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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Hollie Richardson, Ali Catterall, Graeme Virtue, Phil Harrison and Stuart Heritage

TV tonight: ready for the last ever Happy Valley episode?

Painfully good … Sarah Lancashire in Happy Valley.
Painfully good … Sarah Lancashire in Happy Valley. Photograph: BBC

Happy Valley

9pm, BBC One

Not even the stars of Happy Valley know how the firecracker series concludes – various endings were filmed for the last ever episode. But while the fates of Hebden Bridge’s finest (and absolute worst) are up in the air – will Tommy bump off Catherine? Is Ryan really going to follow his dad to Spain? Have aliens really landed in Todmorden? – Sally Wainwright’s flawless writing and Sarah Lancashire’s painfully good performance promise a finale to go down in TV history. Hollie Richardson

Dancing on Ice

6.25pm, ITV1

Another edition of the show we could quite possibly recreate in our own living rooms, given recent temperatures. This week, the remaining eight celebrities attempt to impress Bolero-botherers Torvill and Dean with their blade-work; roman candles, helicopters, headbangers et al. Who has what it takes to ice the competition? Ali Catterall

His Dark Materials

7pm, BBC One

“I think she’s dead; I should be relieved … ” Another great BBC series comes to an end this week, and Lyra is left with unanswered questions after her mother and father dragged Metatron down into the abyss. But she’s now safe with Will in the world of the mulefa, where they reunite with Mary – until a final impossible decision is asked of them. HR

Call the Midwife

8pm, BBC One

As usual, prepare for a sob-fest at Nonnatus House. Trixie is back from a recharging getaway and just about ready to help a teenager give birth. Elsewhere in Poplar, Sister Veronica spearheads a council initiative to provide medical services for child workers. HR

Vera

8pm, ITV1

When the battered body of a former soldier is found by some nightclub bins, Brenda Blethyn’s dogged DCI and her team have to prise answers from the close-knit unhoused community and some frosty military brass. Will self-reliant new pathologist (the great Sarah Kameela Impey from We Are Lady Parts) be a help or a hindrance? Graeme Virtue

Walter Presents: Top Dog

11.15pm, Channel 4

An intriguing mystery drama from Sweden centred around the disappearance of Philip, the kidnapped son of a rich and influential family. Attorney Emily finds herself dragged into the world of organised crime as she enlists the help of Teddy, a convict who has been released from prison on parole. Might mutual needs turn to mutual affection? Phil Harrison

Film choices

Top Gun: Maverick, Sky Cinema Premiere

Tom Cruise in Top Gun”: Maverick.
Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick. Photograph: Paramount Pictures/Scott Garfield/Allstar

The film that either saved cinema or managed to artificially extend cinema’s lifespan, depending on how you’re feeling. The plot isn’t really important – Tom Cruise trains some young pilots to bomb a thing that’s quite hard to bomb, and that’s about it – because this is all about spectacle. Famously, the flying scenes here are real, with actors vibrating on the edge of nausea as they’re slung around the cockpit of a corkscrewing fighter jet. Top Gun: Maverick was giddy and visceral on the big screen. Hopefully the effect won’t be lessened in your living room. Stuart Heritage

A Matter of Life and Death, 2.45pm, BBC Two
The 78th greatest film ever made, according to last year’s Sight and Sound list, Powell and Pressburger’s 1946 masterpiece A Matter of Life and Death is a wondrous feelgood hug of a thing. Second world war fighter pilot David Niven goes down in flames over the English Channel but, due to an administrative quirk, he fails to be escorted to the afterlife as planned. There are many ways to interpret this movie – a lush romance, a high-concept fantasy, an act of mourning for the soldiers who never returned from the war. All of them work. SH

Live sport

Premier League Football: Nottingham Forest v Leeds, 2pm, Sky Sports Main Event At City Ground. Tottenham v Man City follows at 4pm.

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