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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Hollie Richardson, Jack Seale, Phil Harrison, Graeme Virtue, Sammy Gecsoyler and Simon Wardell

TV tonight: discover comedy’s next big thing

Dee Allum on stage, a finalist in the BBC New Comedy Awards 2022.
A name to watch … Dee Allum, a finalist in the BBC New Comedy Awards 2022. Photograph: Ellis O’Brien/BBC/Phil McIntyre Television

BBC New Comedy Awards

10.40pm, BBC One

Dan Tiernan, Omar Badawy, Dee Allum … Remember these names – you could well be furious about not getting a ticket to one of their sold-out shows very soon. They are among the comics who have made it to this year’s final, after regional heats whittled down more than 1,000 applications. Following in the footsteps of the likes of Alan Carr, Tom Allen and Nina Conti, the 2022 winner will be announced by judges Fern Brady, Rosie Jones and Nabil Abdulrashid. Hollie Richardson

Handmade: Britain’s Best Woodworker

8pm, Channel 4

Mel Giedroyc archly cranks up the excitement as the remaining three planers, chisellers and spokeshavers face the season two grand final. Making a home bar is the main challenge, with the technical interlude requiring a sign to go with it. More than one contestant ends up looking as if they could use a drink. Jack Seale

MasterChef: The Professionals

9pm, BBC One

New judge Anna Haugh is starting to get her feet under the kitchen table as the preliminary stages of the high-end cooking contest continue. There are more skill tests tonight as a quartet of quaking cooks prepare ravioli and fillet fish in 20 minutes for Haugh, Marcus Wareing and the inevitable Gregg Wallace. Phil Harrison

Secrets and Deals: How Britain Left the Middle East

9pm, BBC Four

This timely documentary is a collaboration between BBC News Arabic and BBC News Persian. It tells the 1971 story of how the modern Middle East was formed as Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates decolonised and became independent states. PH

Dating Death

9pm, Sky Crime

Our modern fascinations with true crime and reality TV find an unsettling overlap in the case of notorious US serial killer Rodney Alcala, who in 1978 appeared as a contestant on a Blind Date-style gameshow. Episode two of this three-parter continues to examine Alcala’s crimes and the struggles to bring him to justice. Graeme Virtue

Two Doors Down

10pm, BBC Two

Christine (Elaine C Smith, left) and Beth (Arabella Weir) in Two Doors Down.
Everybody needs good neighbours … Christine (Elaine C Smith, left) and Beth (Arabella Weir) in Two Doors Down. Photograph: Robert Pereira Hind/BBC Studios

The Scottish comedy returns for a sixth series. Heartbreak is in the air after Colin is left emotionally vulnerable when Cathy dumps him (Doon Mackichan is leaving the show). Beth and Eric are on their way to mend things, but the already strained conversation is made more awkward when Christine barges in demanding gory details. Sammy Gecsoyler

Film choices

Earl Cameron in Sapphire.
Probing race relations … Sapphire, starring Earl Cameron. Photograph: TCD/Prod.DB/Alamy

Sapphire (Basil Dearden, 1959), 9pm, Talking Pictures TV
An important film in the history of Black British cinema, Basil Dearden’s 1959 drama uses a murder case to probe the state of race relations in this country. Nigel Patrick’s Ch Insp Hazard looks into the killing of Sapphire, a young, mixed-race woman who was passing as white to her fiance David (Paul Massie) and his family. A range of racial attitudes are aired and interrogated, from the stoicism of her brother (Earl Cameron) to the unthinking prejudice of Sapphire’s friends and the bigotry of landladies and coppers alike. Simon Wardell

Wild Indian (Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr, 2021), 12.05am, Film4
Violence begets violence in this sombre, disquieting drama. A fatal shooting when they were children festers in the minds of two Native Americans: Makwa (Michael Greyeyes), a successful but emotionally distant businessman; and his cousin Teddo (Chaske Spencer), a repeat offender who has just been released from prison. Their contrasting ways of dealing with it come to a head in a film that touches on heritage, identity and the scarring impact of history. SW

Live sport

League Cup football: Man City v Chelsea 7pm, Sky Sports Main Event. A third-round tie from the Etihad.

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