What's on TV tonight: Hidden and Isle of Wight Festival 2018

EU Referendum: The Result

BBC Parliament,from 9.55am

As the UK’s future after Brexit continues to be debated, BBC Parliament is reminding us how it all began by rerunning the BBC’s then-live coverage of the EU referendum results in its entirety. This whopping 11-hour broadcast, anchored by the 77-year-old David Dimbleby, includes everything from Nigel Farage’s premature concession speech through to former Prime Minister David Cameron’s resignation.

International Rugby Union: South Africa v England

Sky Sports Main Event, 3.00pm

Condemned to a series defeat against South Africa last weekend, England will be even more concerned by the fact it was their fifth Test defeat in a row. However, speaking after Saturday’s 23-12 loss – in which the visitors raced into a 12-0 lead with Mike Brown and Jonny May scoring fine tries. – coach Eddie Jones said he’ll “stick to his guns”, as his side bring the curtain down in Cape Town on what has been a frustrating tour. A victory today would alleviate the pressure on Jones somewhat. 

Isle of Wight Festival 2018

Sky Arts, from 5.00pm/ Sky One, from 10.00pm

Edith Bowman, Vick Hope and Joel Dommett present coverage from the second day of the music festival. Jessie J and James Bay are among those performing early on, while later the headliners, including Depeche Mode, Liam Gallagher and Soul II Soul, will be shown live on both Sky Arts and Sky One. Sunday’s coverage of the final day sees performances from The Killers Van Morrison and Travis. SH

The Great Exhibition of the North

BBC Two, 6.30pm; Scotland, 7.30pm

This weekend sees the beginning of three months of art and culture events across 30 venues in Newcastle. Shaun Keaveny takes a look at some of what’s on offer, meets some of the creators of the works and visits key landmarks in the city.  

The River Wye with Will Millard

BBC Two, 7.00pm; not Scotland

It’s sink or swim time for the likeable Will Millard in the final episode of the series – he’s out of his comfort zone after agreeing to compete in Ross-on-Wye’s annual regatta. Luckily, Tintern Abbey and Chepstow offer gentler charms. 

Blind Date

Channel 5, 7.30pm

Mothers are very much the theme of this latest series of the dating show. After last week’s opening episode saw Dubliner Barry make the mistake of allowing his mother to choose his date, this week sees mother-and-son duo, Emile and Belinda, both searching for love. Can host Paul O’Grady guide them to happiness?

International Rugby League: New Zealand v England

BBC Two, 9.00pm

A big one this, as New Zealand and England meet at the Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado. This match will be England’s first game on US soil since October 2000, when they took on the USA in Orlando, Florida. The Kiwis will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing World Cup last year when, despite being finalists in the three previous editions, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals. England will be hoping to continue their recent encouraging form, having reached the World Cup final in 2017, eventually losing 6-0 to Australia.

All Round to Mrs Brown’s

BBC One, 9.10pm

The final episode of the foul-mouthed matriarch’s talk show sees Ray Mears attempt to give hapless duo Dermot and Buster a crash course in survival skills while, in a nice touch, Boy George brings his mother, Dinah, over for a chat. SH

Live Boxing: Josh Taylor v Viktor Postol

Channel 5, 10.30pm

The WBC Silver Super Lightweight title is at stake at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, as Jose Taylor takes on Viktor Postol. Taylor turned professional in June 2015, and has established himself as a force to be reckoned with after notching up 12 wins from 12 fights. In his amateur days, Taylor made it to two Commonwealth finals, winning a gold medal in Glasgow at the 2014 Games. He has held this title since taking it from South Africa’s Warren Joubert in March 2017, and this will be his fourth defence. 

Muppets Most Wanted (2014) ★★★☆☆

BBC One, 2.45pm

The Muppets tour Europe, where Kermit (Steve Whitmire) is kidnapped and replaced by a doppelgänger. Masterminding the plot is a sleazy Ricky Gervais. Though this contains moments of joy with itsfun musical numbers and clever gags, the Muppets themselves are crowded out by cameo overkill from the likes of Lady Gaga, Sean “Diddy” Combs and Céline Dion.

