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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Ali Catterall, Mark Jones, Graeme Virtue, Hannah J Davies, Jack Seale and Jonathan Wright

Wednesday’s best TV

Michael Mosley with a bag of his blood in The Wonderful World of Blood. Photograph: Nathan Budd/BBC
Michael Mosley with a bag of his blood in The Wonderful World of Blood. Photograph: Nathan Budd/BBC

The Ladykillers: Pest Detectives
8pm, BBC2

“In order to understand the pest, you have to think like the pest,” says south London pest controller Imogen, one of four “ladykillers” profiled in this breezy if icky new fly-on-the-wall documentary series. In the battle against bedbugs, Imogen has a secret weapon up her sleeve: Alfie the dog, who is adept at sniffing out the bugs’ pheromones. Elsewhere, a city farm is being plagued with rats and pigeons, which is great news for ladykiller Deborah: “I love rat jobs!” she beams. Ali Catterall

The Quizeum
8.30pm, BBC4

Griff Rhys Jones hosts a BBC4 take on The Generation Game’s conveyor-belt round. Instead of contestants mutely observing a queue of mid-range prizes before attempting to recount them all, a team of academics visit Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum before answering questions on its contents. There’s no studio audience and no studio, merely a desk within the museum itself. In other words, it’s BBC4 in undiluted form, and perfect fodder for viewers who might consider Only Connect a bit too lowbrow. Mark Jones

Hillary Clinton: The Power Of Women
9pm, BBC2

In 1995, then-first lady Hillary Clinton delivered a speech in Beijing urging the world to treat women’s rights as human rights. Two decades on, this film considers what progress has been made towards women participating fully in the social and political lives of their countries. The headline contributors are Clinton and her peers Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright, but there’s also a platform for some of those fearlessly campaigning in Afghanistan and Egypt. Graeme Virtue

OAPs Behaving Badly
9pm, Channel 5

A full series of the show following the British grandmothers putting the blue in blue-rinse brigade, and their equally lascivious male counterparts. One-time pop star Leapy Lee is now an expat, but his younger girlfriend keeps him on his toes with her penchant for leather and sex toys. Back in the UK, ex-professor Colin is channelling Mambo No 5 with his white suits and multiple female acquaintances, and psychic Raimondo dabbles in tantric sex and belly-dancing to woo a lover. Not for viewers of a nervous disposition. Hannah J Davies

Beaten By My Boyfriend
9pm, BBC3

Facts to make you stop and draw breath: one in four women will suffer abuse from a partner or ex; British police receive a domestic violence call every 60 seconds; women aged 16 to 24 are as likely to be victims as anyone. Stacey Dooley, a skilled navigator of painful issues, joins the Lancashire constabulary as they deal with some of their 9,000 annual cases, and speaks to the victims. She also interviews Theresa May – and confronts abusers. Another quietly invaluable programme by the irreplaceable BBC3. Jack Seale

The Wonderful World Of Blood – With Michael Mosley
9pm, BBC4

Michael Mosley, Auntie’s stunt presenter for shows where health matters and medicine collide, here focuses on human blood. It is, of course, wholly unnecessary for this to involve chowing down on “black pudding à la Michael”, sausage made largely from Mosley’s own red stuff, but not unexpected. Providing you’re not squeamish this is fascinating, if a bit scary when you consider what the super-rich might make of research suggesting young blood may have properties that can counter ageing. Jonathan Wright

The Royals
9pm, E!

The Windsors meet One Tree Hill in this soapy US drama about fictional British royals coping with the death of their heir. Although Prince Liam (William Moseley) falls for “commoner” Ophelia, and cousins Maribel and Penelope showcase some Beatrice and Eugenie-esque sartorial mishaps, that’s where the winks to reality end. As Elizabeth Hurley’s acid-tongued Queen Helena seeks to exert her power on everyone around her, King Simon (Vincent Regan) suggests abolishing the monarchy to protect his remaining progeny. HJD

Today’s best live sport

Miami Open Tennis Coverage of the opening day at the Tennis Centre at Crandon Park. 3pm, Sky Sports 3

International Football Scotland v Northern Ireland – live coverage of the friendly at Hampden Park. 7.30pm, Sky Sport 1

LFA WSL Football Liverpool Ladies v Sunderland AFC Ladies – the opening match of the season from Stadium Halton in Widnes. 7.30pm, BT Sport 1

World Cup Cricket Australia v India in the second semi-final from the SCG in Sydney. 3am, Sky Sports World Cup

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