Years and Years
9pm, BBC One
Orchestras surge and tyrants topple as master technician Russell T Davies unleashes the full range of his TV box of tricks in a finale to his dystopian drama so grand it will echo for days, as he delivers a devastating polemic via the characters of Muriel and Edith. Landmark television – don’t miss it. Mike Bradley
Ackley Bridge
8pm, Channel 4
It’s community cohesion in action (emphasis on the “action”) in this eventful new series of the Yorkshire secondary school drama. The education trust that took over at the end of last series has dumped a load of new pupils on headteacher, Mandy (Jo Joyner), and her new senior management team (including Downton Abbey’s Robert James-Collier) are not much help, either. Meanwhile, Nas’s Oxford University interview creates a rift with best mate, Missy. Ellen E Jones
Secrets of the Railways
8pm, Yesterday
Railway architecture may seem a little niche, but this engaging series ventures into history, too. It opens with the story of Trans-Pyrenees Railway, highlighting a construction process that seems miraculous even by modern standards, and a tangled tale of Nazi gold and wartime subversion. Phil Harrison
The Planets
9pm, BBC Two
Prof Brian Cox’s awefest moves on to Saturn, telling the story of its transformation from a planet of rock and ice to the ring-toting beauty of today. Cox expertly illustrates the mind-blowing scale of events and enthuses over Nasa’s Cassini probe, which offered a closeup of Saturn’s rings. Hannah Verdier
Adolf Island
9pm, Smithsonian Channel
This disturbing film follows forensic investigator Caroline Sturdy Colls’s search for a Nazi SS camp constructed in secrecy on the Channel Island of Alderney in 1941. Research suggests that the island was the scene of mass murder, but Sturdy Colls faces resistance from local authorities in her hunt for the mass graves. Mike Bradley
Autobahn
10pm, Quest
No matter how much jokey banjo music you incorporate, injecting fun into a plodding film about motorway maintenance on Germany’s autobahns will always be an uphill task. The result is an opening double bill to a series (a series!) that is puzzlingly leaden – unless mashups of road trains, car crashes and pylon-adjustment are your thing. Mike Bradley
Film choice
The Garden, 11.35pm, Film4
Having tested HIV positive, the rebel-spirit director Derek Jarman embarks on a near-wordless portrait of his garden, nurtured in the shadow of the Dungeness nuclear power station. It is a deeply personal exploration of mortality and Christian cruelty (with Tilda Swinton as the Madonna) in the era of Aids. Paul Howlett
Sport choice
World Cup Cricket: England v Afghanistan 10am, Sky Sports Cricket. Old Trafford hosts England’s latest group stage game.
Women’s International T20 Cricket: England v West Indies 6.45pm, Sky Sports Cricket. First in a three-match series.
Women’s World Cup Football: Italy v Brazil 7.45pm, BBC Four. A Group C fixture.
