Wednesday’s best TV: Bad Move; The Detectives

Wednesday’s best TV: Bad Move; The Detectives – Murder on the Streets

Rural bliss? Jack Dee in Bad Move. Photograph: Mark Allan/Open Mike Productions/ITV

Bad Move
8pm, ITV

Jack Dee returns to sitcom as half of an urban couple who rashly relocate to the country. Dee plays a web designer, tricky because the new house is “in a dip” and can’t seem to connect to broadband; his wife (Kerry Godliman) is a gardener who must learn to charm the uniformly irritating villagers. Like Dee’s BBC vehicle Lead Balloon, it relies on intricate plotting and heavily so in an opener that, in an effort to appeal to a wider audience, keeps its gags safe and gentle. Jack Seale

Doc Martin
9pm, ITV

The summer holidays are over, but the sun almost always shines in Portwenn, albeit sometimes on bittersweet scenes. Here, in a new series, we find reconciled Martin and Louisa raising baby James Henry. Louisa: “Do you think he likes me?” Martin: “Who knows? I didn’t like my mother; does it matter?” Elsewhere, daft constable Joe prepares to marry flighty Janice, in a ceremony to be conducted by “a vicar with learner plates on”. Jonathan Wright

The Detectives: Murder on the Streets
9pm, BBC2

The Detectives returns for a new series, following Greater Manchester police’s major incident team on two cases: the first, a horrifying petrol-bomb attack that leaves a woman fighting for her life – and her brother as the prime suspect; the second, the murder of a homeless man in a railway arch, his body later set alight. As with the previous series, the access is staggering, the stories are heartbreaking and the storytelling is magnificent. Ben Arnold

Famalam
10pm, BBC2

One of 12 new comedy pilots commissioned this year by the BBC, Famalam’s focus on black British culture will remind over-30s of the much lamented 90s comedy show The Real McCoy. A committed cast, including Vine star Tom Moutchi and John Macmillan, ensure Famalam is frequently fresh and funny (especially the history lessons in a “UK garage stylee”), but it is also hit and miss in that way that sketch shows invariably are. Ellen E Jones

Back
10pm, Channel 4

The sitcom, starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb as brothers returning to their home town, continues enjoyably. It doesn’t push them out of their comfort zones (as Stephen, Mitchell is an amiable curmudgeon paralysed by emotion; Webb’s Andrew is an untrustworthy narcissist), in the tradition of Peep Show. Tonight, Andrew suggests a makeover (“Church pews, library chairs”) in the pub, but leaves Stephen to break news of an accompanying staff makeover. John Robinson

Porters
10pm, Dave

This new sitcom comes from the brainpan of Dan Sefton, the medic turned writer behind BBC1’s recent drama Trust Me, and features yet another character so desperate to be a doctor they will do pretty much anything. Ed Easton is the nervous new hospital porter who dreams of wielding a stethoscope, while his eccentric co-workers include Crazyhead’s Susan Wokoma and former replicant Rutger Hauer. Kelsey Grammer also pops up for an irate cameo. Graeme Virtue

Breaking2
9pm, National Geographic

The fastest marathon ever run on a record-eligible course is the 2hr 2min 57sec by Kenya’s Dennis Kimetto in 2014. A minor industry has developed around trimming that extraneous two minutes and 57 seconds to get the record under two hours. This documentary recalls one attempt: that of three Nike-sponsored athletes at the Monza racetrack in May. The film chronicles their preparations, explains the science and recalls the run itself. Andrew Mueller

Film choice

Charlton Heston in Soylent Green. Photograph: Allstar/MGM

Soylent Green (Richard Fleischer, 1973), 11pm, Syfy

Set in a future New York (2022, actually) that is packed with 40 million souls existing on the Soylent Corporation’s synthetic foods, this adaptation of Harry Harrison’s novel is a classic sci-fi adventure. Detective Charlton Heston – investigating the death of wealthy Joseph Cotten – stumbles on the secret ingredient of those yummy Soylent Greens … Paul Howlett