Satellite choice
NEW CHANNEL
Smithsonian Channel Launch, 6am, Smithsonian THIS new channel will feature largely US-focused series about history, science and nature, with a schedule similar in feel to that of the Freeview HD channel PBS America. Among the series in launch week are the colourised history America In Colour (tonight, 8pm), featuring figures such as aviator Amelia Earhart (pictured), and The Lost Tapes (Thursdays, 10pm), which reconstructs past events using only footage from the time. (Freeview 99, Freesat 175, Skyy 195, Virging 295) )
TRUETRUE-LIFE LIFEDRAMA DRAMA
Shock And Awe, 6.25pm, Sky Premiere ROB REINER’S fact-based drama explores the Bush administration’s 2003 invasion of Iraq from the perspective of a sceptical Washington press bureau. Woody Harrelson, James Marsden, and Tommy Lee Jones star.
FOOTBALL
Manchester United v Paris Saint-Germain, 7pm, BT Sport 2 UNITED have never played PSG before. In the absence of Neymar, Angel Di Maria, who was bought from United in 2015, will be keen to show his former club what they are missing out on. Old Trafford hosts this last-16 Champions League tie as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks to make it 11 wins out of 12 as the new United manager.
ENGINEERING FEAT
Impossible Railways, 8pm, Yesterday DAN DICKRELL tells how the east of the U.S. was connected to the west by rail in the 1800s, and is excited to ride on a replica of one of the engines that was there when those railroads met. Also in this first of a new series, we hear a story of ingenuity from the granite quarries of Dartmoor.
ART CHALLENGE
Portrait Artist Of The Year 2019, 8pm, Sky Arts SKY’S polished contest returns for a new series, and opens with five amateurs and four professionals painting to win. Their subjects include the actors Geraldine James and the absurdly charming Matthew Goode, who will be sitting for a bum-numbing four hours.
TRUE CRIME
Dark Son: The Hunt For A Serial Killer, 9pm, BBC4 UP to eight women were thought to have been murdered by the same killer in London during the 1960s, who was nicknamed ‘Jack the Stripper’ — and was never caught. This intriguing documentary explores the story behind a suspect, Harold Jones, who was overlooked at the time.
COMIC-BOOK DRAMA
Inhumans, 9pm,p Pick THIS new-newto-toFreeview comic-comicbook adaptation follows a squabbling ‘royal family’ of superpowered characters. Inhumans had a rocky ride to US TV — it started as a film — and you can feel that in the shoddy production, but there are fun bits, including a teleporting dog, plus Game Of Thrones’ Iwan Rheon (pictured, left with Isabelle Cornish, Serinda Swan and Anson Mount) as one of the royals.
SCI-FI ACTION
Escape From New York, 5Spike, 11pm JOHN CARPENTER’S cult classic stars Kurt Russell as the one-eyed ex-soldier Snake Plissken, who agrees to rescue the U.S. President when his plane crashes. Sounds easy, but the island he ditched on is a lawless open prison, and Snake is on a deadline.