Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School
9pm, BBC2
It was the report that knocked UK parents and teachers sideways: in a test conducted in 65 places to determine 15-year-old students’ proficiency in reading, maths and science, Shanghai, China’s largest city, came out on top. And Britain? 26th place. What’s to be done? Well, perhaps experiments like these, in which five Chinese teachers are invited to take over a Hampshire school to see if their methods – long, gruelling days, strictly disciplined – achieve notable results in a month. Ali Catterall
New Tricks
9pm, BBC1
The remains of a body burble up among the contents of a broken water main, turning out to belong to a detective who disappeared 30 years previously. It’s left to Gerry and company to defrost a cold case that many a murky copper at the station would rather leave in the freezer. With a veritable Panini sticker-book full of felons from the mid-80s being assembled, skeletons both metaphorical and literal are in danger of being uncovered from Gerry’s past, in this opener of New Tricks’ final series. Mark Jones
Abducted
9pm, ITV
Many marriages now cross international borders. This can make break-ups and the accompanying custody battles considerably more fraught. This documentary explores the grim business of child abduction, examining both the impotent sadness of the empty bedroom and the labyrinthine business of legal remedies. It also shows us what lies at the end of that draining process; when all else fails, sometimes forcibly retrieving a child is the only option. It’s intense and intimate viewing. Phil Harrison
Not Safe For Work
10pm, Channel 4
Cataloguing the messy and frequently disappointing existence of civil servant Katherine, there were moments when playwright DC Moore’s comedy-drama seemed to thrillingly stare down the jumble of anxiety and emptiness that plagues twentysomething life. Yet ultimately it chose not to offer its audience much in the way of insight, plying them with the exploits of reductive supporting characters instead of focusing on Katherine’s identity crisis. It concludes this week, with the future of the immigration pathway hanging in the balance. Rachel Aroesti
Life Begins Now
9pm, BBC3
John, Aled and Aled are students at Derwen College in Shropshire, on the point of graduating. All three have Down’s syndrome, and these last weeks won’t only break up their friendship (they live a long way from one another) but also see them embark on a real world of jobs and other social responsibilities. The programme illustrates some of the particular challenges facing young people with learning difficulties, but is also good at implying how entering “the real world” is pretty tough for everyone. Julia Raeside
Samurai Warrior Queens
9pm, Yesterday
Reconstruction-heavy doc on Japan’s forgotten female combatants of medieval and early-modern times. Of particular interest is Takeko Nakano, who became a martial arts master at the age of 16, later leading a group of Aizu women against imperial forces in a divided nation. CGI touches and contributions from historians, archaeologists and a martial artist bring the facts to life, but unless your knowledge of Japanese history extends beyond the teachings of Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai, it might not captivate. Hannah J Davies
Today’s best live sport
One Day Cricket: Surrey v Worcestershire
Fifty overs a side, day-night action from the Oval. 1.55pm, Sky Sports Ashes
World Swimming Championships
Day three from Kazan arena in Russia, including the men’s 100m backstroke final, the men’s 200m freestyle and women’s 100m backstroke, 1500m freestyle and 100m breaststroke. 4pm, BBC2
Tennis: The Citi Open
Coverage of the second day at the William HG FitzGerald Tennis Centre in Washington, DC. 9pm, Sky Sports 1
Film Choice
The Man With The Golden Gun
(Guy Hamilton, 1974) 9pm, ITV4
Christopher Lee is Scaramanga, the triple-nippled assassin who is as efficient with his blingy pistol as Roger Moore’s Bond is with his trusty Walther. The action involves scenic chases around south-east Asia in pursuit of the Solex agitator gadget-thingy, but the real point is the duel between hero and villain, Lee giving Moore a lesson in suave sophistication.
Then She Found Me
(Helen Hunt, 2007) 11.35pm, BBC1
Hunt’s debut as star, writer and director follows a 40-ish schoolteacher whose biological clock is ticking alarmingly after husband Matthew Broderick leaves her. Adapted from Elinor Lipman’s novel, it offers perceptive observations on relationships, and has Colin Firth as her new romantic interest.
