The Definitive History of Star Wars
9pm, Channel 5
George Lucas faced an uphill struggle to bring his space saga to the big screen. This doc is a reminder that the franchise wasn’t always such a force, featuring interviews with original producer Gary Kurtz and others. It’s followed by How Star Wars Changed The World, spotlighting fans who create costumes, build droids and embrace the quasi-religious tenets of the Jedi. Graeme Virtue
Alex Polizzi: Hire Our Heroes
9pm, BBC2
Every year, roughly 20,000 men and women leave the British armed forces. You might assume they’d have little trouble finding work; almost by definition, they will be skilled and disciplined. As Polizzi’s film discovers, it’s not that easy; many struggle to readjust to civilian life. Polizzi considers four cases, and recognises that their stories are more important than the programme’s feelgood conceit. Andrew Mueller
Rollermania: Britain’s Biggest Boy Band
10pm, BBC4
They came, they toured, they conquered. Edinburgh’s Bay City Rollers once had the world at their platforms. In this warm-hearted affair, the original Tartan army discuss their rise (shifting 75,000 records a day circa 1975) and fall (literally stealing the spotlight from each other by 1978). Elsewhere, critic Caroline Sullivan recalls how refreshingly “unhealthy” they looked, and how even the Ramones owed them a debt. Ali Catterall
The Graham Norton Show
10.35pm, BBC1
Tonight’s Guests include Quentin Tarantino and Kurt Russell, touting their ensemble western The Hateful Eight. Tina Fey joins Amy Poehler to promote their new flick, Sisters, which they didn’t write but, judging by the trailer, they should have done. Music comes from Sia, who will perform her new single from behind the now customary face curtain. Julia Raeside
Artsnight – Juergen Teller
11pm, BBC2
UK-based German photographer Juergen Teller has produced a string of images of famous subjects that capture something unique and mysterious. The man who stuffed Kate Moss into a wheelbarrow and snapped Charlotte Rampling nude in front of the Mona Lisa recently reached a new audience by publishing a set of holiday photos, shot during a rustic break in France with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West. He talks to Tate Modern director Chris Dercon about the hows and whys of his art. Jack Seale
Drugs Inc
10pm, National Geographic
Excess goes hand-in-hand with success, so you may not be surprised to learn that some Wall Street traders are fans of high-quality cocaine. The besuited brokers interviewed in this documentaryare unbearable, boasting about their deluxe drug habits while wearing silly masks to conceal their identities. More interesting are the contributions from street-level dealers such as Alpo and Lady Phats, who have to reliably deliver product to one of the most heavily surveilled places on the planet. Huey Morgan narrates. Graeme Virtue
Destination Burma
7.50pm, PBS America
Griff Rhys Jones’s late father never said much about his wartime experiences fighting to liberate Burma from the Japanese. However, when Jones discovered that he had been a medical officer in a unit consisting largely of west Africans, he decided to travel to Ghana to meet surviving colleagues who remembered his father. He also retells the story of the campaign in which the role of the west Africans has been unjustly overlooked but which helped inspire their own struggle for independence. First shown on BBC2. David Stubbs
Film choice
Kill The Messenger
(Michael Cuesta, 2014) 9.45am, 10pm, Sky Movies Premiere
It’s interesting to see Jeremy Renner – star of The Bourne Legacy and various Marvel escapades as Hawkeye – in a non-action role. In Michael Cuesta’s probing and intelligent fact-based drama he plays investigative reporter Gary Webb, who in the 1990s exposed a mind-boggling CIA project that funded the Nicaraguan Contras with drug money, and was vilified for doing so. It’s a compelling, depressing story, while Renner is low-key, tenacious and excellent. Paul Howlett
Film choice
Bride & Prejudice
(Gurinder Chadha, 2004) 4.35pm, Film4
This brash, bright, cross-cultural musical comedy gives Jane Austen a complete Bollywood makeover. The tone is set from the opening: “Anyone who’s got big bucks is shopping for a wife”. Out goes the Austen acuity, then, and in comes song, dance and comedy as the action jets between Goa, London and LA, with Martin Henderson as hotelier Will Darcy and Aishwarya Rai as Lalita/Liz. Paul Howlett
Today’s best live sport
Horse Racing: The International
Coverage of the opening day at Cheltenham. 12.45pm, Channel 4
Figure Skating: The Grand Prix Final
Competitive ice dancing from Barcelona. 6pm, Eurosport 1
Championship Football: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest
A Midlands derby from Molineux. 7pm, Sky Sports 1
Test Cricket: Australia v West Indies
The third day of the first Test from Hobart. 11.30pm, Sky Sports 2
