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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Graeme Virtue, Hannah Verdier, John Robinson, Jonathan Wright, David Stubbs and Ali Catterall

Thursday’s best TV

Yvette Fielding, Patricia Potter, Chesney Hawkes, Sarah Harding and Sheree Murphy line up for Celebr
Yvette Fielding, Patricia Potter, Chesney Hawkes, Sarah Harding and Sheree Murphy line up for Celebrity MasterChef. Photograph: BBC/Shine TV

Dogs: Their Secret Lives
8pm, Channel 4

A third series of the show that uses hidden cameras to observe beloved pooches at their naughtiest. After reviewing the footage with aghast owners, host Mark Evans and trainer Tamsin Durston prescribe corrective actions. Can they stop a rogue chihuahua from piddling everywhere? Or broker a truce between two German shepherd sisters so antagonistic they have segregated a family home? Plus, an experiment involving bubblewrap that looks at how cute puppies affect our brain chemistry: literally, pop science. Graeme Virtue

Celebrity MasterChef
9pm, BBC1

New series, with more quaking celebs stepping into Eggy and Shouty’s lair. First up it’s the Invention Test. Girls Aloud’s Sarah Harding is one frantic foodie, Yvette Fielding is planning a “concoction”, while Holby City’s Trish Potter prefers her food simple. Chesney Hawkes takes his recipes to extremes, while Sheree Murphy arrives bearing a notebook emblazoned with one word: mash. The fun really begins when the five are sent to work in a couple of top London restaurants, Anglo-French Sixty One and Novikov, with its Asian flavours. Hannah Verdier

Stonemouth
9pm, BBC2

A mixed bag, this Iain Banks adaptation about a young man returning to uncover intrigue in his hometown – part romantic comedy, part gangland thriller. Neither element is particularly convincing, but the performances are fairly strong, as they will tend to be if you have Peter Mullan playing a villain and Sharon Small on hand as his wife. Tonight’s conclusion finds Stewart’s suspicions mounting, his unwanted presence in Stonemouth giving rise to lots of not awfully well-staged running about. John Robinson

Catching History’s Criminals: The Forensics Story
9pm, BBC4

Surgeon and writer Gabriel Weston presents this series on the evolution of using science to find out whodunnit. She begins with the difficulties that can surround identifying a body. Tales of dismemberment and, in the infamous case of John Haigh, dissolving corpses in sulphuric acid follow. Gruesome stuff, but treated in a non-sensational fashion and utterly fascinating, especially when we learn how researchers are developing techniques to produce photofit-style likenesses from DNA. Jonathan Wright

Hoff The Record
9pm, Dave

With work drying up in the US, David Hasselhoff packs up his troubles in an old KITT bag and travels to the UK to star in his own movie biopic. At least, that’s the premise of this new six-part mockumentary, where the former Baywatch big cheese is belittled and bullied by a parade of awful characters, including a dismissive director and a monstrous acting rival. The Hoff ends up seeming sympathetic, not least because he’s willing to offer up both his career highs and well-documented lows as raw material. GV

Banshee
10pm, Sky Atlantic

No great leaps and bounds plotwise in tonight’s episode, but this chaotic crime drama continues to evolve and mature as a series, both in terms of its core characters and its explosive yet nuanced on-screen delivery. Tonight, a former neo-Nazi is looking to take up Billy Raven’s job as deputy, the colonel of Camp Genoa shows he is some operator and not a man to be messed with, while Chayton leads two of his men on an expedition against Proctor, who has his own family problems as well as rival dealers to cope with. David Stubbs

Dementiaville
11pm, Channel 4

In the final part of an exemplary series, the spotlight is on Ivy House, a dementia day centre in Eastbourne, and four deeply pragmatic wives whose husbands have the condition. While 75-year-old Mike thinks he’s back in the Australia of his younger years (“Luckily he doesn’t talk about his ex-wife,” laughs current spouse Jenny), Derek thinks he’s 15 again (“I’ve got a toyboy!” quips wife Sheila). “It’s a comfortable world they’ve gone into,” consultant Jane Lowe says, “but we’re not included in that world.” Ali Catterall

Today’s best live sport

Tennis: Queens Club Championships Coverage of the third-round matches, hosted by Sue Barker. 1pm, BBC2

Golf: The US Open The second major of 2015 gets underway. Can Martin Kaymer defend his title? 5pm, Sky Sports 4

Uefa Under-21 Championship Football: England v Portugal Gareth Southgate’s charges kick off their campaign. 7.15pm, BT Sport 1

Rugby League: Castleord Tigers v St Helens The champions visit play-off chasing Castleford. 7.30pm, Sky Sports 1

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