Creed (2015) ★★★★☆

ITV, 9.30pm

Ryan Coogler’s continuation of the Rocky saga packs a real emotional punch as Sylvester Stallone gives one of his best performances ever. He neither wrote nor directed, but his actor-for-hire status translates into a compelling lack of vanity on screen. Life for Rocky has come full circle as he agrees to train Donnie (Michael B Jordan), the son of his old nemesis Apollo.

Little Voice (1998) ★★★★☆

BBC Two, 11.30pm

Michael Caine, Brenda Blethyn and Jane Horrocks star in this bittersweet comedy musical drama based on Jim Cartwright’s hit play. Timid LV (Horrocks) obsesses over her dead father’s records by imitating Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and Shirley Bassey to perfection. Her talents are discovered by her mother’s (Blethyn) showbiz agent boyfriend (Caine), who hopes to turn her from mouse to megastar.

Sunday 24 June

Reporting Trump’s First Year: The Fourth Estate

BBC Two, 9.00pm

Renowned film-maker Liz Garbus’s fascinating four-part documentary series takes us behind the scenes of The New York Times, one of the world’s most venerable news outlets, as it grapples with the early days of the Trump presidency. It’s a heady, fly-on-the-wall insight into the frenetic pace of the newsroom, as articles are written and published at breakneck speed amid a flurry of slamming phones, team huddles and endless rolling on-screen coverage. What makes this prospect so unique, however, is its context. So unexpected was Trump’s win and so volatile the White House that normal journalistic protocol was jettisoned to match the new administration’s unpredictability. 

We watch, then, as a raft of investigative reporters headed by Washington bureau chief Elisabeth Bumiller, field a barrage of explosive stories, from the Trump camp’s links to Russia to the President’s claim he was wiretapped by Obama. It’s a shame that Garber only briefly deals with the toll such work takes on the journalists’ personal lives, but perhaps this rightly reflects how little time this tireless team have for themselves. Toby Dantzic

Romesh: Talking to Comedians in a Pie and Mash Shop

BBC Three, from today

Having previously held conversations with comedians in both a café and a pub, Romesh Ranganathan now heads to a pie and mash shop for this straightforward set-up that yields unexpectedly delightful results. Ranganathan’s winningly droll style gets his dining companions immediately on side, so that they offer up authentic titbits of experience. Rob Beckett, for example, reminisces about Ranganthan’s father’s “awful” pub, improv expert Rachel Parris reveals a hilariously embarrassing onstage blunder, and Sally Phillips manages to be both funny and moving about her special needs son.

MOTD Live: Fifa World Cup 2018 – England v Panama

BBC One, 12.10pm

After their hard-fought 2-1 win over Tunisia, the Three Lions step up for their second World Cup game against Panama. The South Americans are making their debut at the tournament but it hasn’t gone well so far – they lost their opening game against Belgium 3-0.

Live Formula 1: The French Grand Prix

Sky Sports Main Event, 3.05pm

After a 10-year hiatus, the French Grand Prix opens its doors to Formula 1 once again at Circuit Paul Ricard, where its last winner – in 2008 – was Brazil’s Felipe Massa.

Nigel Kennedy Plays Bach & Gershwin: BBC’s Biggest Weekend

BBC Four, 7.00pm

Here’s another chance to see a behemoth of the classical genre, violinist Nigel Kennedy, perform a thrilling set against the dramatic sun-lit backdrop of Scone Palace in Perth. TD

Poldark 

BBC One, 9.00pm

An impassioned Ross (Aidan Turner) makes his maiden speech in parliament tonight, quickly gaining notoriety. Back in Cornwall, things aren’t so rosy for Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) as she tackles the fallout from a failing mine.

