Champions League Football: Real Madrid v Liverpool
7.30pm, ITV
Real Madrid gave Liverpool a chasing in their Champions League clash at Anfield a fortnight ago, and few are expecting Brendan Rodgers’s side to triumph in this return fixture. Still, qualification remains within Liverpool’s grasp, given that they, Ludogorets and Basel remain level on points, so even a point here would prove valuable. The focus, should he play, will be on Mario Balotelli, after his much-discussed shirt-swapping stunt in the first clash between the teams. Gwilym Mumford
MasterChef: The Professionals
8pm, BBC2
Exposed brick and fancy crockery alert: the MasterChef studio has been revamped for the new series. Gregg Wallace and Monica Galetti are your staple diet, but they’re now joined by Michelin-starred chef Marcus Wareing. The five hopefuls wobble their way through Monica’s croquembouche (terrifying tower of choux) skills test, before Marcus sets them a quail challenge. Even when he’s telling someone their bird’s legs are the wrong side of crunchy, softly spoken Marcus is kind and polite. Continues tomorrow. Hannah Verdier
The Missing
9pm, BBC1
Not unlike the creepy Irish drama Amber from earlier this year, The Missing travels back and forth in time examining the fallout on a family when their child is abducted. Tonight Tony (James Nesbitt) believes he has uncovered a vital clue in the timeline of Oliver’s disappearance. Can he get the case reopened, and keep his tenuous grip on sanity intact? It’s self-evidently uncomfortable viewing, but the relationship between Tony and Mark provides good tension amid the anguish. John Robinson
Human Universe
9pm, BBC2
Urbane spaceman Brian Cox concludes his examination of humanity’s journey from cave-dwellers to cosmic explorers and ponders what might be next on our star-skipping route planner. After all, with our exploration into space still in its infancy, is there even a way we can continue to explore the celestial skies without further depleting Earth’s resources? And can we quarrelling Earthlings ever come together for such a task? As we find out here, the future of energy and international co-operation isn’t as gloomy as one might think. Mark Jones
You Can’t Get The Staff
9pm, Channel 4
More of the human resources adventures of wealthy people. This week we’re in the Cotswolds, home of the 2,000-acre estate of Chavenage House, where owner Caroline Lowsley-Williams is now planning radical staff changes. At Braylsham – a replica of a 12th-century castle built in 1993 by orthodontist Professor John Mew – there are problems afoot, not least the state of his moat. And in Baltimore, American composer Drew Rieger is rescued from a household crisis by a former royal butler. Bim Adewunmi
Miracle Babies
9pm, Channel 5
Debut of a new addition to Channel 5’s burgeoning menu of sentimental tabloid documentary, but this one, unusually, accentuates some positive aspects of Britain’s welfare state. Specifically, it takes us inside the neonatal unit at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, which cares for 1,200 premature, precarious new lives each year. Tonight’s cases include Ethan, clinging to life via a ventilator, and Nicola, an anxious young mother with a premature daughter. The quietly heroic staff who look after both, and others, aren’t paid nearly enough. Andrew Mueller
The Vampire Diaries
9pm, ITV2
“How long do you think it takes after somebody comes back to life before they can start dating?” ponders a newly drug-addicted Elena (Nina Dobrev) in this action-packed season six opener. Given that this is a series that launched a thousand lusty fanfictions it’s hardly a non sequitur, but with characters no longer able to crawl back from the Other Side, the return of boyfriend Damon (Ian Somerhalder) looks unlikely. Perhaps the coming weeks will see Mystic Falls get some new blood, along with some new storylines. Hannah J Davies
Hasselhoff Vs The Berlin Wall
9pm, National Geographic
David Hasselhoff’s feelings were a bit hurt. He honestly hadn’t imagined he’d single-handedly brought the Berlin Wall down, as some jeered back home. It was just that his anthem Looking For Freedom had really connected with a pop-starved GDR. In this sweet film – less cold war exposé than A-Team episode – he meets some of those who escaped; by smashing their way out in an armoured bus or flying over in an ultra-light aircraft. As Hasselhoff muses: “That takes a lot of bollocks.” Ali Catterall
