Atomic
10pm, Sky Atlantic
Alfie Allen and Shazad Latif make a punchy pair in this action-packed crime series. Max (Allen) is a drug smuggler who meets enigmatic JJ (Latif) while on a job driving from north Africa to the Middle East, and they’re quickly swept up in all sorts of trouble. But what starts as a bid for survival – from violent extremist ambushes to the CIA and MI6 closing in – soon becomes a tale of redemption. Hollie Richardson
The Dog House
8pm, Channel 4
It’s the return of one of the most heart-tugging shows on telly. Spud the French bulldog (or Spuddy to his friends) is a big ball of energy; will he be too much for a young family? Elsewhere, cane corso cross Tinker has just been dropped off, but she refuses to move from the spot where her old owner left her. HR
Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild
9pm, Channel 5
In an episode postponed from last week, we meet Rupert, who quit the UK to live a simpler existence as a rice farmer in the Japanese mountains. Ben Fogle visits his traditional house and delves into the reasons why Rupert left his old life behind in favour of one that sounds like rewarding, peaceful bliss. HR
The Fortune Hotel
9pm, ITV1
“Welcome to Fort Matthew. Like me, it’s very old, crumbling in places, and was designed to repel the French.” In the penultimate challenge, Stephen Mangan locks one partner in a cell, while the other searches for matching symbols to find the key. But before that, the remaining teams must send daggers to their rivals – literally. Ali Catterall
Dear Viv
9pm, BBC Three
The Vivienne was a firecracker queen on Drag Race and the winner of the first UK series. Fans and friends were shocked when they died earlier this year aged 32. Their life is shared and celebrated here by Baga Chipz, Cheryl and many more in Vivienne’s fabulous circle. HR
First Dates
10pm, Channel 4
What’s worse: a first date with no chat, or sitting across the table from someone so talkative you can’t get a word in? Both extremes are played out in Fred’s restaurant this week, as Wendy, 66, seeks romance from car salesman Gary, and Towie star Leah looks north for love with Steve, an ex-bouncer from Runcorn. Ellen E Jones
Film choice
The Thursday Murder Club (Chris Columbus, 2025), Netflix
Richard Osman’s wildly popular series of mystery novels has, inevitably, reached our screens, with Chris Columbus taking on the first book. We’re very much in “cosy crime” country – no Glass Onion-style knowing winks here – with the action set in and around a well-heeled rural retirement home. Helen Mirren’s Elizabeth, who used to be in “international affairs”, is the prime mover of the titular cold case investigation group, which also includes former trade unionist Ron (Pierce Brosnan), psychiatrist Ibrahim (Ben Kingsley) and Celia Imrie’s nurse/cake obsessive Joyce. The murder of a co-owner of the home leads the quartet on a lightly comic, reliably twisty hunt for the killer. Simon Wardell
