What It Feels Like for a Girl
9pm, BBC Three
Millennials, prepare for a nostalgia rush as this rollicking adaptation of Paris Lees’ memoir takes us back to the time of Nokias, Zombie Nation and total hedonism. Life is “one big fucking party” for everyone except Byron (a brilliant breakthrough for Ellis Howard), a working-class teenager desperate to escape constant homophobia and hopelessness. Sex work leads Byron to Nottingham’s underground scene and a fun-loving group called the Fallen Divas. But the party can’t last for ever … It’s a bold and captivating opening episode that doesn’t flinch from exploring the big issues (Byron is only 15 when being paid for sex) and tells the story with authenticity and humour. Hollie Richardson
Storyville: The Jackal Speaks
10pm, BBC Four
“I killed at least 83 people myself; under my orders there were between 1,500 and 2,000 people killed. I was the most wanted man in the world.” That’s Ilich Ramírez Sánchez – AKA Carlos the Jackal – speaking from prison in Paris, where he is serving three life sentences for his involvement in terror attacks. He narrates this film about his life, from growing up in Venezuela to his relationships with Gaddafi and Bin Laden. HR
Inside the High Street Cyber-Attacks
7pm, BBC Two
Recent cyber-attacks on M&S, the Co-op and Harrods have exposed critical flaws in digital defences, causing empty shelves, halted deliveries and furious customers. The hackers? Organised, anonymous and ruthlessly efficient – but often simply disaffected youngsters showing off their skills, as one ex-hacker here admits. Ali Catterall
Who Do You Think You Are?
9pm, BBC One
This certainly isn’t one of those episodes where the researchers had to scrabble around for a half-decent story. Straight away, singer Will Young provides a moving tale of overlooked second world war heroism thanks to the exploits of his grandfather, Digby. Then there is some spicy villainy further up the family tree. Young receives both happy and sad news. Jack Seale
Lockerbie: Our Story
9pm, BBC Two
There have been two dramatisations of the Lockerbie terror attack this year. Neither really felt as if they did justice to the tale, so now it’s time to hear the families of six victims tell their own stories in this documentary. These victims include 25-year-old Olive Gordon and 24-year-old Tim Burman. HR
My Week With Lubaina Himid
9pm, Sky Arts
For her next trip in this lovely series, art expert Kate Bryan is in Preston at the home of the first Black woman to win the Turner prize, and “ultimate disruptor”, Lubaina Himid. They have intimate chats about Himid’s work on race, identity and what it means to be Black in the UK today. HR
Film choice
Blue Road: The Edna O’Brien Story (Sinéad O’Shea, 2024), 10pm, Sky Arts
A woman who lived her life battling the repression that is an enduring theme in her novels, the Irish author Edna O’Brien is a terrific subject for a documentary. O’Shea does her proud here and is blessed with access to the then 93-year-old – who is as sharp as ever when talking through her experiences. But O’Brien is also tinged with melancholy – a result of a traumatic childhood, an oppressive marriage and the misogynist resentment she faced – not least back in Ireland – due to her frank opinions. Simon Wardell
In the Loop (Armando Iannucci, 2009), 11.45pm, BBC Two
Iannucci’s comedy bridges the gap between The Thick of It and Veep by throwing together governmental fools and chancers from the UK and US. It also ups the ante by making the result of the bungling of its apparatchiks, spin merchants and elected officials an actual war. Most of the Thick of It cast return, though confusingly as different characters. Luckily, Peter Capaldi’s vituperative director of comms Malcolm Tucker is present and incorrect, bullying the out-of-his-depth minister for international development Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) on an ill-fated visit to Washington DC. SW
