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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Hollie Richardson, Graeme Virtue, Jack Seale, Hannah Verdier and Simon Wardell

TV tonight: saying goodbye to Neighbours with a nostalgic schmoozefest

two characters brawl together, one holding a candlestick while another aims a hosepipe
Hose-down party? Up close and personal in the Neighbours finale, Channel 5. Photograph: Fremantle

Neighbours: The Finale

9pm, Channel 5

Tissues at the ready. Even if you haven’t watched the teatime soap in more than a decade (ahem), tuning in to say goodbye to Ramsay Street with this hour-long special is a must. Everybody is there (Charlene and Scott! Jane and Mike! Harold! Toadie! The Kennedys!), and nobody seems to have aged a day since arriving on the street. Expect an unapologetically nostalgic schmoozefest packed with flashbacks and reunions – you could call it the perfect blend. Hollie Richardson

Gardeners’ World

8pm, BBC Two

Have your plants taken a beating during the heatwave? Monty Don is on hand with some scorched-earth policies to help protect against drought. Elsewhere, the historian Advolly Richmond learns about the deep-rooted influence of trees in garden design during a visit to the stately home of Longleat. Graeme Virtue

Vaughan Williams’s Sea Symphony at the Proms

8pm, BBC Four

To mark the 150th anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s birth, RVW interpreter Andrew Manze conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. First up, pieces by Doreen Carwithen and Grace Williams establish the oceanic theme. Soloists Elizabeth Llewellyn and Andrew Foster-Williams round off the evening with Vaughan Williams’s majestic Sea Symphony. Jack Seale

Crystal Clarke, Rose Williams and Rosie Graham in series two, episode two of Sanditon.
Crystal Clarke, Rose Williams and Rosie Graham in series two, episode two of Sanditon. Photograph: Red Planet (Sanditon 2)/Alistair Heap

Jane Austen’s Sanditon

9pm, ITV

Swordplay gone wrong! Haughty aunts! Gutsy governesses! This resurrected Jane Austen adaptation continues to deliver everything a reliable period drama should. While Charlotte (Rose Williams) attempts to teach two troublesome girls, Georgiana (Crystal Clarke) learns bad news from Antigua. HR

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown

9pm, Channel 4

Another series of the sweary but affectionate Countdown tribute act gets off to a strong start with Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont taking on oddball bros Richard Ayoade and Joe Wilkinson. Jimmy Carr is nominally in charge, but when will he crack down on Ayoade plugging his children’s book? GV

Canada’s Drag Race

10.30pm, BBC Three

The Canadian queens have had time to size each other up and this week it is double trouble as they must demonstrate those all‑important lip-syncing skills in pairs. There is a treat for Drag Race diehards, as the one and only Vanessa “Miss Vanjiiiiie” Mateo lends her guest judging skills. Hannah Verdier

Shaolin Soccer.
Stunts and pratfalls … Shaolin Soccer. Photograph: Miramax/Allstar

Film choice

Shaolin Soccer (Stephen Chow, 2001) 3.25am, Sky Cinema Cult Classics
Hong Kong film-maker and actor Stephen Chow first came to global attention with this gloriously silly martial arts comedy. Keen to promote shaolin kung fu, down-on-his-luck Sing – AKA Mighty Steel Leg – along with coach “Golden Leg” Fung, uses its particular disciplines to create a football team of superhumans. He joins his fellow practitioners including Iron Head, Light Weight and keeper Lightning Hands, as they take on Evil Team (subtlety isn’t on Chow’s radar) in a tournament of high-wire stunts and slapstick pratfalls. Simon Wardell

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