Born to Kill
9pm, Channel 4
This series is developing into an appallingly compelling drama, dominated by the performance of Jack Rowan as Sam, a teenager with a maturity and composure well beyond his years, marred only by his psychopathic, homicidal tendencies. Tonight, Sam goes to extreme measures in his efforts to visit his father in prison, while Daniel Mays’s hapless Bill endures a truly dismal Christmas lunch with his daughter and hideous mother. David Stubbs
The Truth About Stress
9pm, BBC1
At what point does the pressure of a demanding job or lifestyle turn into an medical condition? Might stress even, like they used to say about red wine, be good for you in small doses? As Fiona Phillips discovers, the World Health Organization calls stress “the epidemic of the 21st century”, a factor contributing to cancer. This film sees how it might effectively be treated – and enters the white-knuckle world of stress research. John Robinson
The Last Kingdom
9pm, BBC2
The screen adaptation of Bernard Cornwell’s bestselling Saxon series has been rattling along nicely, a chunky stew of violence and often equally lethal realpolitik. Tonight’s second series finale promises barnstorming action (literally, as there’s a Wessex princess being held captive in a barn full of boozy Vikings), but there is more to hero Uhtred than just his hefty sword arm. Shrewd intelligence lurks behind those impressively kohled eyes. Graeme Virtue
Bucket
10pm, BBC4
Frog Stone’s comedy-drama concludes with Mim and Fran estranged. Mim’s truth-speaking, when she finally gets around to some proper honesty, doesn’t much help matters: “You were too fat for the ballet club.” Which is a particular shame because Mim has information her exasperated daughter, who returns to her day-to-day life to find herself out of a job, needs to know. Bucket doesn’t always quite work but when it finds its rhythm it’s very good indeed. Jonathan Wright
Guerrilla
9pm, Sky Atlantic
From their rural safehouse, Jas, Marcus and Quebecois fellow traveller Eliette plot their next London revolutionary action, debating media messaging while test-driving Sten guns. After a slow-burn start, Oscar winner John Ridley’s fictionalised account of 1970s activists locked in escalating conflict with the Met’s brutal Black Power Desk is building some righteous momentum, staging its most ambitious – and agonisingly tense – set-piece yet. GV
The Trip to Spain
10pm, Sky Atlantic
A publicity photoshoot in La Mancha in Don Quixote and Sancho Panza costume sees Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon continuing to tilt not so much at windmills but one other, in the penultimate episode. While Bowie and Jagger get an airing over lunch, a conversation about the Spanish Moors swiftly turns into an elongated (and hysterically funny) riff on the influence of Roger Moore on Spanish heritage; and Steve receives startling news from home. Ali Catterall
Film choice
Arabesque (Stanley Donen, 1966) 4.50pm, Film4
Singin’ in the Rain director Stanley Donen concocts a flashy 60s spy spree, in which the leads handle all dangers with utter insouciance. Thus Gregory Peck’s Oxford don is shaken out of musty academia into a world of nefarious Middle Eastern villains hunting a secret hieroglyphic message. Luckily, he has Sophia Loren’s comely and clever Yasmin to
help outwit them. Paul Howlett
Live sport
IPL cricket: Delhi Daredevils v Gujarat Lions Big-money T20 action from the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi. 3pm, Sky Sports 1
Europa League football: Celta Vigo v Manchester United The first leg of the semi-final from Estadio Municipal de Balaídos. 7.30pm, BT Sport 2
League One football: Bradford City v Fleetwood Town Coverage of a play-off semi-final first-leg match. 7.30pm, Sky Sports 1
