Ingenious Animals
8pm, BBC1
The latest episode of this series explores the extraordinary emotional bonds that animals form. Alongside a predictable cute-fest, there’s room for some genuinely moving stories, such as those of Sudan, the last surviving male northern white rhino, and Albus the babirusa, who has been receiving acupuncture for a slipped knee so he can breed. If that doesn’t convince you, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall gets ambushed by a mischievous monkey called R Kelly. Laurie Chen
Hive Minds
8.30pm, BBC4
Return of the quiz in which contestants not only have to know the answers but locate them in a “hive” of letters. As with Only Connect, this is a show that proudly wears its nerdiness on its sleeve, but it lacks its forerunner’s quirkiness and warmth. Overall, it’s like spending a wet Sunday playing Scrabble with the kind of people who spend 20 minutes weighing up different options, only to skip a go and change letters. Presented by Fiona Bruce. Jonathan Wright
Absolutely Fashion: Inside British Vogue
9pm, BBC2
Richard Macer gets a rare access-all-areas (well, nearly-all-areas) pass to what he calls the “very polite and guarded world” of Vogue, with intriguing results. Tonight, the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Alexandra Shulman, tackles New York fashion week. Macer’s outsider perspective is what makes this documentary so interesting, particularly as he waits patiently for a fleeting moment with the mysterious Kate Moss at what proves to be a tense cover shoot. Hannah Verdier
Inside Scotland Yard With Trevor McDonald
9pm, ITV
Trevor McDonald seizes upon the excuse of the imminent relocation of the Met to poke around its current headquarters before the wrecking ball does its work. The high point of this first of two films is a tour of Scotland Yard’s crime museum – the Met’s collection of artefacts pertaining to assorted miscreants, rapscallions and ne’er-do-wells. Sobering to reflect that the surveillance resources of the Yard were once used to monitor women who wanted to vote. Andrew Mueller
Lost Sitcoms: Hancock’s Half Hour
9pm, BBC4
Unlike the recently rebooted Porridge and Are You Being Served?, this rejuvenated BBC sitcom actualky has a point to it: it’s a loving and spot-on recreation of a missing Hancock radio episode from 1956, in which the Lad Himself (Kevin McNally) and co convince themselves their new neighbour is a serial killer. There’s a real potency to it, too – it was originally broadcast only three years after the grisly, real-life discoveries at 10 Rillington Place. Ali Catterall
John Bishop: In Conversation With Charlotte Church
9pm, W
The child-star-turned-pop-siren-turned-activist has packed plenty into her 30 years. She joins Bishop for the second instalment of this very watchable chatshow. As usual, Church is likable and forthright – the conversation ranges from her treatment at the hands of the tabloids to the sexualisation of young women in the public eye. And, whether she’s excoriating the government or dissing Robin Thicke (“a complete twat”), she doesn’t hold back. Phil Harrison
The Night Of
9pm, Sky Atlantic
The second episode of the gripping, Serial-ish HBO procedural finds college student Naz in police custody, seemingly baffled at how he has ended up the prime suspect in a murder investigation. But can we be so sure that the drink- and drug-fuelled evening he spent with the mysterious Andrea didn’t take a sinister turn? As Detective Box tries to craft his own narrative, unorthodox attorney John Stone is keen to stress to Naz that the truth is no longer relevant. Hannah J Davies
Film choice
Possession (Neil LaBute, 2002) 11.30pm, BBC1
Like The French Lieutenant’s Woman, this is a time-travelling romance, with two modern-day academics – gung-ho American Aaron Eckhart and cool Brit Gwyneth Paltrow – delving into the secret lives of a Victorian poet (Jennifer Ehle) and her married lover (Jeremy Northam). The modern tale is a flimsy thing compared to the beautifully performed period piece. A flawed but interesting adaptation of AS Byatt’s Booker prize-winning novel. Paul Howlett
Live sport
Paralympics 2016 The opening day’s action from Rio includes Sarah Storey in the track cycling, Jonnie Peacock in the 100m, plus swimming and wheelchair basketball. 1pm, Channel 4
Tennis: the US Open Weather permitting, it’s women’s semi-finals day. 5pm, Eurosport 1
Super League rugby league Top-flight action from the Super 8s stage. 7.30pm, Sky Sports 1
