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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Phil Harrison, Jack Seale, Graeme Virtue and Simon Wardell

TV tonight: Ruth Wilson stars in a nightmarish Irish thriller

The Woman In the Wall on BBC One.
The Woman In the Wall on BBC One. Photograph: Chris Barr/BBC/Motive Pictures

The Woman in the Wall

9.05pm, BBC One

There is no sugar-coating the horror of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries in this drama, starring the magnetic Ruth Wilson. She plays Lorna Brady, whose parents put her care in the hands of the church after a teenage pregnancy. As an adult, Lorna sleepwalks, suffers from blackouts and displays all the hallmarks of unresolved trauma as she is haunted by past abuse and the loss of her child. She’s at the heart of a murder mystery, too, as Dublin cop Colman Akande (Daryl McCormack) arrives in Lorna’s small town to investigate a killing. The series does a fine job of evoking Lorna’s life as a sort of ungraspable waking nightmare, lived within a community that isn’t nearly ready to reckon with its recent past. Phil Harrison

Last Call: When a Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York

9pm, Sky Documentaries

This sad yet fascinating series about a serial killer preying on the LGBTQ+ community in 90s New York has benefited from its desire to memorialise the killer’s victims as well as track the progress of the case. As the series concludes, the police finally have a suspect – but what might they find in the man’s past to link him with the present crimes? PH

Midsomer Murders

8pm, ITV1

No setting or premise ever produces a sensible Midsomer episode, but an instalment centred on a “psychic fayre” is guaranteed to be a doozy. DCI Barnaby is soon waist-deep in occultists, mediums and witches, as well as tarot readers who might be better at discerning murderers than he is. Jack Seale

Alone

9pm, Channel 4

This intense survival challenge series has clearly been a wake-up call for many of its contenders, some of whom have romanticised the idea of living an off-grid life before being faced with its harsh reality. Tonight, isolation takes its toll on yet another contestant and a storm creates a dangerous situation. PH

Serial Killer Capital: Baton Rouge

9pm, Sky Crime

A serial murderer has been caught but the killings continue … It sounds like the plot of a pulpy thriller but it was the very real situation in Louisiana in the early 2000s. The concluding part of this true-crime documentary sees police adjusting to the idea that there may be more than one killer on their patch. Graeme Virtue

Boot Dreams: Now Or Never

9.30pm, BBC Three

This frequently poignant series about aspiring professional footballers in the last chance saloon continues. Tonight, the squad play their first competitive game in front of scouts – so for one team member, an early red card is a disastrous, potentially dream-shattering outcome. PH

Film choice

Benedetta, 11.15pm, Film4

Benedetta on Film4.
Benedetta on Film4. Photograph: Ifc Films/Guy Ferrandis/Allstar

Nuns, sex, visions of Christ – how could arch-controversialist Paul Verhoeven resist making a film about Sister Benedetta Carlini, a 17th-century Italian nun accused of lesbianism? The always committed Virginie Efira runs the gamut of emotions as the young woman who starts having miraculous, though disturbing, encounters with the son of God. The furore this causes, and her secret relationship with Daphné Patakia’s novice Bartolomea, brings trouble down on her. Verhoeven revels in the chaos, oscillating wildly between the sacred and the very profane. Simon Wardell

Live sport

Premier League Football Sheffield Utd v Man City, 1pm, Sky Sports Main Event From Bramall Lane. Newcastle v Liverpool follows at 4pm.

Formula One, The Dutch Grand Prix, 1.55pm, Sky Sports F1 Round 14 from Circuit Zandvoort.

Cricket: The Hundred, 2pm, BBC Two The women’s final at Lord’s, with the men’s final at 5.45pm.

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