The Handmaid’s Tale 

Channel 4, 9.00pm

Brittle commander’s wife Serena Joy (Yvonne Strahovski) comes into focus during tonight’s episode of the dystopian drama. Flashbacks reveal the violent abuse she suffered for her conservative views. Back in the present, meanwhile, she wavers between cruelty and tenderness towards pregnant Offred (Elisabeth Moss).

Celebrity Catchphrase 

ITV, 9.15pm

With nerves no doubt frayed from England’s match earlier, Stephen Mulhern offers a lighter football-themed alternative with this edition of the game show. Soccer stars Paul Merson and Eni Aluko join the fun, alongside actor Shayne Ward. TD

The Sound Barrier (1952, b/w) ★★★☆☆

Talking Pictures TV, 5.40pm

This was the last of three films that David Lean directed starring his second wife Ann Todd and although it was a success, it has become one of the director’s least-known films. It tells the story of attempts by aircraft designers and test pilots to break the sound barrier. Cinematographer Peter Newbrook’s new Arriflex camera was mounted in the rear of the last surviving Lancaster bomber.

Blackhat (2015) ★★★☆☆

Channel 5, 9.00pm

Michael Mann’s cybercrime thriller is the ultimate in digital cinema and begins with the kind of brooding, suspenseful set-piece that he mastered decades ago in films such as Collateral and Heat. Nick Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth), a former cyber-crook, is temporarily released from prison to aid an American-Chinese task force in the hunt for a hacker. Viola Davis co-stars as the deeply unimpressed face of the FBI.

Oasis: Supersonic (2016) ★★★★☆

BBC Two, 11.00pm

Oasis’s glory-days documentary indulges Noel and Liam Gallagher’s bad behaviour. Mat Whitecross’s film starts and ends with the pair of dates when Oasis debatably peaked, at Knebworth in 1996, and goes to excessive length to detail stories of their excess. Few rock stars, in fairness, have a habit of being so amusingly and brutally honest about their failings, and Whitecross is content to let them have the last word.

Monday 25 June

Inside the American Embassy

Channel 4, 10.00pm

Those with an aversion to US President Donald Trump should gird their loins. Billionaire Robert Wood Johnson, the new US ambassador to Great Britain, has been a close friend of the US President for decades, and doesn’t stint on expressing his admiration for the man in this intriguing, if limited, fly-on-the-wall three-parter. Beginning with Johnson’s swearing-in, this opener takes in the move of the US Embassy in London from Mayfair to Battersea, Trump’s pronouncements on everything from Israel to Britain First and the first throes of Brexit negotiations.

“I think it’s going to fall into place quicker than people realise,” reckons Foreign Office minister Alan Duncan about the latter. The discussions between Ambassador Johnson and various government ministers are very revealing, particularly because of the body language and what is unsaid as much as the actual exchanges. Johnson, too, is an unusual figure: brash and blunt, yet entirely lacking in charisma. The access is excellent (Johnson being trained to face the British press is an eye-opener), yet the tension is dissipated by the suspicion that everyone is on best behaviour. But if it loosens up next week, it could prove fascinating. Gabriel Tate

Preacher

Amazon Prime, from today

Starring Joe Gilgun as a hard-living vampire, Dominic Cooper as a dissolute priest and Ruth Negga as the latter’s wild-card girlfriend, this lurid comic-book drama is a blast. This third season finds them in New Orleans.

How the NHS Changed Our World

BBC Two, 7.00pm

This new series, running through the week, tells the story of five NHS hospitals, beginning with The Royal Papworth in Cambridgeshire, whose pioneering surgeons established it as a world leader in heart transplants. People who have used it, including comedian Eddie Large and the world’s longest-surviving heart-transplant patient, pay tribute.

Britain’s Best Junior Doctors

BBC Two, 7.30pm

Jo Brand hosts this peculiar-sounding new quiz show in which two teams of junior doctors go head-to-head every night for a place in Friday’s final. The challenges include diagnosis of symptoms and the prioritisation of cases in a mocked-up A&E department. First up is University Hospitals Leicester vs Kettering General. 

