Six Puppies And Us
8pm, BBC2
Part-science, part-gratuitous cuteness, this documentary follows six different puppies as they settle into life with their owners. If you can get past squealing, “Aww, look at their little noses!” then you are very strong indeed. And there’s much to be learned about the mind of a puppy, such as why they chew everything and why, like the adorable Lola, they insist on keeping their owners awake. The dogs are ace, from rug-tinkling Ralph to little yorkie Stewie, who thinks he’s some kind of pitbull. Continues tomorrow. Hannah Verdier
Weighing Up The Enemy
8pm, Channel 4
Apparently, the biggest barrier to maintaining a diet is motivation. Luckily, research at Yale University has provided some insight: dieters who put their own money on the line are 73% more successful at hitting their targets. And so, proving that there’s nothing you can’t turn into a contest, Dr Christian Jessen is pitting two dieters against one another: this week, vegan Jo against takeaway-loving Harriet. Whoever loses the least body fat pays for the other’s treat. Jessen also investigates the diet product market. Bim Adewunmi
Silent Witness
9pm, BBC1
Nikki and the guys from the morgue are back for another riotous comic adventure to ring in the new year. This opening two-parter, concluding tomorrow night, follows the gang as they try to keep up with demand for bodybags in the wake of a killing spree by a deranged gunman who is treating everywhere inside the M25 as his personal game reserve. As per, the tone is unremittingly bleak, grey and chilly, but Zoe Telford warms things up as Jane De Freitas, Nikki’s lovelorn procedural counterpart. Julia Raeside
The Wonder Of Britain
9pm, ITV
The clue is in the title, it’s true. But if the first episode is anything to go by, this series will amount to little more than presenter Julia Bradbury charging up to various British things and saying how good they are. Things kick off tonight with a trip to Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, product of a “magpie spirit” and “very British”. Then we’re off to the Eden Project, the biodome-based garden situated in Cornwall. The relationship between the two isn’t terribly obvious. Hard to see what it’s all in aid of, really. John Robinson
Blue Go Mad In Ibiza
9pm, ITV2
Part one of four of Punk’d-style pranking starring the one-time chart toppers as its victims. Antony Costa, Simon Webbe, Lee Ryan and Duncan James are charged with turning around the fortunes of a beachfront bar in San Antonio, Ibiza, but little do they know that everyone around them is on a mission to rile them, from bar staff to the PR person (Richard Bond of sketch group Clever Peter). Will they All Rise (cough) to the challenge or will they wish they had let the opportunity, erm, Fly By? Hannah J Davies
Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled
10pm, Dave
The first in a new series of the show in which Alan Davies and a gang of droll types blether on around a table, unrehearsed, and settle upon the subject of the show by the end. Giving Davies’s own floppy mop of hair a run for its money is Seann Walsh, joined by Holly Walsh (no relation), Jimmy Carr and Tommy Tiernan. All human life is there, from drink-driving, doing Nazi salutes to Prince Charles, falling asleep under the coats in TK Maxx and match-making for Prince Harry. Ben Arnold
Count Arthur Strong
10.35pm, BBC1
A second series and a transfer from BBC2 for Steve Delaney’s unabashedly trad sitcom. Walking wet wipe Michael returns to Bulent’s following months of writer’s block and Candy Crush only to find that his mentor Count Arthur has knocked out a steamy manuscript on a whim. When a mishap involving said manuscript seems set to derail Michael’s career, a daring heist is the only solution. Despite the change of channels, this is still thin gruel when compared to Count Arthur’s more inventive radio adventures. Mark Jones
International Test Cricket: Australia v India
11.30pm, Sky Sports 2
Day two of the fourth Test from the Sydney Cricket Ground. The only time India have managed to beat Australia at this venue in a Test series was in 1978, when they won by an innings and two runs. The last contest between the sides at this venue was equally one-sided, with Australia triumphing by an innings and 68 runs. You’d hope that this encounter will be a little closer, although given India’s poor Test form over the past 12 months, that’s not a certainty. Gwilym Mumford
