Mission to Space With Francis Bourgeois
6.50pm, Channel 4
Can a trainspotter become an astronaut? You can’t help but root for train enthusiast Francis Bourgeois as he makes this his mission. Luckily, he has assistance from British astronaut Tim Peake, who happily helps him get to the NASA Space Center in Houston, Texas to follow his childhood dream of launching into orbit. It’s a surprisingly moving two-parter – and somehow, watching Bourgeois use a sick bag in a simulator is an emotional TV experience. Hollie Richardson
The Great Pottery Throw Down
7.50pm, Channel 4
It’s Raku week in the competition – a celebration of the medieval Japanese ceramics style, originally used for making tea ceremony bowls. Siobhán McSweeney hosts as the potters set to work on animal parent and child structures, before guest judge and master sculptor sets them a sculpting spot test. Who will crack? HR
Call the Midwife
8pm, BBC One
Joyce (Renee Bailey) is seconded to the antenatal clinic in St Cuthbert’s, where she meets a single mother with a rare blood type who has placenta praevia. Rosalind (Natalie Quarry), meanwhile, is curious when she finds a patient’s cousin eating out of a bin. And Blue Peter inspires the Turner kids and the Poplar community to bury a time capsule. HR
The Night Manager
9pm, BBC One
A penultimate episode built around momentous face-to-face conversations, as more than one cast member gets their big Tom Hiddleston moment: a two-hander with the man himself, since maverick spy Jonathan Pine is playing on the emotions of those involved with arms dealer Richard Roper. As the latter, Hugh Laurie moves convincingly into growling-evil mode. Jack Seale
After the Flood
9pm, ITV1
Another dead body has been found on Benson land, but is there any connection between the two victims, besides their unusual post-mortem injuries? DC Jo Marshall (Sophie Rundell) and newly transferred DS Sam Bradley (Jill Halfpenny) are busy looking into it. Meanwhile, rumours about Jo’s private life are spreading faster than the wildfires. Ellen E Jones
Four Kings
10.05pm, Channel 4
The series tracing the turbulent careers of Frank Bruno, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank Sr and Lennox Lewis reaches the early 1990s, with US promoter Don King ushering in a Faustian era of lucrative highs but punishing lows for UK boxing. The four subjects provide hard-won and often emotional insights. GV
Film choice
The Blob, 2.25am, Talking Pictures TV
You may feel we have enough extinction-level events to worry about, but have you considered the possibility of a carnivorous amoeba-like alien crash-landing on Earth, then devouring all in its path, as it grows into one giant glob of slime? That’s the plot of this 1958 B movie par excellence, which also has the distinction of featuring Steve McQueen in his very first leading role. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has called the Blob his favourite of all Hollywood-imagined aliens – “from a scientific perspective”. EEJ
Live sport
Premier League football: Newcastle v Aston Villa, 1pm, Sky Sports Main Event Followed by Arsenal v Man United at 4pm. Everton play Leeds at 6.30pm on Mon.
Bowls: World Indoor Championships, 2.30pm, BBC Two The open singles final.