24 Hours in Police Custody

Channel 4, 9.00pm

The police team investigate claims that body parts have been buried in a garden on a Luton housing estate, and uncover a grim story of a turf war between rival gangs as the plot thickens.

Rolls-Royce: the Rise & Fall of a Great British Brand

Channel 5, 9.00pm

An overview of a brand that has survived wars, death and hostile takeovers to endure as a byword for class in the modern age. GT 

Westworld

Sky Atlantic, 9.00pm

The second season of Westworld has been somewhat divisive. Some decry its gratuitous chronological labyrinths and sluggish pacing; while others have relished the cerebral storytelling. The final episode is likely to throw up as many questions as answers, with Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and Maeve (Thandie Newton) continuing their missions.

Nature’s Turtle Nursery: Inside the Nest

BBC Four, 9.10pm

Documenting the mass nesting of Olive Ridley sea turtles in Costa Rica, Dr George McGavin follows this remarkable event from start to finish. GT

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) ★★★☆☆

E4, 9.00pm

British director Rupert Wyatt, making a confident leap into the big-time after his nifty 2008 debut The Escapist, fashions much of this prequel movie as a simian prison flick. It’s grand entertainment as intelligent ape Caesar (a subtle mo-cap performance by Andy Serkis, though you never quite believe that you’re watching a real ape) is imprisoned in a sanctuary and begins to question nature’s hierarchy.

Point Blank (1967) ★★★★★

TCM, 9.00pm

This punchy, pared-down and sexy (it was X-rated in its day) thriller follows the mission of a career criminal (played by Lee Marvin) hunting down a former accomplice who shot him at point-blank range. Adapted from the crime noir pulp novel The Hunter, it was one of the definitive films to emerge from Hollywood in the Sixties, and John Boorman’s direction would go on to influence Scorsese and Tarantino.

The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) ★★★☆☆

Universal TV, 9.00pm

Tony Scott’s remake of the exciting 1974 thriller about the hijack of a New York subway train ditches the original tight storytelling and evocative sense of place in favour of Scott’s characteristic bombastic action. The strong premise, a battle of wits between low-key train dispatcher hero Denzel Washington and a goateed criminal John Travolta, makes it watchable.

Tuesday 26 June

NHS at 70: Live

BBC Two, 8.00pm

Essential viewing for anyone concerned about the future of the NHS, this 90-minute live event from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham is a centrepiece of the BBC’s 70th anniversary season celebrating the founding of the National Health Service in 1948. 

But just how practical, or feasible, is the service’s founding aim of making healthcare available to all based on need rather than ability to pay, when demand outstrips resources in the 21st century? Will the Government’s recently announced extra £4 billion a year be enough to plug the funding gap? Can the health service adapt to cope with the issues pose by an ageing population? And can the public be encouraged to reduce demand by taking active measures to improve health? These are among the question up for discussion by an audience of NHS professionals, patients (via live-link-ups) and a handful of celebrity guests. 

Among the contributors will be Nick Robinson who, having undergone cancer treatment, has personal views on how good the NHS is, and who with co-host Anita Rani will prevent the findings of exclusive new research into the challenges facing the NHS in years to come. Gerard O’Donovan

Bear’s Mission with Warwick Davis

ITV, 9.00pm

“We all have dwarfism in our family. We’re not built for climbing things.” Actor Warwick Davis gamely lets survival expert Bear Grylls put him through his paces in this entertaining challenge to reach the less accessible parts of his favourite holiday spot, the Lake District.

The Affair

Sky Atlantic, 9.00pm

It began as an attention-grabbing steamy portrait of an affair, seen from the contrasting perspectives of its principals – Noah Solloway (Dominic West) and Alison Lockhart (Ruth Wilson). Now, as the fourth series gets under way, the American drama has matured into an ensemble piece with all the main characters estranged and in new relationships. Which leaves more room for developing minor roles, such as Noah’s eldest daughter Whitney (Julia Goldani Telles) and new faces such as the principal of the school where Noah teaches.

