Harry Hill’s Alien Fun Capsule
8.30pm, ITV
In a new series billed as “madcap”, Harry Hill watches over two teams who have to prove how funny humans are. Yes, really. Kelvin Fletcher, Sara Pascoe, Patrick Robinson and Josh Widdicombe must choose clips to go into a capsule that can be unleashed in the event of an alien invasion. By Hill’s own admission it is “an idea that’s thinner than Kim Kardashian’s nightie”, but he holds things together with aplomb. Hannah Verdier
Prime Suspect 1973
9pm, ITV
Jane Tennison gets the Endeavour treatment in this new prequel series. It’s a sexist old place, London in 1973, as young Jane (Stefanie Martini) attempts to carve her place in the world while being told to man the phones, make the tea and do the washing up. Period detail is all well and good as WPC Tennison tries to uncover links between a mugging, a murder and a bank robbery but, rain and ligatures notwithstanding, this is yet to suggest the darkness of the original series. John Robinson
The Attack: Terror in the UK
9pm, BBC2
According to police, there are currently more than 1,000 high-priority terror suspects in the UK but, due to limited resources, only a fraction of them are actually being monitored at any one time. This drama-documentary shows how a young man might be radicalised in prison by an Isis-inspired terror group, who could mount a Marauding Terrorist Firearms Attack (MTFA), causing dozens of fatalities, even if police respond within minutes. Ali Catterall
Sound Waves: The Symphony of Physics
9pm, BBC4
What is sound and how does it work? These simple yet infinitely complex questions are the basis of a two-parter presented by Dr Helen Czerski. It’s exactly the kind of approachable popular science that BBC4 does best: via the bells of Big Ben, a journey into the larynx of opera singer Lesley Garrett and a trip into space, it explains how sound can both give us pleasure and help us to understand the universe. Phil Harrison
Extremely British Muslims
10pm, Channel 4
Rare access to the inner workings of Birmingham Central Mosque powers a three-part doc that, on the evidence of this opener, is nuanced and timely. Tonight the focus is on finding a partner, which for young British Muslims starts with the maxim that romance cannot precede marriage. But singletons can and do meet: the awkward, funny encounters seen here often turn on whether the two parties share the same level of conservatism. Jack Seale
High Maintenance
10pm, Sky Atlantic
This weed-slinging sitcom started life as a cult web series before being expanded for TV. The third episode might not seem like the best jumping-on point – told, as it is, entirely from the point of view of a dog – but is actually fairly representative of the shaggy spirit of the show, which sketches witty, often poignant portraits of various self-involved NYC residents, all loosely connected by their unnamed pot dealer, a beardy, quizzical cyclist. Graeme Virtue
Forged in Fire
8pm, History
This week on Forged in Fire (the MasterChef: The Professionals of the knife- and sword-making world), the perspiring hopefuls are tasked with harvesting some steel from a piece of construction equipment, a singularly daunting task. Those who get through to the next round will have to recreate a Xiphos, the double-edged, one-handed battlefield weapon used by the ancient Greeks. A $10,000 cash prize and its associated glories await the winner. Ben Arnold
Film choice
Wild Tales (Damián Szifrón, 2014) 9pm, Film4
There’s a definite touch of co-producer Pedro Almodóvar about Szifrón’s wildly funny and violent feature. It’s a portmanteau of gory morality tales, set in a modern Argentina that seems to teeter on the brink of furious lunacy. Ricardo Darín, charismatic star of The Secret In Their Eyes, leads in a drolly pyrotechnic story that demonstrates the foolishness of enraging a demolition man with sneaky parking regulations. A bloody delight.
The Lincoln Lawyer (Brad Furman, 2011) 11.20pm, Film4
Based on a Michael Connelly novel, this slick and smart LA-set thriller stars Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller, AKA the Lincoln lawyer, because he conducts his business from the back seat of his Lincoln Continental. He’s engaged to defend rich kid Ryan Phillippe, who is accused of the attempted murder of a sex worker, in a tale with enough wit and snappy dialogue to balance a somewhat workaday plot.
Live sport
Premier League Darts 7pm, Sky Sports 1 Round five at the Westpoint Arena in Exeter, including Gary Anderson v Phil Taylor.
Super League Rugby League: Castleford Tigers v Leeds Rhinos 7pm, Sky Sports 2 Coverage of the top-flight clash from Mend-a-Hose Jungle.
Golf: The Mexico City Championship 7pm, Sky Sports 4 Opening event of the series, held at the Club de Golf Chapultepec.
