Harvest 2015
8pm, BBC2
Gregg Wallace looks genuinely thrilled to get behind the wheel of a gigantic combine harvester in this returning series, examining how the UK’s annual crop is collected. In the first of three episodes this week, the focus is on the east, with Wallace gathering sugarbeet on an industrial scale, while co-host Philippa Forrester gets more hands-on collecting tiny scarlet strawberries. Elsewhere, new hire James Manning – a dairy farmer turned demonstrative presenter – experiences a cutting-edge lettuce-planting process. Graeme Virtue
River
9pm, BBC1
Nicola Walker and Stellan Skarsgård star in this bold new police drama from Abi Morgan, and it’s an absolute cracker. As in, it’s as good as Cracker, totally engaging and involving from the off. Despite Skarsgård’s brooding nature and the sad secret at the show’s heart, it does what so many fail to do, by pulsing with a humour that induces all-out love. A stunning bit of work from Morgan – and tremendous support arrives tonight in the form of Adeel Akhtar and Eddie Marsan. The cop show jolts back to life. Julia Raeside
Lewis
9pm, ITV
In the concluding part of this first investigation in a new series, Hathaway discovers that their victim, video and taxidermy artist Talika Desai, knew all about the murder of their man in the well, the homeless labourer with connections to Ian Tedman, her former sugar daddy. Moreover, her exhibition has clues everywhere. Meanwhile, in a somewhat unexpected twist, there are some murky goings on at the mobile library that Tedman runs too. Seems that the two murders are very much connected. Ben Arnold
Educating Cardiff
9pm, Channel 4
The series following life at Willows high school concludes with a grand finale as we’re invited to eavesdrop on the performing-arts department’s preparations for a farewell concert. Energetic Coral, an aspiring actor, signs up, but she’s easily distracted – can she cope with a solo turn in front of 200 people? Meanwhile, staff at the wellbeing and attendance office think Sean, who has cerebral palsy, is hiding out too often at the lunch club, and that the school cabaret might offer an opportunity to boost his confidence. Jonathan Wright
Witch Hunt: A Century of Murder
9pm, Channel 5
Metaphorical witch hunts seem as commonplace as ever today, but it’s the more literal interpretation that Dr Suzannah Lipscomb’s new two-part documentary uncovers. Arriving on British shores following a trip to Denmark by James VI of Scotland, the supposed satanic scourge of witchcraft soon took hold of a nation desperate to blame its myriad woes on unseen forces. This obsession is explored here in scenes harrowing enough to arrive replete with trigger warnings, thanks to unsettling reconstructions of torture. Mark Gibbings-Jones
Karl Pilkington: The Moaning of Life
9pm, Sky 1
Karl Pilkington’s man-in-the-street cultural observations have earned him a reputation as a popular idiot savant. This first episode of this second series of “investigations” finds him in New York and making a splash in the world of art. Participating in body sculpture raises some concerns about nudity (“I’m hairy”) but working with performance artist Matthew Silver generates some admiration for the fearlessness that goes into the man’s interactive work. John Robinson
Chewing Gum
10pm, E4
Michaela Coel’s sparkling comedy continues and Tracey is worried she might be pregnant after last week’s moment of lust with Connor. Off she goes to find a contraceptive, just in case her nose-sucking technique isn’t enough to put him off. Also on Tracey’s agenda is to dump chaste boyfriend Ronald, but a chat with his mum (the brilliant Tanya Franks) reveals a few secrets about his past. The likable characters and risque jokes should help Chewing Gum appeal to the older generation as well as knowing teenagers. Hannah Verdier
Film choices
Vampires
(John Carpenter, 1998)
10pm, Syfy
Carpenter, the master of action-horror, spins a satisfyingly visceral yarn here. James Woods is the Vatican-sponsored vampire hunter Jack Crow; he and his gang are trying to stop chief bloodsucker Valek getting his hands on the relic that will enable the nightdwellers to go out in the daylight. The gory action and New Mexico location are in the style of Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn. Paul Howlett
Brick Lane
(Sarah Gavron, 2007)
1.20am, Film4Gavron’s low-key, sensitive adaptation of Monica Ali’s bestselling novel stars the quietly charming Tannishtha Chatterjee as 17-year-old Nazneen, who in the 1980s travels from her Bangladeshi village to the East End for an arranged marriage. The film focuses on her struggle for independence, and illicit affair with Karim (Christopher Simpson), a young man who becomes radicalised, post 9/11. PH
Today’s best live sport
Test Cricket: Pakistan v England England’s ridiculously hardworking cricketers get their latest series underway in the UAE. 6.30am, Sky Sports 2
U-21 Euro 2016 Football: England v Kazakhstan Coverage of the Group 9 qualifier from the Ricoh arena in Coventry. 5.15pm, BT Sport 2
Euro 2016 Football: Wales v Andorra Chris Coleman’s team conclude their impressive campaign with what looks like a home banker at the Millennium Stadium. 7pm, Sky Sports 1
