The Secret Life of 5-Year-Olds
8pm, Channel 4
The popular doc strand that puts little tykes through the constant surveillance and arbitrary task-setting of Big Brother continues. Ten five-year-olds spend a week hanging out in a totally wired nursery, unaware that their social interactions are being analysed by child psychologists. An ice-breaking quiz gets competitive very quickly but the boisterous stars of this particular intake are infectiously fun and often startlingly empathetic. Graeme Virtue
The Miracle Cheetah
8pm, Nat Geo Wild
Lachrymose but nevertheless affecting telling of the tale of Sibella, a South African rescue cheetah. She was delivered to the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Trust in a wretched state, having narrowly survived the predations of hunters. Once recovered, in 2003, she was returned to the wild. This film goes looking for Sibella, and finds her continuing to thrive. Like any footage of these sleek, beautiful creatures, it’s abundantly watchable. Andrew Mueller
The A Word
9pm, BBC One
With the Lake District backdrop sugaring the pill visually, this series, originally revolving around young Joe and his autism, has broadened into a warm, earthy, almost soapy study of family life. Christopher Eccleston excels as the bumbling Maurice, tonight visiting Louise during her chemotherapy session and failing to take the hint to sod off. Meanwhile, Alison makes an acute observation about her brother’s new boyfriend and Joe asks for a goat. David Stubbs
Motherland
10pm, BBC Two
This sitcom’s comprehensive catalogue of parenting embarrassment moves on to the pool party, a parade of grubby, fleshy indignity given the unlikely twist of Julia (the terrifically taut Anna Maxwell Martin) being forced to attend minutes before a work event at which she had hoped to look pristine. Meanwhile, Liz (Diane Morgan) is waiting for a potential date to ring her back, and pathetic Kevin (Paul Ready) meets his non-pathetic doppelganger nemesis. Jack Seale
The Truth About Muslim Marriage
10pm, Channel 4
This isn’t a “Say Yes to the Salwar Kameez” twist on the reality wedding formula, but a sombre look at an issue that affects UK Muslim women, mainly, but some secular cohabitees as well. A surprisingly large number – including presenter Dr Myriam François – mistakenly believed that a traditional Muslim wedding or niqah is legally binding. This lack of legal status can have devastating consequences if the relationship breaks down. Ellen E Jones
Mr Avila
11.05pm, Channel 4
The latest in Channel 4’s Walter Presents strand of foreign-language offerings is a murky crime drama from Mexico. It pivots on the gent of the title, ostensibly a buttoned-down, middle-class family man and insurance salesman who is, of course, a hitman for hire on the side, involved in executions for a brutal crime syndicate. Keeping all this under his hat – he has got a mistress, too, just to complicate matters – becomes increasingly tricky. Ben Arnold
Broad City
11pm, Comedy Central
It’s total quarter-life crisis time for Abbi and Ilana this week, and not just because they are freezing and the landlord won’t turn the heating on. Abbi discovers her first grey hair and the laughs keep coming when Ilana visits a sex therapist because she realises she hasn’t had an orgasm since Donald Trump was elected. The name of the “sexual assault-bragging steak salesman” is beeped out, which is just one of the many moments of genius in this episode. Hannah Verdier
TV films
Pool of London (Basil Dearden, 1951) 5pm, TCM
Another Dearden social drama in the style of The Blue Lamp; the familiar diamond-smuggling yarn being less interesting than the (then daring) interracial relationship. Bonar Colleano is the crook in a boat crew just arrived in London’s Docklands; Earl Cameron his innocent Jamaican pal who’s implicated, while falling for music hall cashier Susan Shaw. Paul Howlett
Live sport
T20 Cricket: Women’s Ashes: England v Australia 8am, BT Sport 1. The final game of the series from Canberra.
Uefa Champions League Football: Sevilla v Liverpool 7pm, BT Sport 2. Coverage of the Group E game.
Women’s International Rugby Union: England v Canada 7.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event. The second game of three from Twickenham Stoop.