Our Girl

BBC One, 9.10pm

They’re deep in Boko Haram territory, trying to evade capture while waiting for a Special Forces unit to rescue them. But that doesn’t stop Captain James (Ben Aldridge) deciding that it’s the perfect moment to make a confession to Georgie (Michelle Keegan).

Horizon: Teenagers vs Cancer – A User’s Guide

BBC Two, 9.30pm

An exploration of the specialist facilities, support and cutting-edge treatments available to young cancer patients in Britain, seen through the eyes of 11 teenagers who take us through their diagnoses and individually tailored care packages.

Tortured to Death: Murdering the Nanny

Channel 5, 10.00pm

The murder of 21-year-old French nanny Sophie Lionnet in London last year shocked seasoned investigators with its brutality. This report tells the story of the murder and trial that led to the conviction of her employers in May. GO

Through Lotte’s Lens

Sky Arts, 10.00pm

The lens in question is that of Austrian portrait photographer Lotte Meitner-Graf, whose work captures the story of the refugees who fled Europe from the Nazis in the Thirties and, settling in Britain, contributed enthusiastically to life and culture here in succeeding years. An atmospheric, thoughtful and celebratory film from Tony Britten. GO

Hope Floats (1998) ★★★☆☆

Sony Movie Channel, 4.45pm

In this heart-warming, if predictable, romcom, Sandra Bullock plays Birdee Calvert, a former prom queen whose dream life is shattered when her husband leaves her for her best friend on a Jerry Springer-like national TV show. Birdee must choose between her morals and her heart when a charming man, whom her daughter disapproves of, comes back into her life. Forest Whitaker directs.

Winchester ’73 (1950, b/w) ★★★★☆

Film4, 5.10pm

James Stewart stars in this classic western, the first of five that the star made with director Anthony Mann, almost single-handedly rescuing the flagging genre. The film’s other big star is the prized rifle of the title, at the heart of a plot in which two brothers go head to head in a grudge match after one of them kills their father. Watch out for early appearances from Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson.

3:10 to Yuma (2007) ★★★★☆

Film4, 11.35pm

A remake of the 1957 classic, itself an adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s short story, 3:10 to Yuma is an excellent, thrill-filled western starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale as two men from either side of the law who are thrown together. Directed with verve by James Mangold, it’s the story of a rancher (Bale) who escorts a notorious gunslinger (Crowe) to the town of Contention to be put on the train to Yuma Prison.

Wednesday 27 June

Stath Lets Flats

Channel 4, 10.00pm

Don’t let the title of comedian Jamie Demetriou’s new sitcom, co-written with Friday Night Dinner’s Robert Popper, deceive you: Stath (played with warmth by Demetriou) does anything but let flats. In fact, he’s quite probably the most incompetent lettings agent in London, a full-of-himself fool with a tendency to open his mouth before his brain has fully engaged. Unfortunately for Stath, he’s stuck in his job, despite being demonstrably worse than every other employee, because his glowering father Vassos (Christos Stergioglou) owns the agency and would pass it on to his son, if only he showed the smallest glimmer of improvement. From Dad’s Army to This Country, incompetence is a well-worn staple of British sitcoms, but Demetriou and Popper manage to give Stath Lets Flats a fresh spin, not least because the blustering Stath is such a recognisable type. Not every joke works, but the strong supporting cast including Demetriou’s real-life sibling Natasia as Stath’s equally hapless but kind-hearted sister Sophie, Alastair Roberts as well-meaning colleague Al and Katy Wix as the competent Carole do enough to suggest that this could be a grower. Sarah Hughes

The Cult of Sunday Night

BBC Four, 7.30pm 

While the current series of Poldark continues to thrill fans of brooding men and tempestuous women, this timely repeat of a documentary from 2009 looks at the original Seventies drama. That Sunday night hit made stars of Robin Ellis and Angharad Rees, who played Ross and Demelza, but it also infuriated author Winston Graham thanks to some large deviations from his source material.

