The Musketeers
8.30pm, BBC1
It’s pure cheese ‘n’ ham cobblers, of course, but the Beeb’s Saturday night sword twizzler is taut, solid entertainment that takes itself just seriously enough. The fights are snappy, the villains are fruity and the heroes’ facial hair is a lush fantasy. Tonight’s tale of justice defended involves Paris’s refugee enclave, whose inhabitants are accused by the dastardly Marquis de Feron (Rupert Everett) of stealing grain and causing native paupers to starve. Plus ça change. Jack Seale
Bang On The Money
7pm, ITV
Last in the series of the novelty gameshow fronted by Rickie Haywood-Williams and Melvin Odoom. Combining the box-themed intrigue of Deal Or No Deal with copious amounts of running and button bashing, it often feels like 10 different formats squeezed into one. Even so, it’s largely inoffensive stuff. This week, the Arc Angels take on a trio of pageant contestants, both teams aiming to hit their target numbers and bag up to £40,000. Hannah J Davies
You Saw Them Here First
8pm, ITV
John Thomson returns from the TV archives with more freshly found footage of the famous before fame, a format destined to rumble on throughout eternity. Despite the temptation to bemoan such opportunistic programming, spots such as Idris Elba chewing scenery for late-era Gerry Anderson, or a June Brown soap appearance preceding the year Dot, prove there’ll always be enough curios to make these shows lazily watchable. Mark Gibbings-Jones
NCIS
8.30pm, Channel 5
A double bill of slick, naval-themed crimestopping. With recurring Russian terrorist Mishnev slaughtering his way through NCIS friends and family, it might seem odd that Gibbs (Mark Harmon) and his FBI liaison Cornell (Joe Spano) would head off on a fishing trip. But perhaps they want to try a different kind of bait. In the second episode, grumpy luddite Gibbs has to pose as an IT expert when one of his old cover identities resurfaces in a murder case. Graeme Virtue
The Disappearance
9pm, BBC4
The French drama, entirely populated by beautiful people, continues. Tonight’s double bill follows the conventional path of the modern mystery story, revealing more about the secret life of the apparently innocent victim. With help from besotted Nicolas, Lea’s dad Julien is combing police radio channels for news, while mum Flo is seeking advice from a clairvoyant. The character turns are enjoyable, but this still feels a little too glossy and generic to turn heads. John Robinson
Genius By Stephen Hawking
7pm, National Geographic
The premise of this new series is that Stephen Hawking puts some of the most fundamental existential questions to a panel of “ordinary people” – Hawking has greater entitlement to use that phrase than most – and encourages them towards answers. Tonight’s question is: “Where are we?”; volunteers Jim, Joy and Cat undertake gimmicky tasks and experiments aimed at quantifying the Earth’s size, shape and location. Andrew Mueller
History Of The Eagles
9pm, Sky Arts
What’s the connection between Marvin the Paranoid Android and a desperado? Answer: the Eagles, whose 1975 instrumental Journey Of The Sorcerer would go on to become the unlikely theme tune for the BBC’s Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Made before Glenn Frey’s death in 2016, and on the verge of a retrospective tour, the original boys of summer discuss their life and times in this two-parter, concluding Sunday. Ali Catterall
FILM CHOICE
12 Years A Slave
(Steve McQueen, 2013) Saturday, 9pm, Channel 4
Steve McQueen tackles a subject rarely visited by Hollywood with this powerful, Oscar-winning drama. Based on the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup, a free-born, well-to-do American black man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery, it’s beautifully shot, yet uncompromisingly records the horrors of the time. Chiwetel Ejiofor is the epitome of brutalised humanity and endurance as Northup. Other standouts are Lupita Nyong’o as a young slave and Michael Fassbender as the sadistic slavemaster Epps. Paul Howlett
Ray
(Taylor Hackford, 2004),9pm, W
In many ways this tale of a poor, blind black kid who became the high priest of soul is pure Hollywood, but Hackford does not gloss over the drugs, the womanising, or the ruthless exploitation of friends and family. And while it’s a bit short on the man’s music, Jamie Foxx gives a virtuoso performance as the great Ray Charles. PH
You Will Be My Son, (Gilles Legrand, 2011)
11.55pm, BBC2
Down in the beautiful vine groves of Saint Emilion, a painful family drama is fermenting away: Niels Arestrup is the grouchy, overbearing wine grower Paul de Marseul, who heaps derision on his son and, in a modern variation on the prodigal son, wishes to promote his estate manager’s more capable boy. The scene is set for a fruity, full-bodied melodrama. PH
Quatermass 2
(Val Guest, 1957), 1.35am, BBC2
Hammer’s sequel to The Quatermass Experiment again stars visiting American Brian Donlevy as the British prof, now confronting secret government goings-on and world-conquering aliens on the moors. Written by Nigel Kneale, who first created Quatermass as a BBC television play, and photographed in eerie, atmospheric monochrome by Gerald Gibbs, it’s rich in 50s paranoia, and a minor sci-fi classic. PH
Today’s live sport
Tennis: The French Open, 1.30pm, ITV
The women’s final from Paris.
T20 Blast Cricket: Leicestershire Foxes v Durham Jets, 5pm, Sky Sports 2
The cricketing Foxes try to emulate their fearless footballing brethren.
Cycling: London Nocturne, 8pm, Eurosport 1
Coverage of the event in which riders complete laps of a course in central London.
