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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Jonathan Wright, Hannah J Davies, Ben Arnold, Phil Harrison, David Stubbs, John Robinson, Gwilym Mumford, Paul Howlett

Thursday’s best TV: The Fall; The Apprentice; Surviving Aberfan

Gillian Anderson in The Fall
Gillian Anderson in The Fall. Photograph: BBC/The Fall 3 Ltd/Helen Sloan

The Fall
9pm, BBC2

Bleaker than the chilliest Scandi-noir, Allan Cubitt’s serial-killer thriller reaches an episode that comes across like the calm before the storm. To put that another way, with Spector claiming to be suffering from amnesia, he appears (you’d guess) to be reeling in those he thinks may be useful, making this a slow-burner. But pay attention, because the scenes between Stella Gibson and Rose Stagg, for instance, explain much. Easily the week’s spookiest hour of TV. Jonathan Wright

The Apprentice
9pm, BBC1

Week three of the “business” challenge, and Lord Sugar has tasked his would-be business partners with creating sweet treats to flog on the seafront in Brighton. Naturally, there are soon mathematical fails, management mistakes, improbable flavour choices and a trip to the cafe of doom for one unlucky team. Entertaining enough, if you can get past the fact that this is now the televisual equivalent of Groundhog Day. Hannah J Davies

Hunted
9pm, Channel 4

As the net tightens on our intrepid absconders, Ayo looks to be a goner after an ill-advised trip home to see his family (surely page one in the “what not to do on Hunted” handbook). The move leaves him cornered in Hackney, but is there a way out? Up north, Anna and Elizabeth are back in the Yorkshire Dales, blissfully unaware that the hunters are right behind them, while Nick risks capture after deciding to visit some old childhood haunts. Ben Arnold

Surviving Aberfan
9pm, BBC4

Fifty years on, the sheer numbers involved in the Aberfan disaster (116 children and 28 adults killed) still shock. The negligence leading to the landslide still angers. But underpinning it all is sadness. This film captures the horror of the day, but also the painful subsequent decades. To see Hettie Williams, a 21-year-old teacher in 1966, fight back tears as she talks about the “adorable” children the village lost is to understand the permanent shadow cast over the lives of all the tragedy touched. Phil Harrison

The Night Of
9pm, Sky Atlantic

The final episode of a soulful, searing drama, whose whodunnit element is superseded by the long, hard, unstinting look it takes at the US criminal justice system. Naz’s fate, it seems, is literally in the balance as his trial reaches its conclusion. However, another suspect finds himself drawn into the frame as Box reconsiders the case. Stone, meanwhile, is thrust into centre stage as the defence team are thrown into disarray. Another series can’t come soon enough. David Stubbs

Music On 4: Haçienda House Orchestra
12.05am, Channel 4

And there we were thinking: “Surely there can’t be anything stranger in the world of culture than the Ibiza prom?” Aha! Yes, there can. Proving that history repeats itself first as tragedy, then as farce, here comes former Joy Division and New Order bassist Peter Hook, owner of the rights to the Haçienda name, performing dance tunes of the late 80s accompanied by an orchestra. Not tasteful, no, but enjoyably large at times. John Robinson

The Eric Andre Show
12.45am, Fox

From the frazzled minds at stoner channel Adult Swim comes a grotesque deconstruction of the late-night talkshow. Comic Eric Andre invites celebs on to his decrepit set and then subjects them to an onslaught of off-colour jokes, Kaufman-esque pranks and general weirdness. This week, Clueless actor Stacey Dash has an encounter with some rats and A$AP Rocky tries to rap while negotiating an obstacle course blindfolded. Puerile, but funny. Gwilym Mumford

Film choice

Chow Yun-Fat and Mira Sorvino in The Replacement Killers
Chow Yun-Fat and Mira Sorvino in The Replacement Killers. Photograph: Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar/Columbia Pictures

The Replacement Killers (Antoine Fuqua, 1998), 1am, W

The debut US feature of John Woo’s favourite action man Chow Yun-Fat is a pell-mell thriller in the style of his Hong Kong hits. He plays supernaturally fast and agile hitman John Lee who, given a contract to kill a cop’s kid in the US, suddenly develops a conscience. As the mob sends in replacement killers, Lee needs Mira Sorvino’s forger to help him find a way out in a far-from-original, but stylishly staged, thriller. Paul Howlett

SPORT

Rugby Union: Bath v Bristol 7pm, Sky Sports 1 European Challenge Cup clash between the local rivals at the Recreation Ground.

Europa League football: Manchester United v Fenerbahce 7.30pm, BT Sport 2 Robin van Persie returns to Old Trafford with Fenerbahce.

Test cricket: Bangladesh v England 4.45am, Sky Sports 2 The second day of the first Test of the series from Chittagong.

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