What to watch
Alison Hammond: Back to School
ITV, 9PM
Hats off to ITV for marking Black History Month with such prominent programming. At 10.45pm, Jimmy Akingbola hosts the first of a new four-part comedy panel show in which teams headed by Holby City’s Chizzy Akudola and comedian Judi Love answer questions relating to black history. First, though, is This Morning’s irrepressibly goodhumoured Alison Hammond, following up her very moving segment on Blackout Tuesday in June with a full-blown exploration of some fascinating black British figures from history.
Among her subjects are Roman emperor Septimius Severus and BritishJamaican nurse Mary Seacole, but perhaps most affecting is her encounter with the descendants of Walter Tull, the first black commissioned officer in the British army and professional footballer with Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town. Tull was killed during the First World War at age 29. He is memorialised at both clubs he played for, and O-T Fagbenle starred in a docudrama about him a few years ago. Hammond’s enthusiasm for telling his story is irresistible: “I think I’m falling in love with him,” she tells Tull’s great-nephew. “I hope you don’t mind.” Gabriel Tate