Ingenious Animals
8pm, BBC1
“I’ve just had my toes tickled by a manatee,” yelps Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, during a candid moment typical of his new show looking at the weird and wonderful facets of animal behaviour. In this first episode, Hugh and his band of incredibly photogenic scientists are looking at animal intelligence; meeting empathetic elephants, streetwise racoons and a rat that sniffs out land mines. It’s Animals Do the Funniest Things with a side of science and lot of heart. Grace Rahman
The Murder of Sadie Hartley
9pm, ITV
One of the grimmer domestic murder cases of recent times reached its denouement with the jailing of Sarah Williams and Katrina Walsh on 17 August. The killing of Sadie Hartley was partly a crime of passion – Williams was involved with Hartley’s partner, Ian Johnston. But it was intricately planned and seemingly carried out with sadistic relish, too. This documentary follows Lancashire police as they investigate this disturbing case. Phil Harrison
Lost Sitcoms: Till Death Us Do Part
9pm, BBC4
Re-record, not fade away: the Lost Sitcoms strand resurrects wiped BBC classics by remaking them from the original scripts. That means “new” episodes of Steptoe and Son and Hancock’s Half Hour, but first up is Simon Day channelling Warren Mitchell as bigoted cockney foghorn Alf Garnett, howling at the cosmos after being denied his dinner. It’s followed by a doc exploring the ambiguous appeal of Alf, the original problematic fave. Graeme Virtue
The Night of
9pm, Sky Atlantic
Based on British series Criminal Justice, starring John Turturro as a shambling but shrewd defence lawyer and co-written by Richard Price (Clockers, The Wire), this miniseries shows every sign of being a major return to form for HBO. It begins with a young, naive and sex-starved student who borrows his dad’s cab in search of adventure but finds himself at the centre of a murder scene. Utterly engrossing, brilliantly scripted, sensational vérité. David Stubbs
Our Ex-Wife
10pm, BBC2
Robert Webb and Victoria Hamilton play warring divorcees in this superbly performed, spectacularly grim one-off from former Simpsons writer Julie Thacker-Scully. Pitched almost entirely on one, weapons-grade emotional setting, with Webb screeching at Hamilton in full-on Linda Blair mode, this passes through black comedy into some kind of nihilistic death cult. Possibly cathartic for those going through separations, but deeply odd nonetheless. Ali Catterall
Ellen
10pm, Channel 4
Produced as part of Channel 4’s Coming Up strand, this gripping one-off drama starring Jessica Barden and Jaime Winstone is the debut project of writer Sarah Quintrell and director Mahalia Belo. The titular character is a vulnerable 14-year-old growing up in a poor, dysfunctional household surrounded by her mum’s questionable mates. Like the French drama Girlhood, female friendship and stylised scenes contrast affectingly with more disturbing themes. Hannah J Davies
The Jack and Triumph Show
10pm, Fox
A cult figure/puppet in US comedy, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog made his bones ambushing celebrities on late-night talkshows. In this aggressively strange sitcom, the cigar-smoking hound teams up with 30 Rock’s puppyish Jack McBrayer to play two former child stars adjusting to life after fame. It’s anarchic, transgressive fun, enlivened by cameos from past-it celebs such as beatboxing Police Academy alumnus Michael Winslow. GV
Film choice
The Road (John Hillcoat, 2009) 10pm, ITV4
In a desolate, post-apocalyptic America, a father and son trudge through a land devoid of colour and hope, evading the bestial, cannibalistic gangs searching for victims. Hillcoat’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer-winning novel is bleak, sombre and moving, with compelling performances from Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Man and Boy.
Love and Other Drugs (Edward Zwick, 2010) 1.25am, Film4
Zwick’s clever, fact-based drama is part-romcom, part-assault on big pharma, a somewhat uneven project that just about comes off. Jake Gyllenhaal’s Jamie Randall is a carefree, womanising Viagra salesman who falls for the beautiful Maggie (Anne Hathaway), a woman who, it turns out, is harbouring the kind of Hollywood secret that drugs can’t help. Paul Howlett
Live sport
One-day international cricket: England v Pakistan The fourth game from Headingley in Leeds. 1.30pm, Sky Sports 2
Tennis: The US Open The fourth day from Flushing Meadows in New York. 3.30pm, Eurosport 1
Super League rugby: Wigan Warriors v Widnes Vikings Coverage of the game at the DW Stadium. 7.30pm, Sky Sports 1
