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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Hollie Richardson, Alexi Duggins, Jack Seale and Simon Wardell

TV tonight: murder and money laundering on the mean streets of Edinburgh

Morven Christie as Lexie Noble in Jed Mercurio’s new thriller, Payback.
Morven Christie as Lexie Noble in Jed Mercurio’s new thriller, Payback. Photograph: ITV

Payback

9pm, ITV1

Executive producer Jed Mercurio delivers another same-but-different crime thriller, about a money-laundering triangle in Edinburgh. It follows Lexie (Morven Christie), whose normal suburban life is flipped when her husband is murdered. It turns out he was suspected of working for a crime lord and being monitored by financial investigators. In the first of six episodes, Lexie finds her spouse’s burner phone. Will she regret switching it on? Hollie Richardson

Portrait Artist of the Decade

8pm, Sky Arts

This special one-off is essentially a flashy way for this profile of budding artists to say: “We’ve reached series 10!” Previous winners head to Battersea Arts Centre, London, to paint Judi Dench for 90 minutes of impressive brushwork and potted CVs – as they update us on their careers. Alexi Duggins

Celebrity Race Across the World

9pm, BBC One

As the teams reach halfway, it’s a race from Corsica to Zermatt in the Swiss Alps. Will McFly’s Harry and his mum, Emma, hold on to their slim lead? Will Mel Blatt and her mum, Helene, manage to conserve cash? And will meteorologist Alex Beresford and dad Noel hurry up and stop missing checkpoints? AD

DNA Family Secrets

9pm, BBC Two

Twins Madison and Sydney were conceived using IVF – and want Stacey Dooley to help them find the woman who donated her eggs. Elsewhere, Anthony looks for the American GI he believes was his father. HR

Never Mind the Buzzcocks

9pm, Sky Max

Greg Davies, Daisy May Cooper, Jamali Maddix and Noel Fielding enjoy another cosy pop-based panel game. This week’s guests are Suggs with tales of celebrity revenge, Katherine Ryan not guessing any intros and Talia Mar giving the regulars an easy laugh when her real name is revealed. Jack Seale

Moulin Rouge: Yes We Can-Can!

10pm, BBC Two

Artistic director Janet’s face drops when dancer Tooney says she is quitting the Moulin Rouge to be an estate agent in the UK. Meanwhile, new recruits Jen and Erin join the troupe – but if they slip up during the three-week probation period, they will get the boot. HR

Film choice

Ida Lupino as Phyllis Martin in The Bigamist, which she also directed.
Ida Lupino as Phyllis Martin in The Bigamist, which she also directed. Photograph: Cinematic/Alamy

The Bigamist (Ida Lupino, 1953), 12.25pm, Talking Pictures TV

This is one of Ida Lupino’s most fascinating dramas. Edmond O’Brien plays the titular two-timing salesman, in a childless marriage to Joan Fontaine’s smart business type and drawn to Lupino’s more available waitress. With Fontaine’s character gender flipped (she neglects her spouse for work) and a nuanced view of his illegal actions, this film continually surprises. Simon Wardell

Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979), 10.40pm, BBC One

Although its mystique has been trashed by the many sequels and prequels, Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror film is still one terrifically stylish, terrifically big “Boo!” in space. The futuristic visuals hold up, with the creature and extraterrestrial environments realised in impressively creepy, oozy fashion. And the uniformly superb cast – not least Sigourney Weaver in a star-making turn as “final girl” Ripley – make the warren-like spaceship look lived-in and dull … at least until the rabid Xenomorph picks them off one by one. SW

Live sport

Champions League Football: RB Leipzig v Man City, 7pm, TNT Sports 1 Newcastle v PSG is on TNT Sports 2 at 7pm.

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