Satellite choice
S Star Wars: E Episode VII — T The Force Awakens, 9.55am/8pm, S Sky Action J.J.J ABRAMS was the man behind the Star Trek reboots and here,her he works his magic on George Lucas’s old franchise. Daisy Ridley (pictured) is among the new faces, as she and deserter John Boyega search for a missing war hero.
ROWING Gypsy, Netflix SCI-FI EPIC Henley Royal Regatta, 1pm, BT Sport 1 THE English ‘season’ of social and sporting events continues with the best-known regatta in the world. This is the third day of racing on the Thames course, which stretches for one mile and 550 yards along the river. FREEVIEW MOVIE Morning Glory, 6.40pm, Film4
THE story revolves around Rachel McAdams, but it’s Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford who steal the show as the bickering veteran TV presenters giving producer McAdams a headache.
SULTRY NEW DRAMA
NAOMI WATTS is cool on the surface but boiling underneath at the centre of Netflix’s new drama, in which she plays a therapist and married mum. Like Hugh Laurie in Chance (Tuesday at 9pm on Universal), Jean (Watts,) gets sucked into the lives of her patients, and it’s watching the tension building behind her eyes that keeps you engaged. Just try to ignore the weirdly cheapsounding TV movie soundtrack . . .
CHILLER The Purge: Election Year, 8pm, Sky Premiere
ANOTHER night of lawless terror awaits in this third instalment of the popular horror franchise. This time, no one is exempt — including anti-Purge Senator Roan.
DRAMA ENDS Mount Pleasant, 9pm, Sky1
SKY’S soapy comedy drama ends with an extended episode that opens with Lisa ( Sally Lindsay, pictured with Daniel Ryan as Dan) wildly excited by what she thinks is great news. Larry Lamb also swans into events as a rocker from Pauline’s past — the kind of man who has an answer for everything — in a finale that has the potential to take a dark turn or two . . .
A STAR IS BORN Tom Jones’ 1950s: The Decade That Made Me, 9pm, BBC4
TOM JONES didn’t leave Wales until the early Sixties — when he was ready ‘to take on the world’ — so regards the Fifties as a formative time. His and others’ magic-tinged recollections of the post-war decade, and the rise of rock ’n’ roll near its end, make up the bulk of this film.
FRONTIER PEOPLE The Last Alaskans, 9pm, Quest
‘ANYTHING in the woods is temporary.’ More melancholy magic from this stunningly filmed series about life for the dwindling population of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. There’s a plane arriving, so Ray and his family head out in snowshoes to stomp out a landing strip. With their feet!
COUNTRY DRAMA Nashville, 9pm, Sky Living
LAST week’s death means there are plenty of tears tonight, but, as is true when someone dies in the real world, there are practical questions, too — about what happens now for the family, and for the business. Juliette plays a typically limelighthogging role in the unfolding drama.