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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Jonathan Wright, Graeme Virtue, Hannah Verdier, David Stubbs, John Robinson, Paul Howlett Phil Harrison, Ellen E Jones

Thursday’s best TV: Dawn of the Driverless Car; Killer Women With Piers Morgan

Horizon: Dawn of the Driverless Car.
Horizon: Dawn of the Driverless Car.

Real, Fake Or Unknown
11.05pm, Channel 4

In any given minute of the day, thousands of videos are uploaded to the internet. But, at the risk of shocking some readers, not all of them record actual events that happened in actual reality. How to tell the real from the fake? This new series subjects popular videos to scientific analysis. First up: footage of a hover-boarder atop a skyscraper in Dubai, a man seemingly dicing with death beneath a train and an encounter with a bear. Jonathan Wright

Horizon: Dawn of the Driverless Car
9pm, BBC2

With its title strobing in red – a cute nod to Knight Rider’s unflappable Kitt – this doc examines how close we are to achieving full autopilot. Ford plans to have self-driving cars in service by 2021, and much of the required tech – from parking sensors to adaptive cruise control – is already in use. The real roadblock is foolproof AI, although a goofy, flipper-armed robot called Brett at UC Berkeley seems to be learning fast. Graeme Virtue

Host the Week
9pm, Channel 4

Celebrities who sign up for hosting duties here have to be on their toes, as the experience of Scarlett Moffatt has already proved. They need to hold a show together without a rehearsal or a script, backed up by a team of improvisers led by Tom Parry, the loosest canon of sketch trio Pappy’s who has a reputation for bringing a good dose of silliness to any occasion. Chatshow, gameshow, comedy monologue: if it’s ordered, the host needs to deliver. Hannah Verdier

Killer Women With Piers Morgan
9.15pm, ITV

A study in how moral collapse leads ordinary, nondescript people to perpetrate terrible deeds. But enough of Piers Morgan on Twitter. The tastefulness of the title of this returning series, in which Morgan meets female killers, says it all. This week, he travels to Florida to meet Amber Wright, who at 15, conspired to murder her ex-boyfriend, Seath Jackson. Will she be inspired by Piers to do the right thing and show contrition? David Stubbs

Naked Attraction
10pm, Channel 4

Much as it sounds, this dating show starts like the end of a successful date – with clothes removed. Titillation-free (it’s without all the grubby insinuations of its TV forebears), it can be amusing (“Maybe it’s a grower not a shower …”), and embraces the complexities of gender identity. Meanwhile, Dom, 21, is studying physiotherapy in Amsterdam. He’s looking for a “wild girl”, and since it was his mum who put him up for the show, that could be nearly anyone. John Robinson

Stonewall Uprising
9.10pm, PBS America

It’s telling that even the ultra-liberal Village Voice referred to “the forces of faggotry” in its report on the 1969 riots that marked a watershed in US gay history. It’s an indication of the kind of across-the-board bigotry the rioters were up against. This comprehensive and stirring film tells the story through a mixture of archival footage and testimony from participants. “The police ran from us,” recalls John O’Brien, “and it was fantastic.” Phil Harrison

Caitriona Balfe Outlander
The time-traveller’s strife … Caitriona Balfe in Outlander.

Outlander
9pm, More4

Caitriona Balfe stars in this adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s novels, brought to More4 after a stint on Amazon Prime. She plays newlywed Claire Randall, who’s magically transported back to the Scottish Highlands of the 1740s, where she falls in with a group of dishy Jacobite rebels. It’s unselfconsciously silly and undeniably fun, so if you’ve ever thought, “Poldark could only be improved by more tartan and time-travelling”, you’re in for a real treat. Ellen E Jones

Film choice

Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) 1.45pm, Film4 Vintage Hitchcock, with James Stewart starring as a news photographer, laid up with a broken leg and apparently witnessing a murder when snooping on the neighbours. Although the action is restricted to his apartment, it grips tight as suspicions against a menacing neighbour (Raymond Burr) grow. A masterly thriller, with Grace Kelly the girlfriend drawn into the investigation, and a disturbing subtext about the hero as voyeur. Paul Howlett

Live sport

Tennis: Wimbledon Qualifying 11am, Eurosport 2. Coverage of day four’s qualifying.

Confederations Cup Football 6.30pm, ITV The second semi-final of the summer tournament from Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi.

Super League Rugby: Leeds Rhinos v St Helens 7pm, Sky Sports 1. Coverage of the top-flight encounter at Headingley.

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