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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Hollie Richardson, Phil Harrison and Ellen E Jones

TV tonight: The Traitors wish you a treacherous new year

Castle of doom … Claudia Winkleman assembles a fresh team of traitors.
Castle of doom … Claudia Winkleman assembles a fresh team of traitors. Photograph: Mark Mainz/BBC/Studio Lambert

The Traitors

9pm, BBC One

A smily but strategic chess coach; a “proper lad” who says he has a face you either want to kiss or punch; and a clairvoyant who is hoping to get help from the spirit world … say hello to the 22 people who you are going to become obsessed with in the second season of the hit backstabbing reality series. First things first: after all the contestants are grilled in the castle, the three traitors will be picked. Then the fun really begins. But can this game that felt so fresh and unpredictable when it hooked the country last Christmas remain so addictive? As the host, Claudia Winkleman, says: “You think you know how this game works ... you don’t.” Hollie Richardson

Air Fryers Vs Microwaves: Which Is Better?

8pm, Channel 5

Most kitchen counters have room for only one “king of convenience” appliance, but which will claim the crown? This lively consumer programme pits the microwave against the air fryer, starting with some surprising invention stories. Then it’s tests for speed, energy efficiency and that all-important crispy finish. Ellen E Jones

Truelove

9pm, Channel 4

Phil (Lindsay Duncan) and Ken (Clarke Peters) in Truelove.
Tugging at the heartstrings … Phil (Lindsay Duncan) and Ken (Clarke Peters) in Truelove. Photograph: Sarah Weal/Channel 4/Clerkenwell

“If I get anywhere near that,” says Lindsay Duncan’s Phil at the funeral of a cancer-stricken friend, “take me out and shoot me.” When another friend faces a painful death shortly afterwards, a drunken pact is invoked and former detective Phil (along with Clarke Peters’ old soldier, Ken) is enlisted for a mercy killing. The setup feels contrived, but the central point – how fake moralism trumps human suffering at the end of many lives – is timely and well made. Phil Harrison

HMP Belmarsh: Evil Behind Bars

9pm, Channel 5

Not for nothing is London’s toughest high-security prison known as “Hellmarsh” by some former prisoners: this documentary series paints a bleak picture of life inside. It’s a grim inventory of violence, coercion and exploitation with a cast of characters including the “scalp hunter” John Sweeney and Charles Bronson. PH

The Great Rhino Robbery

9pm, Sky Documentaries

Why is the rhino facing extinction? This gloomy but interesting series offers a few clues as it explores a spate of rhino horn thefts from museums and auction houses throughout 2011 (the thieves ignored millions of pounds’ worth of other hugely valuable artefacts). A grim insight into the ruthless world of poaching and animal trafficking. PH

Raye at the Royal Albert Hall

10.45pm, BBC One

The Ivor Novello winner Raye gets the Heritage Orchestra treatment as she performs her Mercury-nominated album My 21st Century Blues. She brings full-on drama as she belts out hits (Escapism, Oscar Winning Tears) alongside the Flames Collective choir and the organist Anna Lapwood. HR

Live sport

World Darts Championship 8pm, Sky Sports Main Event. The final from Alexandra Palace.

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