Rock’n’roll Guns for Hire: the Story of the Sideman
9pm, BBC4
“We’re ghosts at the top table,” says David Bowie’s former guitarist Earl Slick, who narrates this study of the ego-quashing men and women who flank the stars. Highlights include Otis Redding’s guitarist Steve Cropper playing a soulful version of Dock of the Bay, which he co-wrote, and Prince and the Revolution’s Wendy and Lisa – exceptional talents in their own right – demonstrating what they brought to Purple Rain. Ali Catterall
The Secret World of Posh Pets
8pm, ITV
A series like this knows gold when it strikes it, and in entrepreneur Debbie and her retired poker-player husband Bob, they hit the mother lode. Leaving aside the couple’s endearing dynamic, tonight focuses entertainingly on their plans for a doggy wedding, complete with horse-drawn carriage, for their pooch Honey. Elsewhere we TV with Bryn, who is breeding falcons for sheikhs, and Zane, a city boy with plans to breed Bengal cats. John Robinson
Becoming a Lied Singer: Thomas Quasthoff and the Art of German Song
8pm, BBC4
Bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff is both host and subject of an effective mix of profile and documentary. Having mastered the art of the romantic, minimalist voice-and-piano lied, a song format memorably employed by Schubert and Brahms, Quasthoff has stopped performing it and now passes his knowledge down. We follow a contest to find a young lieder star. Jack Seale
Count Arthur Strong
8.30pm, BBC1
This has been a superb series, subtly enhanced by the addition of Bronagh Gallagher as Birdie, doing that looking-on-in-astonishment thing she did so memorably in Pulp Fiction. This week, despite bungling a video audition for an advert, Arthur embarks on an extraordinary run of good fortune which brings him international notoriety; not a good time for Bulent to suggest a poker game in his sister’s absence. David Stubbs
Top of the Lake
11.05pm, BBC2
With a second series on the way, this a timely repeat for Jane Campion’s darkly poetic and altogether mesmerising 2013 crime drama starring Elisabeth Moss. Moss is Robin Griffin, a Sydney detective dispatched back to her isolated and eccentric New Zealand home town to investigate the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl. The case proves to be anything but simple, and the ghosts of Griffin’s past which it reanimates are more disturbing still. Phil Harrison
Dicte – Crime Reporter
9pm, More4
The latest offering in the Walter Presents slot sees the return of Dicte Svendsen, a Danish reporter with a knack for running towards trouble. Or perhaps it’s trouble that finds her, considering this series two opener derives its plot in part from Svendsen’s estranged father getting in touch. Meantime, Svendsen’s cop contact Wagner, investigates the murder of a woman in a hotel room, a case that seems to be linked to a prostitution ring. Jonathan Wright
Drunk History USA
11pm, Comedy Central
The boozy folks of Drunk History explore the history of Boston this week, with the regularly refreshed Jen Kirkman regaling the story of the Boston Martyrs, with Winona Ryder playing the dissenting Quaker Mary Dyer, and Michael Cera as the Puritan zealot John Endecott. Elsewhere, an amazingly smashed Chris Romano tells the possibly apocryphal tale of his own father, a renowned Boston arsonist known as Johnny Cool. Ben Arnold
Film choice
Begin Again (John Carney, 2013) 11.05pm, BBC1
Carney follows up his heartwarming tale Once with an altogether bigger act. Jilted singer-songwriter Greta (Keira Knightley) teams up with a sacked record label exec (Mark Ruffalo) who has a crazy idea: to record a whole demo album on the streets of New York. Against the odds, the pair exert a rather endearing charm.
Live sport
Test Cricket: England v South Africa 10.30am, Sky Sports 2. The second day’s play in the first Test match of the summer from Lord’s.
Super League Rugby: St Helens v Hull FC 7.30pm, Sky Sports 1. Live league action from the Saints’ Totally Wicked Stadium.
Tennis: Wimbledon 2017 11.30am, BBC2. The fifth day’s play featuring men’s and women’s third round singles matches.
