Full Steam Ahead
8pm, BBC2
The comprehensive, practical history of steam railways continues in Devon. Ruth Goodman, Peter Ginn and Alex Langlands recreate the process by which Victorian farmers came to supply London with the nation’s creamiest milk. Similar revolutions occurred in the Highlands (whisky) and south Wales (wool), sparking revivals in tributary industries such as cooperage. As with any examination of branch lines, the tale has a bitter end. Jack Seale
The Supervet: Bionic Specials
8pm, Channel 4
Hopeful owners look on as Noel Fitzpatrick performs risky but rewarding operations. He’s the kind of charismatic chap you’d trust to fix your pet. Scraggy dog Flo’s owner certainly thinks so: she’s travelled more than 120 miles to get some cells removed from the mutt’s shoulder. Elsewhere, if Supervet can’t rebuild Izzy’s leg she risks becoming a three-legged dog. It’s pioneering work that could have implications for humans, too. Hannah Verdier
The 80s with Dominic Sandbrook
9pm, BBC2
Beginning with a mobile phone call in 1984, Sandbrook covers the last five years of the 1980s. From the 11lb Racal Vodafone, the narrative encompasses Margaret Thatcher, privatisation and popular capitalism – the period during which Britain became a place with more shareholders than union members. A sequence playing Frankie Goes to Hollywood over an account of the deregulation of financial markets is particularly striking. John Robinson
Katie Price’s Pony Club
9pm, TLC
“The Pricey” – as the TV presenter formerly known as Jordan calls herself nowadays – is horse mad. Which is why she has commandeered four friends and their kids to join her riding club, which will see the latter learn a new equestrian discipline each week. The “elite” nature of horse-riding provides a class-based subtext to the conceit, but the entertainment value here relies mainly on Price’s deadpan humour and her adorable children’s cheeky quips. Rachel Aroesti
Secrets of a Police Marksman
10pm, Channel 4
As recent events in the US have emphasised, we’re lucky to live in a country where gunplay involving police and civilians is rare. But, with the anniversary of the 2011 riots reminding us of how far-reaching the consequences of such incidents can be, this film feels well-timed. Tony Long is one of Britain’s most prolific police marksmen and here he talks, for the first time, about operations involving terrorists, armed robbers and gangsters. Phil Harrison
Celeb Trolls: We’re Coming to Get You
10pm, Channel 5
Saturdays singer Frankie Bridge assembles a crack team of digital avengers and surveillance experts. Their goal? To relieve social media trolls of their online anonymity and confront them in person about the vile abuse they direct at celebrities. While the adversarial title and tone sit a little uneasily with the message that we should all be a bit nicer, there are some cathartic moments and Bridge has bucketloads of empathy. Graeme Virtue
Love Child
11.05pm, More4
The medical drama set in Sydney in 1969 continues. The unfeeling fist of bureaucracy crashes cruelly into Annie’s life, as a birth certificate arrives in the aftermath of her baby’s death. Johnny’s plans to prove himself a good father to Shirley’s baby take a hit as her husband is found injured in Vietnam and is set to be flown home. Over at the Blue Moon club, Annie’s performances attract the attention of songsmith Rick Allen, who offers to team up for a duet. Mark Gibbings-Jones
Olympic choice
The nation’s favourite alliterative siblings, the Brownlee brothers, take centre stage as they look to outwit the field in the men’s triathlon event (2.45pm, BBC1). If Jade Jones did judo, then she’d alliterate even more, but taekwondo is her sport and she’ll be hoping to win the women’s -57kg gold medal contest (2am, BBC1). Finally, it’s the Usain Bolt show once more as the Jamaican goes for his third men’s 200m title (2.30am, BBC1). Paul MacInnes
Film choice
Suffragette (Sarah Gavron, 2015) 4.10pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
Not the subtlest account of the fight for women’s rights – the heavy boot of exposition weighs in with the repression, from parliamentary equivocation to domestic violence – but the rebel spirit burns bright. That’s much due to Carey Mulligan’s marvellous laundry worker-turned-activist Maud Watts, Anne-Marie Duff as her friend Violet, Helena Bonham Carter as chemist Edith, and Meryl Streep as Emmeline Pankhurst herself.
