standing in while the talk show’s regular host is away in Australia performing An Evening With Graham Norton (and presumably getting a welcome blast of Aussie summer weather at the same time). Given how easy she makes presenting look on both The Traitors and Strictly Come Dancing, the nimble-witted Winkleman will have nothing to apologise for as she welcomes Hollywood star Chris Pratt, talking about his role in new sci-fi comedy-drama The Electric State, comedian Rob Beckett and American rapper Shaboozey to the sofa tonight.
7.30pm, Channel 4
Kate Quilton and John Whaite embark on a journey to unearth the origins of the Korean-derived foods that have exploded in popularity in recent years. Starting in Seoul, they uncover the crispy secrets of Korean fried chicken. Then, in Cheonan, they discover the surprising origins of pork luncheon meat – aka Spam – before seeing how it’s made. Finally, in Gwangju, they explore kimchi and learn the key to its global expansion.
8pm, BBC One
Has Lee Mack ever told a true story on this show? The tales he tells are always so obviously preposterous, as well as being invariably entertaining (this week he claims to have once dated a girl who, when fired from a circus cannon, landed on his lap). On Mack’s team are Shazia Mirza and Matt Morsia – Gladiator’s Legend – who says he eats bananas whole, skin included. On David Mitchell’s team are podcaster Rosie Ramsey and comedian Josh Jones – the episode presumably filmed before Jones suffered the ankle injury that forced him to quit Dancing On Ice.
9pm, BBC Two
The story behind the legend, revealing how the search for the Loch Ness monster has attracted people from across the world for decades. Rumours and sightings of a dinosaur-like creature had persisted at Loch Ness for many years, with the 70s, for some reason, being the peak period of monster hunting. Over the years, detecting methods changed: first it was all about sightings; then photographs; and eventually sonar and underwater cameras.
10.05pm, BBC Four
The centrepiece of an evening dedicated to disco music is John Wilson’s interview with Chic founder Rodgers. The musician brings his 1959 Fender Stratocaster to the studio and tells John how the guitar has been the bedrock of almost every record that he worked on, so much so that the trusty axe acquired the nickname “The Hitmaker”. Nile also discusses his bohemian upbringing in 50s New York with his mother and stepfather, who were both drug users.
8.15pm, ITV1
Yes, it is fair to say that the Brit Awards ceremony is a dull affair compared with its raucous early days. Nevertheless, if it is the pick of current pops you’ve come for, rather than a drunken dust-up (yes, you, Ronnie Wood and Brandon Block) then you will be in for a treat. Those taking to the stage to perform at London’s O2Arena include the suddenly ubiquitous Sabrina Carpenter, Jade, Myles Smith, The Last Dinner Party, Teddy Swims and Shaboozey, while Charli XCX, Dua Lipa and 2023 Mercury Prize winners Ezra Collective lead the nominations. Jack Whitehall returns to present proceedings for the fifth time.
7pm, ITV1
Will Sydnie Christmas ever grace the Brit Awards? Last year’s BGT winner (you may recall her “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from the 2024 final) was slightly controversial because of her previous (decidedly brief) professional experience in musical theatre. Anyway, here is the first assorted batch of contestants hoping to wow Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, Bruno Tonioli and guest judge KSI.
8.30pm, Channel 5
Having recently toured Andalucia for Channel 5, Michael Portillo now pops across the border to Spain’s next door neighbour. The former politician with the booming voice and colourful wardrobe begins his trip in Porto, now a tourist haven but once an industrial powerhouse – “the Manchester of Portugal”. Then it is on to Braga and the Bom Jesus shrine, built into the side of a mountain, and a network of busy canals in Aveiro that is said to be reminiscent of Venice.
9pm, BBC Four
A new crime drama in the slot recently vacated by Gaelic language An t-Eilean, this time from Wales and starring The Mallorca Files’ Elen Rhys and Richard Harrington (Hinterland) as detectives investigating the murder of a nurse in a Pembrokeshire coastal town. The murder is similar to a series of killings from more than a decade earlier, with suspects including the victim’s fitness addict boyfriend and an ex with a grudge. To complicate matters, the detectives share a romantic history.
9.20pm, BBC One
“I’ve done pigs and sheep, it can’t be that different,” says Kate (the excellent Julianne Nicholson) as she and Billie (Umi Myers) prepare to dismember the corpse of a Sicilian gangster. The dead man’s family – Soho mobsters – are on their tail, along with newly minted undercover cop Violet (Eliza Scanlen). If Peaky Blinders is the model here, then I have to say that I’m enjoying this 1918-set drama more than Steven Knight’s Brummie original.
9pm, BBC One
Agatha Christie’s 1944 whodunit is the latest of the author’s works to be adapted by the BBC (though not, as usual, by screenwriter Sarah Phelps, but by Rachel Bennette). Matthew Rhys plays a troubled detective investigating a murder at a country estate, while the starry cast includes Clarke Peters and Anjelica Huston as the bed-ridden aristocrat, Lady Tressilian. Her ladyship’s nephew, a tennis player who has recently gone through a high-profile divorce, arrives to stay with both his new and former wives, leading to an inevitably fraught sojourn. The Haunting of Hill House’s Oliver Jackson Cohen, Black Doves star Ella Lily Hyland and Sex Education’s Mimi Keene play the fractious trio.
8pm, BBC One
Now into the 70s, the current (14th) series of the drama ends with a mother and baby home being evacuated, Nancy’s wedding plans taking a surprising turn, and Sister Catherine (Molly Vevers) taking her first vows.
9pm, BBC Two
The new series begins with a stabbing at a Birmingham brothel – a frenzied attack that left a male Chinese national dead and a lot of blood everywhere. “People might think you get used to it,” says crime-scene co-ordinator Jo Ward, who has attended more than 50 aftermaths. “But you don’t.”
9pm, ITV1
It’s back to the Lancashire riviera for another series-long murder mystery – the first three episodes (showing on consecutive nights) directed by no less than Endeavour’s Shaun Evans. Marsha Thomason’s softly spoken DS Jenn Townsend has returned to work following her father’s death and is thrown into investigating the murder of a woman whose body has been found in a canal lock. Daniel Ryan returns as her boss, DI Tony Manning, while guest stars include Leanne Best.
9pm, Sky Documentaries
David Frost was the son of a Methodist minister, so when he trades biblical references with boxing great Muhammad Ali (during Ali’s fundamentalist Nation of Islam phase), the conversation becomes surprisingly scholarly. Frost was generally sympathetic to Ali at a time when he was deeply unpopular in mainstream America for refusing the draft during the Vietnam War (or, as he put it, “travelling 10,000 miles to murder poor people”) and had been stripped of his titles and boxing licence.
10.30pm, ITV1
Insomniac cineastes head this way as Jonathan Ross hosts full coverage of the 97th Academy Awards, including footage from the red carpet, before the ceremony begins at midnight, UK time, with US TV talk show host Conan O’Brien.
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