Syria’s Disappeared: The Case Against Assad
10pm, Channel 4
There is little consolation available for the victims of Syria’s civil war. However, this film ponders the foundation of possible eventual retribution against the regime of President Assad: the work of war crimes investigator Bill Wiley, who is assembling documents and testimonies that could put Assad in the dock. It’s iIllustrated with archive footage and interviews with survivors of Assad’s prisons, much of which is inevitably gruelling. Andrew Mueller
The Great Pottery Throw Down
8pm, BBC2
After hobbyist potter Johnny Vegas lightened up last week’s toilet-themed Throw Down, things get fraught in tonight’s final firing. The last three contenders are tasked with turning out some super bowls to assemble a beautiful porcelain light feature. But will all those fragile pieces survive the lengthy process? Thankfully, the anxious atmosphere is at least partially relieved by an unexpectedly sexy Spot Test. Graeme Virtue
Great British Buildings: Restoration of the Year
8pm, Channel 4
Hosted by Kevin McCloud, this short series profiles candidates for the prestigious RICS award. Tonight’s episode focuses on Georgian restorations and, as Kevin smirks: “They’re a good-looking bunch”. From the belt-and-braces job at Sacrewell Mill to the decorative plasterwork crafted for a derelict holiday home at Lyme Regis, the judging parameters are elastic. It’s a far simpler job to watch and enjoy. John Robinson
Three Wives, One Husband
9pm, Channel 4
Enoch Foster is a Utah mailman. He is also a fundamentalist Mormon who lives in a secluded community in the side of a blasted rock and has two wives and 16 children, with a 17th on the way. Now he is contemplating taking a third wife. He and his community have agreed to be filmed for a year as we see how surprisingly well this marital arrangement pans out, though, as one partner admits, “there are days when it really hurts”. David Stubbs
The Last Days of George Michael
9pm, Channel 5
Typically, Channel 5 is swift out of the traps with this investigation into the events leading up to the death of the late, lamented pop great George Michael. With the recent postmortem returning a verdict of death from natural causes, the challenge for this documentary is to fill its allotted hour in a way that’s tasteful, unsensational and appropriately respectful. Maybe a celebration of Michael’s life would have been a better use of the airtime? Phil Harrison
Noisey
10pm, Viceland
Noisey’s season finale visits chaotic, teeming Lagos to profile Nigeria’s Afropop industry and see how it’s changed since Fela Kuti’s day. Interviews with new stars such as Ice Prince and Burna Boy reveal shifts in ethos and aspiration, as well as sound – many artists are more likely to name-check luxury cars than rail against injustice. High-flying Drake collaborator Wizkid fails to show, but this is an illuminating, street-level view of what’s now a multi billion-dollar business. Sharon O’Connell
Fortitude
9pm, Sky Atlantic
This series set in a once-peaceful Norwegian community has already seen headless bodies, a rampaging polar bear, a severed tongue dangled tauntingly at a funeral and the killing off of Sofie Gråbøl’s character. Tonight, crucifixion and self-mutilation are added to the series’ bewildering litany of violence. Dan faces his grimmest ordeal to date at the hands of Vladek, Freya is gravely ill, while Michael and Ingrid continue their desperate pursuit of justice. David Stubbs
Film choice
The Body Snatcher (Robert Wise, 1945) Thursday, 1am, Movies4Men
“Graves raided! Coffins robbed! Corpses carved!” Yes, it’s a typical ghoul-fest from maverick producer Val Lewton, who, with director Robert Wise, has a high old time with a Burke-and-Hare tale set in 19th-century Edinburgh. Based on a Robert Louis Stevenson short story, it has Henry Daniell as a goodish doctor, reduced to employing saturnine Boris Karloff to provide fresh cadavers – some from the grave, others very much alive until Boris arrives – in a creepy, shadowy city. Bela Lugosi, as the doctor’s assistant, is implicated, too. Paul Howlett
Girlhood (Céline Sciamma, 2014) 11.05pm, Film4
Marieme (Karidja Touré) is a teenager of the banlieue, going nowhere in the downtrodden housing projects of Paris. When her school shamefully rejects her, she embraces gang life, joining three similarly disadvantaged black girls in tough but sometimes joyful scrapes involving shoplifting, drug dealing and vicious fights, in which she earns a new identity – “Vic, for victory”. A vibrantly physical and poignant coming-of-age tale. PH
Live sport
Women’s Champions League Football VfL Wolfsburg v Lyon. The quarter-final first leg. 7pm, Eurosport 1.
Premier League Darts Round eight includes Michael van Gerwen v James Wade. 7pm, Sky Sports 1.
Super League Rugby Wakefield Trinity v Leigh Centurions. Coverage from the clash at the romantically named Rapid Solicitors Stadium. 7pm, Sky Sports 2.