The Highland Midwife

Channel 5, 8.00pm 

This lovely fly-on-the-wall series covering midwives in the Scottish highlands makes a welcome return. In this tense opening episode, Ruth, Morven and Hazel struggle with a trio of difficult births.

The People vs the NHS: Who Gets the Drugs?

BBC Two, 9.00pm 

Part of the BBC’s NHS at 70 series, this diverting documentary looks at how the health service’s cash-flow crisis can impact lives. Using the legal battle over PrEP, a drug widely believed to reduce the risk of contracting HIV as its focus, the film asks how funding decisions are made.

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing

BBC Two, 10.00pm; NI, 11.15pm 

There’s a real pleasure to be found in watching Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse while away time fishing. Even the more serious moments – this week both men discuss death while standing in the Middle Wye – are leavened by dry wit. It’s a delight.

This Is Congo – Storyville

BBC Four, 10.00pm

Photographer Daniel McCabe’s hard-hitting film about the Democratic Republic of Congo is the sort of documentary that haunts you long after the credits have rolled. McCabe talks to soldiers, workers and families about their experiences in this war-ravaged country, building up a devastating and heartbreaking picture. It’s an important and necessary reminder of a part of the world that is too often ignored. SH

Lookalikes

Channel 4, 10.30pm 

Channel 4’s uneasy hybrid of structured reality TV show and comedy returns for a second series with David Beckham lookalike Andy Harmer and his frenemy Tim Oliver, a David Brent impersonator, battling to keep their rival agencies afloat… SH

My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) ★★☆☆☆

Sony Movie Channel, 4.35pm

Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Dermot Mulroney and Rupert Everett star in this slushy romcom. Roberts plays Julianne, who falls in love with her old friend (Mulroney), only to discover that he’s due to marry another girl (Diaz) the next day. Everett isn’t one of the love interests – he plays Roberts’s gay best friend – but he manages to elope with the film.

Fatima (2015) ★★★★☆

Sky Cinema Premiere, 10.00pm

French director Philippe Faucon had success at Cannes with this insightful study of female behaviour. Fatima (Soria Zeroual) is a 44-year-old Moroccan woman raising two teenage girls in Lyon. The youngest, Souad (Kenza-Noah Aïche), is a sullen, sexy rebel ashamed of her mother for working as a housecleaner.It’s a little slow in parts but, like its heroine, that’s all part of the film’s quiet dignity.

The Blair Witch Project (1998) ★★★★☆

Sky One, 11.00pm

An inventive horror whose frights are all created via suspense and the power of suggestion. Made on a meagre budget of around $ 750,000 (it grossed around $ 250 million at the box office), it purports to be the footage left behind by three American film students who enter a forest to investigate the legendary “Blair Witch”. Some moviegoers were physically ill due to the shaky camerawork.

Thursday 28 June

Good Evening Britain

ITV, 9.15pm

Despite BBC Breakfast being the undisputed champion in terms of viewers, there’s no denying that Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan continue to hog the column inches due to their combative relationship and controversial interviews on Good Morning Britain. This late-night, one-off incarnation follows ITV’s coverage of England’s World Cup match with Belgium (see preview, below), a tie which should go a long way towards clarifying the Three Lions’ realistic hopes for the tournament. Expect debate, chat and a few famous faces offering their opinions on the result, plus coverage of showbiz stories in what is presumably a high-profile pilot for a permanent fixture in this prime-time slot, following the unmitigated disaster of The Nightly Show.

Whether Morgan is the man that audiences want as the nation’s cheerleader/consoler-in-chief is as open to debate as his decision to present Donald Trump with an Arsenal shirt, but ITV has long yearned for a way in which to blend football and entertainment (remember James Corden’s World Cup Live, or the magnificent Rio’s World Cup Wind-Ups?), so expect everything to be thrown at the screen in search of the perfect formula. Gabriel Tate

FIFA World Cup 2018: England vs Belgium

ITV, 6.15pm

Gareth Southgate’s young lions face Belgium’s “golden generation” who have yet to turn their enviable gathering of talents into serious tournament challengers. Mark Pougatch is in the studio while Clive Tydesley provides the commentary, with kick-off at 7.00pm.

