The Hairy Bikers’ Chicken and Egg
8pm, BBC2
As their poultry-based travelogue series continues, lovable hairies Dave and Si visit Israel to make some worthwhile historical-cultural programming. Only kidding: they look in at the 2,500-year-old remains of the world’s first poultry farm, prepare a shakshuka on a beach in Tel Aviv and chicken shawarma kebabs in Old Jerusalem. Finally, they put their own culinary spin on a Middle Eastern dish with European roots. David Stubbs
Ambulance
9pm, BBC1
As this obs doc series continues, London ambulance dispatcher Francis and the team give us an insight into the “nightmarish game of Tetris” that is their job, prioritising the calls coming in with the trucks on the road. Most are genuinely serious, some considerably less so (such as the chap who has just been locked out of his place), while others come from “frequent callers”, who may or may not be crying wolf. The patience displayed by the service borders on the saintly. Ben Arnold
Great Continental Railway Journeys
9pm, BBC2
Prompted by a guidebook of the period, Michael Portillo is on a mission to take his pastel jacket on a railway tour of the Edwardian world. Tonight he’s in Spain before heading via ferry to Tangier, a site of strategic importance that the right-minded person of 1913 wanted to make sure remained in international control, rather than fall into the hands of France or Spain. Or, as Portillo underlines – God forbid – the Germans. John Robinson
National Treasure
9pm, Channel 4
More of the intense, almost exhaustingly accomplished drama about a family whose celebrity patriarch is accused of serial rape. Stories with buried memories returning in flashback frequently irritate – nobody’s allowed to unlock the big revelation too soon – but Jack Thorne’s script has so much chilling insight into what parents, children and spouses choose to confront or suppress. Tonight, that means Julie Walters, as apparently steadfast Marie, takes centre stage. Jack Seale
Westworld
9pm, Sky Atlantic
Adapted from the 1973 science fiction flick of the same name, this HBO series imagines a wild-west theme park where humans can shoot at or sleep with hyper-realistic AIs for fun. The robots have their brains wiped at the end of each day, to prevent them from retaining their darkest memories. But things start to go a little off. A strong cast, including Evan Rachel Wood and Anthony Hopkins, plus a great knotty “what if” premise make this a keeper. Gwilym Mumford
Damned
10pm, Channel 4
Jo Brand and Morwenna Banks’s public-sector sitcom continues, with the social workers’ patience evaporating as inexorably as their department’s budget. Rose’s former husband continues to revolt, as do the staff kitchen in an altogether different way. Al visits some new parents and finds something worth fighting for, while Nat has some bad news that even her meticulously colour-coded Post-It arrangement can’t quite quell. Mark Gibbings-Jones
Empire
10pm, E4
The season three opener of the US hip-hop soap sees label boss Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) betting that his new Empire Extreme imprint will revive his ailing fortunes. The same could be said for the drama itself, which is looking to rally after a bumpy second series. With both a death and a birth in its opening minutes, it remains as incident-packed as ever – and now features 1980s flashbacks to Lucious and his acid queen Cookie’s teen courtship. Graeme Virtue
Film choice
American Gangster (Ridley Scott, 2007) 10pm, ITV4
Scott’s glossy, old-fashioned crime drama tells the true-life story of Frank Lucas, the Harlem hood who made his fortune smuggling heroin from Vietnam in the coffins of US soldiers. Denzel Washington is superb as the charismatic gangster and is matched by Russell Crowe as the shambling cop Richie Roberts, who doggedly tracks his quarry for years. It’s an engrossing tale, but not the modern classic it aspires to be. Paul Howlett
Live sport
Tennis: The China Open Coverage of day three of the women’s tournament in Beijing. 12.30pm, BT Sport 1
National League football: Solihull Moors v Southport Action from the non-league fixture (kickoff 7.45pm). 7.15pm, BT Sport 1
Live MLB Major League baseball coverage, as the 162-game regular season continues. 1am, BT Sport/ESPN
