Spent
10pm, BBC Two
Model turned standup comic and actor Michelle de Swarte is a naturally magnetic performer (she was excellent in 2022’s horror comedy The Baby), so this is a very exciting writer/director/star debut. Inspired by De Swarte’s real life, Spent follows Mia, a model pushing 40 who flees the US after declaring bankruptcy because, after growing up with nothing, she cannot resist the finer things in life. She returns to Brixton, where her friends and family don’t exactly welcome her with open arms and her agent (Peepshow’s Super Hans actor, Matt King) only has one gig for her – dog sitting. But how long can she keep hiding that she’s skint and sofa-surfing? Sharp, funny and an easy binge. Hollie Richardson
The Great
10pm, Channel 4
Finally, the third – and sadly, last – season of the Russian period-drama romp reaches UK terrestrial TV. It picks up 24 hours after Catherine (Elle Fanning) realised she hadn’t killed her husband, Peter III (Nicholas Hoult) – she accidentally murdered his double, Pugachev, instead. But they’re in couples’ therapy now, so the court will surely be back in order soon. HR
Long Lost Family
9pm, ITV1
A new series starts with two deeply personal, heart-soaring stories interwoven with fascinating glimpses of British social history. In Cornwall, 76-year-old Ros has spent decades searching for the baby daughter she was forced to give up as a teenager; while in west London, Tegan wants her long-lost little brother to know he was always loved. Ellen E Jones
House of the Dragon
9pm, Sky Atlantic
Critics were absolutely correct in saying the slow start is worth sticking with for episode four – this is where the budget has been spent. Last week, Ser Criston (Fabien Frankel) set off with his army, while Daemon (Matt Smith) conquered Harrenhal and Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) sent off her little ones. The war is now very much on. HR
The Sympathizer
10.10pm, Sky Atlantic
In the finale of this era-shifting Vietnam thriller, Hoa Xuande’s double agent, the Captain, is finally forced to address the consequences of the duality he has been inhabiting. As he tries to disentangle himself from various obligations, it seems as though his true self is emerging. But can any meaningful sense of reality survive such traumatic experiences? Phil Harrison
We Hunt Together
10.40pm, BBC One
One of those odd buy-ins the cash-poor BBC has to resort to these days, the second run of Gaby Hull’s cat-and-mouse crime thriller, which has a dash of Killing Eve flamboyance to it, was first shown on Alibi two years ago. An impressively horrible stabbing heralds a new case for Mendy (Babou Ceesay) and Franks (Eve Myles). Jack Seale
Film choice
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (Adam Robitel, 2021), 10pm, BBC Three
Escape Room, a surprise 2019 hit, had a premise so good you wondered why nobody had thought of it before: “Saw, but with more attractive people and fewer liquidised pig intestines.” A sequel was inevitable. The result is this highly goofy horror movie that takes place in, you guessed it, an escape room. In this instalment, two of the people from the escape room first time round decide to track down the sicko who created it. But with the sort of bad luck only a premise this knowingly stupid can produce, they end up in … yet another escape room. Whoops! Stuart Heritage
Live sport
Cycling: Women’s Giro d’Italia, 11.50am, Eurosport 1
Live coverage of stage two, from Sirmione to Volta Mantovana.
