Billy Monger: The Race Is on for Comic Relief
9pm, BBC One
“This is the year that took me to the edge.” A big statement coming from racing driver Billy Monger, who lost both his legs in a racing accident when he was just 17 years old. Here he is today, taking on one of the most extreme endurance challenges on the planet – an Ironman in Kona, Hawaii, where he’ll need to swim 2.4 miles in the ocean, cycle 112 miles and run 26.2 miles. It’s all for charity, so prepare for an emotional journey. Hollie Richardson
Surgeons: At the Edge of Life
9pm, BBC Two
Unflinching but fascinating footage from the operating theatres of NHS Lothian. At St John’s Hospital in Livingston, a surgical team prepare to remove a dangerous cheek tumour. But to give their patient the best chance of retaining her ability to smile, they plan to reconstruct her facial nerve – after harvesting a spare nerve from her leg. Graeme Virtue
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story
9pm, ITV1
Ruth (Lucy Boynton in a breakthrough role) is counting down the days until her hanging, and while she has accepted her fate, outside there are some people fighting against this “miscarriage of justice”. All the while, flashbacks fill in the full story of what drove her to kill. HR
The Righteous Gemstones
9pm, Sky Comedy
The Rapture must be close at hand: it’s the final season of this scabrous, televangelist-spoofing comedy, and the Gemstone siblings are trying to rebuild some bridges. First with their father (though they’ll have to find him first), then with Aimee-Leigh’s estranged bestie Lori. Phil Harrison
What We Do in the Shadows
10pm, BBC Two
Laszlo (Matt Berry) thinks Nandor (Kayvan Novak) is overreliant on “artless” hypnosis in his dealings with humans, when it should be “wit, wisdom and charm” that a vampire depends upon. He gets a chance to prove his point on a night out with their buddy Sean, resulting in some all-time classic line readings from Berry. Ellen E Jones
The Richard Dimbleby Lecture With Sir Gareth Southgate
10.40pm, BBC One
What are Gareth Southgate’s big life lessons from his time as England’s football manager? Focusing on young people in a fast-evolving world, he imparts his wisdom by delivering the 46th Richard Dimbleby Lecture from Senate House, with belief, unity and resilience all high on his list. HR
Film choice
The Ghost and Mrs Muir (Joseph L Mankiewicz, 1947), 11am, Film4
Joseph Mankiewicz’s romantic fantasy may be set in a California approximation of 1900s England, with accents to match, but it’s also a touching drama about life’s ebbs and flows. Gene Tierney plays the titular widow, Lucy, who moves with her daughter and servant to a house on the coast that’s haunted by Capt Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison). After she flatly refuses to be spooked by him, they become close. Harrison’s salty sea-dog character – all “belay” this and “blasted” that – skirts cliche initially but gains pathos when George Sanders’ comically lascivious suitor appears. Simon Wardell
