Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty
9pm, BBC Two
Charles Dance plays Michelangelo in this classy documentary drama series about the great rival artists of the Renaissance movement in Italy. Over three episodes, it uses Michelangelo’s own writings to tell his story, alongside the lives of Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. Hollie Richardson
Artist of the Year: Masterclass
6pm, Sky Arts
A lovely educational show from the Portrait Artist of the Year team, in which judge Tai-Shan Schierenberg teaches techniques to budding artists. Each masterclass focuses on a different subject, and the opening double bill features “exploring tone” and “alla prima” (applying wet paint to wet paint). HR
Dispatches: Britain’s Benefits Scandal
8pm, Channel 4
Keir Starmer recently said the country “isn’t working” and pledged to get more people into work, with reforms to overhaul job centres and more mental health funding. But how did we get here? Fraser Nelson investigates all the factors in the broken system and follows people claiming benefits over three months, as well as talking to experts and politicians. HR
24 Hours in Police Custody: Living the High life
9pm, Channel 4
Two seemingly separate crimes – a fraud perpetrated on a vulnerable elderly man and a county lines drug gang – turn out to be connected in the latest episode of this formulaic but reliably gripping true-crime strand. The apparently sleepy market town of Biggleswade is the setting for a fascinating if dispiriting tale. Phil Harrison
Dune: Prophecy
9pm, Sky Atlantic
The brooding and brutal sci-fi prequel exploring the origins of Dune’s influential religious sisterhood goes even further back in time. How did growing up on a bleak planet, where the main natural resource appears to be furry whales, shape the worldview of sisters Valya and Tula? Graeme Virtue
Person of Interest
11.05pm, Channel 4
Writer-director Aysha Rafaele’s one-off London noir is bang up to date. Set in August this year, it examines how it is to be a working-class British Muslim in a moment when society’s fabric feels on the verge of rending. Minicab driver Shakil (Asim Chaudhry), beset by crass passengers and the daily horror of news from Gaza, craves peace – but is he under surveillance? Jack Seale
