KILLING ME SOFTLY

PREVIEWS TOP PICK Killing Escobar - BBC Scotland, Tuesday, 10pm

In 1989, Glasgow-born mercenary Peter McAleese was hired to assassinate drugs kingpin Pablo Escobar. His mission didn’t go according to plan. This 90-minute documentary explains what happened while fleshing out the details of McAleese’s often troubled life. A grizzled raconteur, he understands why many may regard him, a hired killer, as morally reprehensible. But, he argues: “This is the profession I chose.” Killing Escobar makes for uncomfortable viewing. On the one hand it’s a gung-ho celebration of machismo, but on the other it’s a nuanced study of a philosophical and rather lonely man whose early years were steeped in anger and violence. The film ultimately invites viewers to make their own judgment.

The Violence Paradox - BBC Four, Tuesday, 9pm

“Has violence really declined?” asks esteemed psychologist Steven Pinker, who hosts this arresting study of human nature. That does, of course, sound like the sort of deliberately glib and unanswerable question Chris Morris would pose at the start of Brass Eye every week, but Pinker is serious: he really does think that we could be living in the most peaceful time in history. And he has a vast dossier of facts and research to support his controversial hypothesis. Whether he’s right or not – and the programme allows room for dissenting voices – this voyage through history is certainly thoughtprovoking. Hey, maybe we’re not doomed after all. The vaguely hippie-ish Pinker is someone you want to believe in.

The Money Maker - Channel 4, Tuesday, 9pm

The star of this new series is venture capitalist Eric Collins, who each week throws a lifeline to ailing British businesses. Collins, a suave American gentleman, exudes a sort of benign intensity; Zen and the art of trouble-shooting. His first port of call is a building repair and restoration company in Manchester. I zone out whenever business types start talking about equity stakes – my brain isn’t wired to compute such information – but The Money Maker is more acceptable than the relentlessly sneering Dragons’ Den. At least Collins tempers his essentially self-serving impulses with a certain degree of empathy. But there’s no denying that this is a standard-issue TV format. We’ve seen it all before.

Johnny Vegas: Carry On Glamping - Channel 4, 10pm

In this amiable new series, the comedian and camper van enthusiast follows his dream of setting up a bespoke glamping site full of renovated buses from the 1950s and 1960s. Among his friends and family, Vegas is affectionately known as someone who is always coming up with big ideas before getting bored and abandoning them. But he’s keen to stress how serious he is about this project. It’s not just a lark. Accompanied by his best pal and personal assistant Bev, Vegas searches for a site and travels to Malta to examine their first bus (he bought it online at 2am without checking the location). He also visits his mum, who’s glad he’s doing this instead of “filthy stand-up”.

MACHO MAN: Peter McAleese’s early years were steeped in anger and violence.