Celebrities on the NHS Frontline

BBC One, 9.00pm; not Wales

Armed with their own experiences of the NHS, Paralympian Jonnie Peacock, ex-MP Ann Widdecombe, reporter Stacey Dooley and TV presenter Michael Mosley work with hospital staff in a bid to understand the challenges that the service now face. These include smaller budgets, increased scrutiny and an ageing population. It may sound gimmicky, but this two-parter is very absorbing.

Japan’s Secret Shame

BBC Two, 9.00pm

In 2017, Japanese woman Shiori Ito went public with rape allegations against a more prominent fellow journalist. These were met with silence or worse. Here she explores why other victims in the country are unwilling or unable to speak out.

Humans

Channel 4, 9.00pm

The penultimate episode of the third series of this always absorbing drama finds the part human, part synth Leo (Colin Morgan) in peril, and Mattie (Lucy Carless) reveals her secret. GT

Outlander

More4, 9.00pm

Juggling sweeping adventure with tense espionage (18th-century style) and introspective character studies, this period romp continues with Claire (Caitriona Balfe) finding a sense of purpose in helping the sick. Meanwhile, Jamie (Sam Heughan) continues his efforts to derail history’s march towards the Battle of Culloden by engaging the services of a pickpocket plying his trade in a brothel. The result is cheerfully daft and occasionally surprisingly deep. 

Running Wild with Bear Grylls

Discovery, 10.00pm

In between wrangling civilians on The Island, Bear Grylls likes to go yomping with famous people, who have included in the past Barack Obama and Roger Federer. This week, Oscar nominee Don Cheadle treks through the New England mountains, with all of its precarious climbs and dangerous rivers. This time, the compulsory unpalatable meal features porcupine carcass. GT

True Grit (1969) ★★★★☆

Film4, 3.45pm

John Wayne gives an imposing performance – for which he won both an Oscar and a Golden Globe – in this muscular western, directed by Henry Hathaway. Wayne plays Rooster Cogburn, an ageing, hardbitten marshal who’s called on to track down a murderer. Also on the trail are the victim’s 14-year-old daughter (Kim Darby) and an opportunistic Texas Ranger (Glen Campbell) who wants to collect the reward.

Summertime (1955) ★★★★☆

Talking Pictures TV, 6.00pm

From the mid-Fifties, David Lean developed a taste for filming further afield and directed Katharine Hepburn in this romance set in Venice. Jane Hudson (Hepburn), a secretary from the American Midwest, is finally realising her dream of taking a holiday in Venice, where she embarks on a tentative romance with a antiques dealer (Rossano Brazzi). Jack Hildyard’s cinematography ravishes.

Rocky III (1982) ★★★☆☆

ITV, 10.55pm; not STV

Stallone is once more infront of and behind the camera in this third instalment in the series. Old rival Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) becomes Rocky’s new trainer after the Italian Stallion takes a pounding from the vicious Clubber Lang (Mr T). One sun-soaked sequence features Rocky and Creed frolicking around on a beach and embracing in vests. Meanwhile, Hulk Hogan co-stars as wrestling champion Thunderlips.

Friday 29 June

Romper Stomper

BBC Two, 11.05pm & midnight; Scot and NI, times vary

It’s already had an airing on BBC Three but this gritty, politically charged six-part Australian series, about a gang of ultra-violent neo-Nazis in Melbourne and the left-wing student group that opposes them, deserves this prominent BBC Two late-night slot. 

