Great American Railroad Journeys
6.30pm, BBC2
Michael Portillo’s new series reinforces the truth that there are few travel experiences as underrated as the American rail trip, yet in this first episode he doesn’t make it off Manhattan island. Portillo’s central conceit, as he plots his trip with Appleton’s 1879 guide to US railways, is to study a time when Grand Central Station was the country’s most important travel hub, and the city it served was home to the scheming rail barons who had conquered the country. Andrew Mueller
The Great Interior Design Challenge
7pm, BBC2
To the Pioneer Centre, a majestic modernist block in Peckham, for a new run of the nicely blended talent show. Four amateur room-changers are each given a boxy bedroom to revitalise, within time and budget constraints and with the tentative consent of the homeowner. While judges Daniel Hopwood and Sophie Robinson wince at poorly arranged storage and, in one case, an attempt to upscale a wardrobe by staple-gunning linen on to it, host Tom Dyckhoff fills us in on the building’s history. Jack Seale
Pride
8pm, Nat Geo Wild
It’s a confident wildlife documentary that offers thermal imaging as its pitch, what with every animal show these days apparently boasting similar state-of-the-art technology. But it’s a useful one for filming at night: revealing hitherto unseen patterns of behaviour, while lighting up lions, hyenas and wildebeests with a phosphorescent, near-hallucinatory intensity. Marking the start of Nat Geo Wild’s Big Cat week, this first episode focuses on two prides of the African Serengeti and their struggle for life. Ali Catterall
Supershoppers
8.30pm, Channel 4
The irrepressible Anna Richardson and Andi Osho open a new series of the money-saving show that puts products to the test and offers tips on how to find bargains. On trial this week are hairdryers and waterproof jackets. How does a simple £20 coat from a supermarket compare with a more luxurious version with a price tag of £155? There’s also some useful advice on how to pay less for your holiday this year and, as always, the tips are delivered with the pair’s trademark scrimping enthusiasm. Hannah Verdier
Silent Witness
9pm, BBC1
First of a two-parter that sees a family startled and then shot while picnicking at an idyllic riverside spot. Investigations led by DCI Sally Butcher reveal that the female victim was in the middle of a nasty divorce, and the detective naturally suspects the victim’s estranged husband. However, a local veteran CID man brought in to help with the case has other ideas. Good to see a guest appearance from Derek Griffiths, best known to older viewers as a star of Play School and Play Away. Concludes Tuesday. David Stubbs
Rise Of The Superstar Vloggers
9pm, BBC3
Pro YouTuber Jim Chapman presents this one-off, in which he and fellow online slebs talk agent-approved topics including book deals, tween followings and their newfound riches. However, beyond the ego massaging that takes place between Chapman and the likes of Alfie Deyes and Joe Suggs, there is some meatier stuff here: we meet those using the platform to educate on everything from mental health to gay rights and domestic abuse, and there’s a segment on the idols who have misused their influence. Hannah J Davies
Crashing
10pm, Channel 4
Starting things as they mean to go on, Anthony bears witness to uptight fiancee Kate “following through” during a moment of intimacy, while Lulu finds herself grappling with an ill-thought-out denim onesie in order to relieve herself mid-interview for her place at the hospital guardianship. It’s a theme of sorts. Later, Kate bonds with artist Melody while sitting as a life model, and is soon – thanks to wine and some tubes of acrylic – letting loose her inhibitions, leading to much merriment but also some unexpected truths. Ben Arnold
Film choice
They Live By Night (Nicholas Ray, 1948) 6am, Movies4Men
Ray’s feature debut, a typical piece of edgy, youthful Americana, stars Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell as forlorn fugitive sweethearts mixed up with his former convict pals – Jay C Flippen and the menacing Howard Da Silva – and on the run from the law, and their fate. Young love has a hard time of it in this superb, cynical film noir. Paul Howlett
Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis, 1995) 1.30am, Film4
Brit director Figgis paints a black portrait of Vegas, for all its neon glare. Oscar-winning Nicolas Cage is Ben, the sacked screenwriter intent on drinking himself into oblivion. Elizabeth Shue, as the sex worker who shares his final binge, creditably avoids being wholly overshadowed by Cage’s mood-indigo performance, in a searing picture of self-destruction. PH
Today’s best live sport
ICC Under-19s World Cup Cricket: India v Nepal Group D encounter. 6am, Sky Sports 2
La Liga Football: Deportivo La Coruña v Rayo Vallecano Struggling Rayo visit mid-table Deportivo. 7.25pm, Sky Sports 1
Netball Superleague: Yorkshire Jets v Team Bath Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport hosts this top-flight encounter. 7.30pm, Sky Sports 2
NBA Basketball: Indiana Pacers v Cleveland Cavaliers Cleveland look to maintain their strong start. 12midnight, BT Sport 1
