Akala’s Odyssey
9pm, BBC Four
Those with fixed notions about “high” and “low” culture might scoff at the idea of a hip-hop artist checking out Homer’s Odyssey. Akala, however, brother of Ms Dynamite, demonstrates that the original oral culture in which Homer’s poetry was disseminated wasn’t all that different from today’s rap battles. Travelling from Delphi to Ithaca, he takes us on a journey that encompasses national identity and the emergence of the written language before composing a piece inspired by the epic. David Stubbs
Hold the Sunset
7.30pm, BBC One
It’s a classic 80s sitcom set-up: widow Edith (Alison Steadman) has been fending off marriage proposals from boyfriend Phil (John Cleese) for years, but on the day she relents, up pops cuckoo in the nest Roger (Jason Watkins), her 50-year-old man-child son who’s left his family. Desperately needs jokes. Ben Arnold
The First Brit
8pm, Channel 4
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a problematic discovery for British racists? Yes, it’s Cheddar Man. This follows the UK’s most ambitious ancient DNA project yet and, just to inject a touch more randomness, shows how the 10,0000-year-old skeleton was recreated by a pair of Dutch identical twins. Ali Catterall
British Academy Film Awards
2018
9pm, BBC One
In a year when movie awards shows will be as notable for nominees’ take on gender politics as they are for who wins, Bafta has made a timely change: Joanna Lumley is the first female host since Mariella Frostrup co-presented in 2001. The Shape of Water is the film to beat. Jack Seale
Life and Death Row: The Mass Execution
9pm, BBC Two
Any argument for capital punishment generates controversy, but the state of Arkansas’s reasoning for scheduling eight executions in 10 days was outright confrontational: an expiry date on the state’s supply of lethal drug midazolam. This doc examines the legal melee. Mark Gibbings-Jones
Homeland
9pm, Channel 4
Some thought the Clare Danes-starring show had lost the plot: this opener suggests that assumption may have been premature. The US is on the verge of civil war, Saul is in prison and, even if Carrie no longer works for the president, she’s still packing a gun and a burner phone when she leaves the house. Nervy, as ever. John Robinson
Film choice
In Order of Disappearance, 10pm, BBC Four
Stellan Skarsgård is at his gloomy, hangdog best as unlikely hero Nils Dickman, a snowplough driver who swaps clearing mountain roads for sweeping away the drug dealers who killed his son. There’s a touch of wry, Fargo-like humour in this violent Norwegian drama. Paul Howlett
Live sport
Winter Olympics 2018 Day nine’s action from South Korea, including more curling. 6am, BBC Two
International T20 Cricket: New Zealand v England The tri-series continues. 6am, Sky Sports Main Event
FA Cup Football: Rochdale v Tottenham Hotspur A tricky away trip for Spurs in the fifth round. 3.35pm, BBC One