It is based on the cult 1991 film of the same name, in which Russell Crowe came to prominence as a psychotic skinhead, and the movie’s director Geoffrey Wright is behind this update, too, writing the opening episode (of this double bill). Actor Toby Wallace is a strikingly charismatic presence – balancing charm with an undercurrent of real menace – as Kane, an angry young man just out of the army, who together with his dumber sidekick Stix (Kaden Hartcher) gets drawn into the right-wing group of activist Blake Farron (Lachy Hulme). But it is Farron’s younger wife Zoe (Sophie Lowe) who is the real draw for Kane – spelling major trouble ahead for all. Violence, romance and a thoughtful approach to extreme politics makes a potent, dramatic mix, and the results are explosive at times. For fans of the original, Jacqueline McKenzie, who played Kane’s mother Gabrielle, reprises the role here. Gerard O’Donovan

Glow

Netflix, from today

The first season of this comedy about Ruth (Alison Brie), a struggling actress who is drawn into the weird world of women’s wrestling was a big hit. This second run, in which Ruth and the gang get a proper tilt at fame, is just as good.

James Martin’s American Adventure

ITV, 8.00pm; not UTV or Wales

Chef James Martin takes to the US highways in search of “some of the greatest food on the planet”. In this opener, he mounts a vintage Harley Davidson to hog it up in the Napa Valley, home to some of California’s greatest wine makers and fine-dine restaurants.

The Bridge

BBC Two, 9.00pm

Poor Saga Norén (Sofia Helin) has been through the wringer in this fourth season of the bleak but absorbing Scandi thriller. This is the final episode, so expect it to go out with a very big bang as Saga finds a match for the killer’s fingerprint… but nothing’s ever that simple, is it?

Duran Duran Night

BBC Four, from 9.00pm

Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor invite viewers to join them for two films – There’s Something You Should Know (9.00pm) and Duran Duran: A Night In (10.00pm) – in which they look back over their 40th years in pop, plus Duran Duran: Unstaged, their 2011 concert collaboration with director David Lynch.

Download Festival 2018

Sky Arts, 9.00pm

Here are highlights from the summer’s biggest metal and rock weekend, which was held earlier this month at Donington Park, with Guns N’ Roses, Marilyn Manson and Ozzy Osbourne among the headline acts. GO

Frankie Boyle’s New World Order

BBC Two, 10.00pm; NI, 11.05pm

More hardcore topical comedy as Frankie Boyle dissects the week’s headlines and assorted bizarre news stories with the help of a studio audience and guests Sara Pascoe, Katherine Ryan and Miles Jupp.

The Big Narstie Show

Channel 4, 11.00pm

The popular, sometimes controversial grime MC, rapper and internet sensation teams up with comedian Mo Gilligan to host a new late-night alternative entertainment show, with music, sketches, viewer interaction and guests in the studio talking news, television shows and the latest trends. GO

Rush Hour (1998) ★★★★☆

ITV4, 9.00pm

Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker join forces in this culture-clash cop comedy. When the Chinese consul’s daughter is abducted, the diplomat summons trusted friend Detective Inspector Lee (Chan) from Hong Kong. Spurned by the FBI, Lee must team up with a rebellious fast-talking LAPD officer (Tucker) to find the girl. This is a pacy, amiable comedy with impeccably choreographed action sequences.

Mad Max 2 (1981) ★★★★★

ITV, 10.45pm

Mel Gibson reprises his role as Max, a cynical and alienated ex-cop, in this thrillingly intense action sequel that proved to be that rare thing – better than the original. Drifting through the Outback after a nuclear war, he comes upon a small community menaced by a gang that aims to rob them of their oil. Can Max defend them? George Miller (who later, incongruously, co-wrote Babe) again writes and directs.

The Full Monty (1997) ★★★★☆

BBC One, 11.25pm

You’ll never look at Tom Wilkinson in the same way again after seeing him gyrate on stage as a stripper in this bittersweet British comedy which opened in British cinemas 21 years ago. Set in Sheffield, it follows six out-of-work men who form an exotic dance troupe in order to raise some funds. And they’re willing to reveal, quite literally, all. Simon Beaufoy’s script is a moving exploration of masculinity. Robert Carlyle co-stars.

Television previewers

Toby Dantzic, Sarah Hughes, Gerard O'Donovan, Vicki Power and Gabriel Tate