Doctor Who
7.20pm, BBC1
A proper little belter by Sarah Dollard takes Bill and the Doctor to London in 1814, where visitors to a fair that has sprung up on the frozen Thames are oblivious to the strange lights dancing beneath the ice. Like last week’s, it’s a simple story, but it’s rolled out with top-hatted panache, and the sparring between rookie and mentor ascends to another level: Pearl Mackie’s fresh-eyed inquisitor and Peter Capaldi’s tiring maestro are each provoking greatness in the other. Jack Seale
Big House, Little House
4.35pm, Channel 4
New makeover series in which interior designer Aidan Keane advises two couples – one with cash to splash; the other, not so much – how best to renovate with the funds available. Given sterling’s freefall, however, this should probably be renamed Big House, Little House, Wendy House and Outhouse. In this opener, mill house owners Michelle and Barry have £70k to build their kitchen-diner, while Hannah and Jason have £4k to do the same. Ali Catterall
Take Me Out
6.45pm, ITV
Paddy McGuinness presents another dispatch from The Great British Berk Off. Tonight, four new contenders enter his Elevator of Enchantment in the hope of wooing one of 30 potential dates, who in turn are charged with sifting the charmers from the chancers. Tonight’s contestants hoping to keep those lights lit include a Croydon bartender, a prison officer from Swansea, a salesman from Essex and a travel consultant from Leeds. Mark Gibbings-Jones
Britain’s Got Talent
8pm, ITV
This year’s Britain’s Got Talent auditions have been bang on as a source of Saturday night light entertainment to please all generations. There’s been a man balancing a spoon on his nose, energetic dance troupes and cute children performing tricks. As another batch of hopefuls line up in front of Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, David Walliams and Alesha Dixon, the whole thing is expertly held together by Ant and Dec, who bring their trademark warmth and backstage chats. Hannah Verdier
All Round to Mrs Brown’s
9.20pm, BBC1
Mrs Brown’s chatshow concludes with a guest list as bafflingly disparate as one could imagine. Dropping in this week are West End star Michael Ball, who’ll be pulling up a chair in the sitting room, along with Casualty actor and former Strictly contestant Sunetra Sarker. Joining them will be ex-Blue Peter presenter Yvette Fielding, who assists Dermot and Buster during a Celebrity Haunted House Tour, while the Vamps also perform live. Ben Arnold
LA 92: The Riots
9pm, National Geographic
From Rodney King to Hurricane Katrina through to Black Lives Matter, each decade seems to contain a grim reminder that, as councillor Rita Walters puts it, “for African Americans, freedom is not yet a reality in the United States”. This gripping film tracks the aftermath of the trial of King’s LAPD assailants as their acquittal sparks some of the most ferocious rioting in US history. A period piece but also a sobering reminder of how little has changed. Phil Harrison
What You Taught Me About My Son
7.10am, NHK World
“My first impression was one of illumination,” recalls author David Mitchell on reading the Japanese bestseller The Reason I Jump. This book of essays by 13-year-old Naoki Higashida, who has autism, helped Mitchell understand his own autistic son’s behaviours. Mitchell later translated the book into English, and this affecting film – which will be screened multiple times today – follows his meeting with Higashida in Japan in 2014. Ali Catterall
Film choice
Carol, (Todd Haynes, 2015) Saturday, 9pm, Channel 4
Another sophisticated tale of forbidden love in strait-laced 50s America from the director of Far from Heaven. Cate Blanchett stars as Carol, a married woman who is attracted to Rooney Mara’s Therese, a young assistant she meets while Christmas shopping at a Manhattan store. The subsequent affair plays out elegantly against the jagged pain of Carol’s dying marriage to the angry Harge (Kyle Chandler), threatening to take custody of her daughter, in a gorgeously seductive romance. Paul Howlett
The Ipcress File, (Sidney J Furie, 1965), 1.45pm, BBC2
Michael Caine’s speccy intelligence man Harry Palmer underplayed the Bond-style heroics but set a new standard of 60s cool. In this slick version of the Len Deighton novel he investigates a scientific brain drain, and discovers that one of his bosses is a double agent. Sue Lloyd is Jean, the colleague aroused by Palmer’s culinary skills. Paul Howlett
Calvary, (John Michael McDonagh, 2014), 9.30pm, BBC2
There is little here of the raucous geniality of McDonagh and Brendan Gleeson’s earlier combination, The Guard. Gleeson is Father James Lavelle, a decent Sligo priest and recovering alcoholic with a troubled daughter (Kelly Reilly). And then it begins: in the confession box an anonymous parishioner talks of terrible childhood abuse, and tells Lavelle that he will be the random victim of his revenge, to be killed in seven days. A dark examination of life and faith. Paul Howlett
Troll Hunter, (André Øvredal, 2010), 12.25am, Film4
This thrilling Nordic horror movie – part Blair Witch, part Monsters – is set in Norway’s remote, snowy north, where a student film crew is on the trail of a bear killer. But what on earth goes around killing bears? Told through recovered videos, this murky, chilling tale leads to monstrous creatures mistakenly thought to be the stuff of myth. Paul Howlett
Live sport
World Championship Snooker The second semi-final continues in Sheffield. 10am, BBC2
Scottish Premier League Football: Rangers v Celtic The Old Firm meet for the fourth and final time this season. 11.30am, Sky Sports 1
Premiership Rugby Union: Exeter Chiefs v Northampton Saints Coverage of the match from Sandy Park. 2.30pm, BT Sport 2
