Victoria
9pm, ITV
Amid much fanfare, ITV’s new historical drama arrives. At its centre lies an impressive Jenna Coleman playing Queen Victoria as a young woman who sees the throne as an escape from a stultifying childhood. But she’s headstrong. Can PM Lord Melbourne – a role that requires Rufus Sewell to be alternately dashing, louche, fatherly, gnomic and tragic – help her rule wisely? Premium middlebrow entertainment for those missing Downton Abbey. Jonathan Wright
Ellie Simmonds: Swimming With Dolphins
7pm, ITV
After winning Paralympic gold at 13, followed by awards including an OBE and a gold Blue Peter badge, you’d expect Ellie Simmonds to be done with wish fulfilment. Yet training has afforded little time to chase her true childhood dream: swimming alongside dolphins. Hampered by a phobia of the sea, and with said mammals unlikely to join her at the lido, Ellie’s determination will be needed to finally meet her aquatic inspiration. Mark Gibbings-Jones
Prehistoric Mega Beasts: Croc v Snake
8pm, Channel 4
Like a daft pub conversation extended to an hour and given a patina of credibility by the participation of actual scientists, this documentary explores discoveries made by miners in Colombia: excavators came upon the fossilised remains of two gargantuan beasts, a 43ft snake and a huge croc. Naturally, talk soon turned to which of these monsters would win in a hypothetical fight. This film seeks to put that question to bed. Phil Harrison
Are You Being Served?
9pm, BBC1
This one-off extension to the classic department store sitcom may have time-jumped to 1988 but it still feels old-fashioned, reheating the original formula of mild miscommunications against a backdrop of ladies’ underthings. The script from Benidorm creator Derren Litten is elevated by a game cast – notably Jason Watkins as Mr Humphries – who clearly understand that when it comes to innuendo, you only get out as much as you put in. Graeme Virtue
Porridge
9.30pm, BBC1
At the risk of romanticising the past, Ronnie Barker’s Porridge really was a thing of beauty. This isn’t, though: scripted by original writers Clement and La Frenais, with Kevin Bishop as Fletcher’s “cyber-criminal” grandson, it’s a shockingly unfunny reboot full of crowbarred modern references and hoary jokes about Millwall FC. Hey, BBC comedy commissioners: experiencing symptoms of ennui? Why not greenlight some fresh writing from talented newcomers? Ali Catterall
Jay Leno’s Garage
7pm, Dave
Late-night veteran Jay Leno indulges his love of motor vehicles in this new series. First up, it’s muscle cars, so he calls in a favour from aficionado Tim Allen and checks out his huge collection. There are Pontiacs, Mustangs, and likely an eye-watering insurance premium. He also meets the first female Pro Stock Drag Racing champ, and borrows Nascar don Jimmie Johnson’s Corvette. Like Nascar itself, despite the grunting engines, it’s somehow a tad dull. Ben Arnold
Drain The Ocean: WWII
8pm, National Geographic
Undersea scanning technology is the starting point for this documentary in which graphic reconstructions enable us to uncover detail from beneath the sea. First up is the Pacific Ocean. Most ships sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor were salvaged – except the USS Arizona. Probing deeper, is it possible that the USS Ward did indeed sink a Japanese mini-sub in the area – which should in itself have acted as a warning for the coming attack? John Robinson
Film choice
ParaNorman
(Chris Butler, Sam Fell, 2012) 4.30pm, E4
Another creepy, very funny stop-motion animation from the people who made Coraline. This has lonely kid Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee) finding that his life is starting to imitate the horror movies he loves when he has to save his home town from a witch’s curse and a real (un)life horde of zombies. Phil Harrison
Insidious
(James Wan, 2010), 11.35pm, Film4
The old haunted house story gets a brisk dust-down in this derivative but still quite nerve-tingling horror story. The Lamberts (Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne and kids) are the unfortunate family moving into a new home where all sorts of supernatural business is soon under way – as you’d expect, given that the film is produced by Oren Peli, director-writer of Paranormal Activity. The sequel follows directly after. PH
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
(Jan Kounen, 2009), 12.15am, BBC2
An elegant, intelligent account of the affair between the French fashion icon (Anna Mouglalis) and the Russian composer (Mads Mikkelsen) in postwar Paris. After meeting Stravinsky at a party, Coco takes him and his impoverished family in at her country house, where the heated liaison begins, pretty much in front of Igor’s wife Katya (Elena Morozova), the emotional core of the ménage. PH
Today’s best live sport
One-Day Cricket: Yorkshire v Surrey 10.30am, Sky Sports 2
The first semi-final from Headingley.
Formula One: Belgian Grand Prix, 12 noon, Channel 4
The 13th round from Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Premier League Football: West Bromwich Albion v Middlesbrough 12.30pm, Sky Sports 1
Followed by Manchester City v West Ham in the later game.
