The Day of the Jackal
9pm, Sky Atlantic
Eddie Redmayne (above) is a master of disguise and an exceptional assassin in this adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s thriller novel. He plays the titular lone wolf Jackal, who, after a high-profile hit, meets his match in Lashana Lynch’s tenacious British intelligence officer, Bianca. A tense cat-and-mouse chase across Europe ensues, with the hunter quickly becoming the hunted. There are five episodes of this glossy, big-budget production to get stuck into this week. Hollie Richardson
A House Through Time: Two Cities at War
8pm, BBC Two
It’s the final episode of David Olusoga’s fascinating look at the lives of residents in a London block of flats and a Berlin apartment building during the second world war. He focuses on the period from the winter of 1942 to the end of the war – Montagu Mansions is empty after being bombed, while a family’s flat in Pfalzburger Strasse is confiscated and they are sent to Auschwitz. HR
Ambulance
9pm, BBC One
A busy night in the capital. There are a number of casualties after a shooting in Clapham, to which the tactical operations centre seamlessly orchestrates a life-saving response. Over in Kilburn, there is a motorbike crash, while in Marylebone a man’s head won’t stop bleeding after he slips in the street. HR
Taskmaster
9pm, Channel 4
Series 18 may yet be too close to call, but there are some awards to be bestowed. Andy Zaltzman wins most unnecessary cricket references and Jack Dee is runner-up in dad of the year. Meanwhile, Emma Sidi is due a promotion. Of course, whether any honours result in actual prizes is at the Taskmaster’s whim. Ellen E Jones
Everyone Else Burns
10pm, Channel 4
There are shades of The Big Lebowski when Elder Samson is challenged to a “bowling duel” after he expels a member from the Order for witchcraft (ie possession of a wind chime). Meanwhile, Jeb lays down the law: “Before we entwine for eternity, maybe we should check chemistry. I’m talking about banging, Rachel.” Uproarious. Ali Catterall
Ginger’s House
10.10pm, BBC Three
Another fantastically camp 10 minutes with the Ru Paul alumnus. Ginger’s loo is blocked this week, but don’t worry – Tia Kofi has popped over for a cup of tea, gossip and some unexpected plumbing. Jonbers Blonde also stops by to play a parlour game, and there is even a spot of bath therapy. HR
Film choice
Firebrand (Karim Aïnouz, 2023), Prime Video
Karim Aïnouz’s enthralling historical yarn sees the end times of Henry VIII’s reign through the eyes of his final queen, Katherine Parr. As the wife who “survived”, Alicia Vikander has rarely been better – struggling to hold on to her limited power while negotiating the moods of her ailing king (a gloriously unsexy turn by Jude Law) and the unsettled religious state of the country, where the wrong move could be a death sentence. Simon Russell Beale is a stealthy foe as Bishop Stephen Gardiner, who suspects her, correctly, of dangerously modern thinking. Simon Wardell
Tamara Drewe (Stephen Frears, 2010), 9pm, BBC Four
Based on the 2005 Guardian comic strip by Posy Simmonds (itself a riff on Far from the Madding Crowd), Stephen Frears’s jolly comedy has a journalist – played by Gemma Arterton – returning to her rural childhood home and throwing a spanner in the lives of everyone she meets. These include Roger Allam’s self-satisfied crime author, his long-suffering wife (Tamsin Greig) and a Thomas Hardy scholar (Bill Camp) visiting their writers’ retreat, as sexual politics and romantic drama collide juicily. SW
