Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps
9pm, BBC Two
The return of the lovely series in which a group of likable celebrities with different faiths embark on a pilgrimage and share profound moments. This time it’s a 300km hike through the Austrian and Swiss Alps, starting with the Salt Road. It’s a particularly sentimental route for comedian Helen Lederer, whose Czech Jewish father took her skiing there. The group also includes Catholic Traitors star Harry Clark and Muslim journalist Nelufar Hedayat. Hollie Richardson
Our Changing Planet: Restoring Our Rivers
7pm, BBC One
Paris may be terribly romantic, but by the 1960s the Seine had become so polluted with sewage it was declared “biologically dead”. Ade Adepitan follows efforts to completely detoxify it ahead of the Olympics (before going for a quick dip himself), while in California Liz Bonnin witnesses the largest dam removal in US history. Ali Catterall
Special Ops: To Catch a Criminal
7pm, U&Dave
In 2021, the government raised the maximum sentencing limit for animal cruelty from six months to five years. You may wonder whether that is severe enough after this painstaking but upsetting investigation, in which the RSPCA’s special operations unit and Essex police uncover a dogfighting ring based in Chigwell. Graeme Virtue
Grace
8pm, ITV1
A woman is discovered dead in her flat and it looks like a break-in gone wrong, but if that’s the case, why are her phone and laptop the only valuable items missing? As DSI Roy Grace (John Simm) discovers more about the victim, further suspects and leads emerge, all pointing towards one devastating conclusion. Ellen E Jones
This City Is Ours
9pm, BBC One
This Liverpool-set crime drama has been carried by a magnetic central performance from the charismatic James Nelson-Joyce. There’s an unexpected personal curveball for Michael as Diana (Hannah Onslow) drops a bombshell about her past, while back in gangland, trouble is brewing from an unexpected source. Phil Harrison
The Piano
9pm, Channel 4
Sun, sea and sonatas – these are the three crucial elements for an enjoyable weekend away with the travelling piano at Brighton Station. Claudia Winkleman, Mika and Jon Batiste hope to discover ivory-tinkling talent in a street cleaner and a model railway enthusiast. That is, if they can be heard over the incessant sound of gulls. EEJ
Film choice
The King Tide, out now, Paramount+
Like The Wicker Man from the islanders’ point of view, plus a dash of Celtic myth, Christian Sparkes’s dark fable is a slow-burning treat. A baby washes up in a boat after a storm, and is adopted by Grace (Lara Jean Chorostecki) and Bobby (Clayne Crawford), the mayor of an isolated isle dependent on fishing. Ten years later, the girl, Isla (Alix West Lefler), turns out to have healing powers, as well as the ability to attract large shoals of fish. But when she loses her magic, the community starts to panic about the end of their traditional way of life and demand Isla saves them. A cautionary tale about what happens when a child’s welfare conflicts with the common good. Simon Wardell
Oliver!, 3.40pm, Channel 4
Who will buy this wonderful movie? Lionel Bart’s musical version of the Charles Dickens novel sidelines a lot of the novel’s darkness and social edge, but when you’ve got fantastic, earwormy tunes such as Food, Glorious Food, Consider Yourself and You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two it’s hard not to prioritise pleasure. Carol Reed’s colourful adaptation is well served by Ron Moody’s sneaky Fagin and a menacing Oliver Reed as Sikes, while Jack Wild’s spirited Dodger makes up for a relatively insipid Oliver – a fault of Dickens, not angelic youngster Mark Lester. SW
