The X Factor
8pm, ITV
At 38, Nicole Scherzinger is now the youngest panellist on a show nominally dedicated to pop’s future – in its 13th year, the pensionable talent contest reinstates trusted specialists in eccentric judging, as if to admit that the starmaking is secondary. The bewildered Louis Walsh bounces in his seat again, with Sharon Osbourne’s matronly sass also back. But if Scherzy can revive the glory days of 2012 – “You’ve found your balls!” – she’s the smartest rehire. Jack Seale
Go For It
7pm, ITV
Gatekeeper of the genre, Stephen Mulhern showcases the best in Great British party tricks in this new primetime talent show. Members of the public are tasked with seemingly difficult and bizarre challenges – expect Rubik’s cubes solved with feet, a man smashing melons with his head, and unicycling. They’re not just doing it for the glory, though; this randomly talented bunch are in with a chance of winning a grand. And yes, it is just You Bet without the gambling. Grace Rahman
The Good Terrorist
8pm, Channel 4
The only white person executed in the struggle against apartheid, John Harris was a peaceful campaigner – until he left a suitcase full of dynamite and petrol in Johannesburg station, in so doing killing an elderly woman and maiming her granddaughter. This film uses recently discovered home movies to tell Harris’s story, while his son – a baby at the time of his father’s hanging – has an emotional meeting with one of the key figures in the story. John Robinson
Beck: In The Name Of God
9pm, BBC4
Incorporating political intrigue, the murder of “a boozy paparazzi” and a cop on the edge, Beck’s latest case doesn’t want for incident. Then again, neither do the investigations in Midsomer Murders and, for all its Swedish setting, Beck is as reassuring a police procedural as its Brit cousin. It’s an impression heightened by the way lead Peter Haber at different moments calls to mind middle-England favourites Tony Britton and Hugh Bonneville. Jonathan Wright
The Truth Commissioner
9.30pm, BBC2
Adaptation of David Park’s novel, which imagined a Northern Irish equivalent of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in which admissions (and amends) could be made about the Troubles. Roger Allam plays the titular truth-seeker, a British diplomat with troubles of his own. A broad brush is applied to some aspects (and some accents) of Northern Ireland, but it’s an engaging self-contained drama nonetheless. Andrew Mueller
Rob Brydon Live
11pm, Gold
A screening of the Glamorgan gagsmith’s 2009 live show, with topics ranging from Strictly… to Shakin’ Stevens and golf with Ronnie Corbett. As standup sets go, in keeping with Brydon’s everyman persona, it’s the comedy equivalent of a tin of assorted biscuits – unthreateningly familiar, irrecusably welcoming. While this proves Brydon isn’t quite a natural standup, his winsome Welsh ways keep the audience aboard his train of thought. Mark Gibbings Jones
Brazil Weekend
9am, Yesterday
With the Olympic rings stuffed behind the divan in the back bedroom for another four years, Yesterday takes a weekend-long look at the host nation. World’s Wildest City explores Manaus in the north, which, thanks to its proximity to both the Amazon river and the swaths of rainforest which surround it, finds residents living cheek-by-jowl with weird, wonderful and deadly creatures. There’s also Wild Brazil, following animal families facing seasonal extremes and fierce predators. Ben Arnold
Film choice
Everlasting Moments
(Jan Troell, 2008) Saturday, 12.20am, BBC2
In Malmö in the early 20th century, Maria (Maria Heiskanen) marries Sigge (Mikael Persbrandt), an initially charming docker who proves to be a womanising, alcoholic brute. LIfe is harsh – it’s a time of poverty, industrial unrest and looming world war – but a camera won in a raffle, and the friendship of Danish photography shop owner Sebastian (Jesper Christensen), prove an unlikely solace as Maria sets about capturing life’s “everlasting moments”. This is a beautiful, tender film from the Swedish director, based on a biography by his wife, Agneta. Paul Howlett
Last Vegas
(Jon Turteltaub, 2013), 9pm, Channel 4
Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline are three old boys reuniting with Michael Douglas for the latter’s marriage (to a woman half his age) in Las Vegas. And so the “Flatbush Four”, circa 1955, are reborn. Old friendships and rivalries are rekindled in an amiable, moderately tacky, unexpectedly funny entertainment. PH
Byzantium
(Neil Jordan, 2012), 1.30am, Film4
In a bleak English seaside town, Gemma Arterton’s sex worker Clara supports her 16-year-old daughter Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan) in a rundown guest house called Byzantium. Their past seems to be a closed book, until we find out that the pair are actually 200-year-old vampires, with a mum-daughter angsty thing going on – Clara embracing her bloody nature, Eleanor rebelling against it – in Jordan’s intelligent and gripping drama. PH
Today’s best live sport
One-Day International Cricket: England v Pakistan 10am, Sky Sports 2
The second game of the series from Lord’s.
Premier League Football: Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool 11.30am, Sky Sports 1
A tough trip to north London for Jürgen Klopp’s team.
Rugby League Challenge Cup Final: Hull FC v Warrington Wolves 2pm, BBC1
Coverage from Wembley.
