D-Day 80: Tribute to the Fallen
8.30pm, BBC One
Today is the eve of the D-day anniversary, 80 years since thousands of men waited on English soil for the signal to launch the invasion of Normandy. Now, at the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery in Bayeux, a ceremony is held to honour those who completed their mission and commemorate those who didn’t make it. The climax, at nightfall, will see 4,600 headstones lit up. Jack Seale
The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan
9pm, BBC Two
Ranganathan’s humour has an edge of misanthropy, and these latest travelogues have showcased his capacity for exploring humanity’s less palatable corners. He’s in Rwanda this week, being guided by a survivor of the country’s 1994 genocide and visiting the place Britain is planning to send asylum seekers. Phil Harrison
Painting Birds With Jim and Nancy Moir
9pm, Sky Arts
The couple are off to Cairngorms national park in the Scottish Highlands to seek out the elusive crested tit. These tiny, twitchy birds won’t be easy to spot, but they’ll be worth it. Jim has his heart set on painting that punk-rock style mohican plumage in Chinese ink, with help from calligrapher Chi Zhang and the impressionist Ronni Ancona. Ellen E Jones
Alaska Daily
9pm, Alibi
Hilary Swank’s Eileen Fitzgerald is a very broad caricature of a high-flying investigative journalist, shouting at everyone and storming off in a rage when a story is pulled. She’s packed off to a small local newspaper in Alaska where her abrasive manner is soon ruffling more feathers. It’s a decent premise and despite its initial lack of subtlety, Fitzgerald’s redemption arc is cheering, if predictable. PH
Inside No 9
10pm, BBC Two
This episode is titled The Curse of the Ninth, based on the superstition that composers are doomed to die after completing their ninth symphony. This superstition is the basis of a delightfully macabre offering, starring Eddie Marsan and Natalie Dormer. When Reece Shearsmith’s journeyman composer arrives at a country house to tune a piano, he finds himself in a deadly dance with the manor’s owner. PH
Red Flag
10pm, W
It’s the final episode of this bleak true-crime series telling the stories of women escaping abusive relationships. Here it’s Jessica, whose relationship with landscape gardener Dillan took a dangerous turn after she introduced him to her son (who has complex needs). Soon, a campaign of manipulation and, eventually, violence began. PH
Film choice
Let the Canary Sing (Alison Ellwood, 2023), Paramount+
Before she plays Glastonbury this year, here’s the life story of pop belter Cyndi Lauper. Although her chart peak lasted for just half a decade back in the 1980s, songs such as Girls Just Want to Have Fun and True Colors have become part of common musical currency. Alison Ellwood’s documentary highlights the singer’s LGBTQ+ activism and Tony award for the musical version of Kinky Boots to stake a claim for Lauper as a cultural and feminist figure of note. She’s certainly a terrific interviewee, relating her rise to fame from Brooklyn to Broadway with candour and wit. Simon Wardell
