Lucy Worsley’s Nights at the Opera
9pm, BBC2
First of a two-part series that will (obviously) entice opera aficionados, but which offers much to those who find the opera part of opera heavy going. Worsley uses the great works to illuminate the times that spawned them. Here, she looks at Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Beethoven’s Fidelio, among others, making a plausible case that if they tend towards melodrama, so did Europe between the 17th and 19th centuries. Andrew Mueller
Strictly Come Dancing
6.45pm, BBC1
Flash! He’ll save every one of us! Except himself, apparently. After last weekend’s trip to La La Land meant the final credits rolling for the Rev Richard Coles and his rather rash Gordon cosplay, the remaining 13 celebs will be praying their own luck can hold out just a little longer. Might the scathing judges take a break from hammering easy targets such as Brian Conley and Simon Rimmer? Or will they continue to bring the mercilessness? Graeme Virtue
Front Row
7.30pm, BBC2
The Radio 4 transfer has, so far, done a competent enough job of talking about the week’s cultural highlights, although its primary motivation seems to be a terror of putting casual viewers off by saying anything complex or confrontational. In tonight’s big interview, Samira Ahmed talks to Kate Winslet about her new movie The Mountain Between Us, a romance/disaster two-hander co-starring Idris Elba. Giles Coren returns to the studio presenter’s chair. Jack Seale
Britain Afloat
8pm, BBC2
With wine cellars and lighting controlled by phone app, some of today’s narrowboats, as presenter Mary-Ann Ochota says, resemble “really posh apartments … but narrower”. It’s all a long way from the days when entire impoverished families sailed down the Grand Union Canal with their babies strapped to the chimney to stop them falling in the water, as Ochota describes, in another short but sweet history lesson on those “HGVs of the 18th century”. Ali Catterall
The Jonathan Ross Show
10.15pm, ITV
Compared with the zing and bonhomie that characterise Graham Norton’s chat juggernaut, Ross’s tried-and-tested approach can seem a little unsexy and plain at times. Just as well that the presenter’s guests this week include London grime hero Stormzy, alongside the reliably lovely Annette Bening, plus Jamie Bell, Bradley Walsh and Vince Vaughn. The musical guest is pop dullard Jamie Lawson, but you can’t win ’em all. Sophie Harris
Punk: Attitude
9pm, Sky Arts
Having witnessed its fluid, DIY beginnings, Don Letts has always been a brilliant advocate for the wider definition of punk – less a codified musical style and more a fierce, open-ended commitment to eclectic cultural exploration. This doc charts the movement’s development through the 70s, talking to key players including Siouxsie Sioux and Paul Simonon and, from the other side of the Atlantic, New York Doll David Johansen and Black Flag übermensch Henry Rollins. Phil Harrison
Doctor Foster
9pm, W
The consensus around season two of Doctor Foster was that it was severely lacking in thrills, with an ending that failed to deliver the bloody retribution it had hinted at. By contrast, the first run (repeated here) was a tightly packed tale of suburban discontent – a Home Counties Gone Girl, if you will. Here’s another chance to catch it from the beginning, as superwoman Gemma (Suranne Jones) discovers a stray blond hair and begins Googling ways to ensnare a cheating husband. Hannah J Davies
Film choices
Wild, (Jean-Marc Vallée, 2014) Saturday, 9pm, Film4
Reese Witherspoon’s gritty performance makes this tale of a 1,000-mile trek along the Pacific Crest Trail a compelling journey. Skilfully adapted by Nick Hornby from Cheryl Strayed’s angsty 2012 memoir, it follows Witherspoon’s Cheryl on her lone, blistery path of self-discovery. Along the way we dip into her troubled past, when she turned to heroin and casual sex after the death of her mother. Cheryl’s haunted memories and physical exhaustion combine to haunting, dreamlike effect. Paul Howlett
Split, (M Night Shyamalan, 2016), 12noon, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
A thoroughly creepy and effective thriller from the famous director of underwhelming horrors. Teenager Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy) gets a lift home with two other girls; all three are kidnapped by James McAvoy’s smiling weirdo and imprisoned in his basement for some unspecified ritual. But the weirdest thing about their captive is that he suffers from dissociative identity disorder, and has 23 troubled personalities raging inside him. Paul Howlett
A Bridge Too Far, (Richard Attenborough, 1977), 5.40pm, Channel 5
Attenborough’s epic recreation of the Arnhem debacle: the plan to parachute into the Netherlands and take six bridges would have shortened the war considerably but it all went horribly wrong. The battle scenes are highly effective and everyone is on parade for this one: Bogarde, Hackman, Connery, Caine, Hopkins, Redford, Olivier and all. Paul Howlett
Non-Stop, (Jaume Collet-Serra, 2014), 9pm, Channel 4
Fasten your seatbelts, we’re in for a bumpy ride. Liam Neeson stars in one of those action-man roles he’s now forsaken: he’s an air marshal with personal baggage that’s way over the limit, dealing with a mysterious killer on his New York to London flight who is murdering a passenger every 20 minutes. It doesn’t have the edgy suspense of Wes Craven’s Red Eye, but for angsty close-quarters combat, Liam’s your man. Paul Howlett
Live sport
Premier League Football: Liverpool v Manchester United Klopp’s watchable but flaky Liverpool host the title-contending Red Devils. 11.30am, Sky Sports Main Event
Champions Cup Rugby Union: Exeter Chiefs v Glasgow Warriors Coverage of the matchday one fixture at Sandy Park. 7.30pm, BT Sport 2
US Open Squash The men’s and women’s finals from the US tournament. 10pm, BT Sport 2
