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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Hollie Richardson, Ali Catterall, Jack Seale, Phil Harrison, Alexi Duggins and Simon Wardell

TV tonight: celebrating 25 years of The Royle Family!

The Royle Family, 1998, with (from left) Ricky Tomlinson, Craig Cash, Caroline Aherne, Sue Johnston and Ralf Little.
The Royle Family, 1998, with (from left) Ricky Tomlinson, Craig Cash, Caroline Aherne, Sue Johnston and Ralf Little. Photograph: Granada/Shutterstock

The Royle Family: Down the Back of the Sofa

9pm, Gold

In 2010, Caroline Aherne (who died six years later) and Craig Cash recorded their only interview together for a documentary about The Royle Family. To mark 25 years since the comedy first aired, the film has been revised, with added new interviews (Diane Morgan, Jack Rooke and Sharon Rooney). It is a poignant bit of telly that celebrates a piece of British sitcom history. Hollie Richardson

Sort Your Life Out with Stacey Solomon

8pm, BBC One

There is a very special guest standing in for Dilly – it’s only spring-clean superstar Mrs Hinch! She joins Stacey and co to see if the Farrows can’t get their act together in one week, via a humungous declutter. Among the items clogging up their rented farmhouse: 32 rolls of wallpaper and 241 balls of wool. Ali Catterall

Classic Movies: The Story of Brighton Rock

8pm, Sky Arts

Wise contributions from the late Guardian film critic Derek Malcolm lend extra class to another straightforward film documentary, this time lauding a 1948 Brit-noir classic. Graham Greene’s multilayered storytelling and the movie’s hard-hearted view of humanity, criminality and morality are key themes. Jack Seale

Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs

8.30pm, ITV1

The late, lamented Paul O’Grady’s farewell series continues to showcase the excellent work of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and the charm of its presenter. The boisterous temperaments of a pair of working dogs are preventing them from finding homes. Can O’Grady work his magic? It is now very poignant watching him try. Phil Harrison

Helping Our Teens

9pm, BBC Two

What is the best way to ensure young people thrive at school: strict behavioural crackdowns? Or trying a more compassionate approach? This week’s episode follows behavioural expert Marie Gentles as she is pitted against a disciplinarian headteacher. We know whose side we are on. Alexi Duggins

The Lovers

9pm, Sky Atlantic

While the sexual tension isn’t exactly sizzling at this point, Johnny Flynn and Roisin Gallagher’s will-they-won’t-they romcom continues to tickle. When Seamus tells Janet that he is back in Belfast for work, she misreads it as an invitation to meet him in his hotel room. HR

Film choice

Tom Hanks as Captain Phillips on board his ship with one Somali pirate pointing a gun at his back and another facing him with a knife
Tom Hanks as the eponymous officer in Captain Phillips facing Somali pirates. Photograph: AJ Pics/Alamy

Captain Phillips (Paul Greengrass, 2013), 10.40pm, BBC One

Tom Hanks brings his grace-under-pressure actorly qualities to bear on this wonderfully tense fact-based drama. He plays the titular officer in charge of an American container ship en route from Oman to Kenya. They must pass through waters threatened by Somali pirates – and one gang in a small speedboat, led by Barkhad Abdi’s Muse, manage to take the vessel. In typically hyperactive fashion, director Paul Greengrass propels the action from oceanic chase to onboard cat-and-mouse game as the crew and the criminals gain and lose the upper hand. Batten down the hatches … Simon Wardell

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