The Search for a New Earth
9pm, BBC2
With humans knackering up the Earth good and proper, Stephen Hawking reckons we’ll have to make preparations to colonise another planet within 100 years. And unless you’re Jeremy Hunt, you probably think he may be worth listening to. But how would we get there, and where would it be? Professor Danielle George and Dr Christophe Galfard answer these questions and quite a few more in the first episode of a fascinating two-parter. Luke Holland
University Challenge
8pm, BBC2
Is University Challenge more like the X Factor for brainboxes these days? With Eric Monkman enshrined in the Wikipedia page for Cambridge’s Wolfson College as a “cultural icon”, it’s a fair bet that others will be vying to prove that clever is the new rock’n’roll. In tonight’s first round, Sheffield Hallam (alumni include Sean Bean, Kelly Holmes and Bruce Oldfield) takes on Newcastle (Rowan Atkinson, Kate Adie, Wilko Johnson) for a place in the second stage. Ali Catterall
Upstart Crow
8.30pm, BBC2
The return of Ben Elton’s Blackadder-style take on the travails of William Shakespeare with David Mitchell as the man himself. Actually, Blackadder this ain’t by a long stretch, but it’s likable and often clever in its satire of the bard’s times. The cast is also excellent, featuring Mark Heap, Harry Enfield and Liza Tarbuck. Tonight, William invites a Prince Othello to dinner hoping to boost his claim for a coat of arms. Unintended romance ensues. David Stubbs
Rellik
9pm, BBC1
A new crime drama of the bleakest sort, Rellik (read it backwards) comes from the same brotherly writing team that delivered The Missing and it sets off at a cracking pace. Using a reverse timeline, it follows gimlet-eyed DCI Gabriel Markham (Richard Dormer) as he attempts to track down the serial killer who also badly scarred his face with acid. It’s as compellingly tricksy of plot as it is moody in look; let your mind wander and you risk losing your way. Sharon O’Connell
Liar
9pm, ITV
Debut of a well-wrought six-part thriller by Harry and Jack Williams, writers of The Missing and, by unfortunate coincidence, Rellik above. As it begins, we see the nervous beginnings of a potential relationship between a recently single teacher (Joanne Froggatt) and a widowed surgeon (Ioan Gruffudd). The morning after their first date, however, the pair have calamitously different recollections of what transpired the previous night. Andrew Mueller
Fear the Walking Dead
9pm, AMC
The family-focused Walking Dead spinoff seemed to spend most of its second season messing about on the water. As season three resumes with a double bill, the action is very much on land, specifically California’s volatile Black Hat reservation. With the simmering blood feud between the aggrieved Hopi tribe and local cowboy militia having exploded into violence, tiger mother Maddie (Deadwood’s Kim Dickens) must reassess her loyalties. Graeme Virtue
Ludovico Einaudi: Elements – Live
9pm, Sky Arts
Contemporary composer Ludovico Einaudi claimed inspiration ranging from the periodic table to Euclidean geometry for 2015 album Elements, whose tracks begin with simple piano motifs and electronic pulses before blossoming into string-laden epics. Einaudi has been known to take his piano into the Arctic wilderness in order to commune with the titular elements, so expect tasteful showmanship as he performs the record in full. Phil Harrison
Film choice
Field of Dreams (Phil Alden Robinson, 1989) 6.55pm, Film4
Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) follows a disembodied voice’s instruction to turn his land into a pitch for spectral baseball players. The neighbours think he’s a base short of a home run but, ploughing on, Kinsella enters a magical world where he finally comes to terms with his dead father. A marvellous, heartwarming fantasy. Paul Howlett
Sport
Test Cricket: England v West Indies 10.30am, Sky Sports Main Event. Day five of the third Test at Lord’s.
Premier League Football: West Ham United v Huddersfield Town 7pm, Sky Sports Main Event. A top-flight match between two sides who have had contrasting starts to the campaign.
WTA Tennis: Japan Women’s Open 3am, BT Sport 1. Day two of the tournament held in Tokyo.
