Britain’s Nightmare New Homes: Dispatches
8pm, Channel 4
Kicking against the bricks: the government has pledged to tackle the UK’s housing shortage by building a million new homes in five years. But in the sprint to achieve such headline-friendly targets, are property developers focusing on short-term solutions, throwing up slapdash housing that will barely last years, let alone decades? Seyi Rhodes pulls on a hard hat to cast a sceptical surveyor’s eye over recent developments. Graeme Virtue
Timeshift: How Britain Won the Space Race – The Story of Bernard Lovell and Jodrell Bank
9pm, BBC4
Absorbing documentary recalling the life of Bernard Lovell – a yarn that would read like the most insufferable cliche of old-school British pluck and eccentricity triumphing against colossal odds, were it not for the fact that it happened. Having helped win the second world war with his work on radar, Lovell built the observatory at Jodrell Bank, which tracked both Soviet and American spacecraft across the heavens – so long as it didn’t untowardly interrupt his cricket. Andrew Mueller
Autopsy: The Last Hours of George Best
9pm, Channel 5
George Best played champagne football and enjoyed a champagne lifestyle, which gradually degenerated into a desperate dependency on booze. All of this played out in public, with Best requiring a liver transplant but ultimately failing to evict the causes of his addiction, dying in 2005. Forensic physician Dr Jason Payne-James examines Best’s medical history and the physical impact of alcohol on his body; son Calum, widow Alex and his former agent also contribute. David Stubbs
Fargo
10pm, Channel 4
The Minnesota crime saga continues apace, as formidable matriarch Floyd Gerhardt (the superb Jean Smart) embarks on a full-scale war with the Kansas City outfit, while young Charlie, defiant of his disability, seeks to prove himself worthy of his notorious family. Meanwhile, the quietly manipulative Peggy and dough-faced Ed, now in very deep indeed, disagree on which way to turn after Lou’s discovery of their motoring/body-mincing shenanigans. Who’d have thought the second season could top the dazzling first, but here we are. Ben Arnold
Storyville: Orion – The Man Who Would Be King
10pm, BBC4
In an age of dreary dad-rock nostalgia, it’s tempting to think every possible facet of late 20th-century popular music history has been documented. Yet the story of Jimmy “Orion” Ellis, a man who sounded uncannily like Elvis and performed in a mask, will surely be familiar to only a few. Don’t Google Orion’s name. Instead, marvel at how director Jeanie Finlay, combining interviews with archive material, painstakingly excavates a weird and tragicomic tale while remaining hugely respectful of her subject. Superb. Jonathan Wright
Explorer
8pm, National Geographic
In the States they call Bill Nye the Science Guy – a nattily bow-tied engineer and educator, whose latest book Unstoppable sets out to debunk the climate change debunkers. Here, he outlines the catastrophic damage wrought by carbon emissions with the help of experts, tabletop experiments and a sympathetic “therapist” played by Arnold Schwarzenegger (seriously), who guides him through the “five stages of grief about climate change”. Presumably the logic was: if anyone can help batter through a sceptical audience’s defences, it’s Arnie. Ali Catterall
The Leftovers
10pm, Sky Atlantic
The intriguing and glossy drama continues, with the mysteriously hot part of the population who survived still struggling to make sense of life. Nora has shocking news for Jill and Kevin (Justin Theroux). The troubled police chief has enough on his plate with Patti’s haunting presence at the forefront of his mind, but has he found a solution to the problem? Laurie (Amy Brenneman) makes a decision that has repercussions for the whole Garvey family and Jill heads off on an adventure that could only happen in Miracle. Hannah Verdier
Film choice
Beyond The Hills (Cristian Mungiu, 2012) 12.50am, Film4
Another painfully authentic picture of a dreary, malfunctioning modern Romania from the director of 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days. It features a pair of female leads similar to those of 4 Months: the egotistical Alina (Cristina Flutur) and more thoughtful, novice nun Voichita (Cosmina Stratan). Alina’s arrival at her friend’s monastery sets up a poisonous confrontation with the harsh, intransigent local priest (Valeriu Andriuta). Paul Howlett
Lore (Cate Shortland, 2012) 1.05am, Channel 4
Based on the Guardian first novel award-winning story by Rachel Seifert, Shortland’s drama is set in Germany at the end of the second world war, where plucky teenager Lore tries to lead her younger sister and brothers to the safety of her grandmother’s home in Hamburg. Combining lyrical imagery with an unsparing depiction of the hunger and terror of the defeated, it’s an impressive portrait of a devastated, guilt-ridden country. PH
Today’s best live sport
Test Cricket: India v South Africa Day three from Bangalore. 6am, Sky Sports 3
ATP Tennis: World Tour Finals The round-robin stages from London’s O2 Arena. 2pm, BBC2
Under-21 Football: England v Switzerland The European Championship qualifying campaign continues. 5.30pm, BT Sport 2
Euro 2016 Football: Republic Of Ireland v Bosnia-Herzegovina The second leg of the qualifier from Dublin. 7pm, Sky Sports 1
