GPs: Behind Closed Doors
8pm, Channel 5
After a first run that followed real-life consultations in Lewisham, this second series shadows the team at Putneymead surgery in south-west London, where time-poor primary care professionals have a variety of cases to treat. This week’s ailments range from a throat infection to severe depression, as patients young and old bring their concerns to the GPs. As debates on budget cuts and privatisation rage on, it’s a sensitive and, at times, distressing portrait of the challenges faced by ordinary people and those treating them. Hannah J Davies
Midsomer Murders
8pm, ITV
It’s a feature of Midsomer County that when a crime is committed everyone who lives within its borders looks to have a motive. In tonight’s episode, a show by the famous illusionist and Midsomer newcomer Gideon Latimer goes horribly wrong – or so it seems. Closer inspection reveals that the “accident”, which leaves pub landlady Helen Altman with fatal head trauma, was triggered by an explosive charge. Who among the roll call of aggrieved curates, pushy mothers and shifty pub staff will prove to have dunnit? John Robinson
Alaska – Earth’s Frozen Kingdom
8pm, BBC2
Dougray Scott lends his pleasing brogue to this year-in-the-life look at America’s last frontier, the sprawlingly massive state of Alaska. Emerging from the brutal winter into what Alaskans call “break-up”, life soon begins to teem as the rivers start to thaw. When one of 100,000 black bears wakes from hibernation, her cubs face an arduous introduction to Alaskan life. Meanwhile, the spellbinding sperm whales off the gulf of Alaska have worked out how to relieve fishing boats of their entire catch. Ben Arnold
Wolf Hall
9pm, BBC2
With Thomas Cromwell now Henry VIII’s trusted adviser, the adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s novels shows us the monarch and Anne Boleyn at close range as their marriage looms. They’re mutually self-centred and, seeing them via Cromwell’s unflinching gaze, we understand the dangers this combination poses. Event television that’s living up to the promise of that description, not just because of terrific turns, but because Peter Straughan’s script offers memorable scenes where others might settle for cribbing clever one-liners from its source material. Jonathan Wright
Vanderpump Rules
9pm, Lifetime
New series of the spin-off doc following Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills graduate Lisa Vanderpump as she tries to balance being fabulous with running a restaurant. Her glamorous staff have names like “Tequila Katie”, they air their grievances on Instagram and they love a good fight. Vanderpump keeps calm in the face of lines such as, “I can’t cry because these eyelashes are mink”, or “Hashtag OMG, Instafight”. Tonight, there’s a birthday party, and it’s not exactly a spoiler to say that means it’s all going to kick off. Rachel Aroesti
Abortion: Ireland’s Guilty Secret?
9pm, BBC3
A fence-sitting question mark for this documentary about a divisive issue. Unlike the rest of the UK, in Northern Ireland, where the right to life of unborn children is legally protected, abortion is against the law and those who want it must travel to England for a termination. Here, Alys Harte investigates, encountering surprising stories on both sides. Tara is travelling to seek a termination while Sarah, once a pro-life supporter, has since had cause for a rethink. JR
Up The Women
10pm, BBC2
There are a few history lessons in this week’s episode, as the craft circle is inspired by mountaineer Annie Smith Peck’s 1911 ascent of Mount Coropuna. They decide to protest their exclusion from playing and watching sports by producing a pamphlet to prove women are capable. By chance, there’s a bowls tournament in town, featuring the Rams of New Zealand, a faraway land where women can play sport and have the vote. The jokes are once again solid, and the cast look to be having a grand old time. Bim Adewunmi
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