PICK OF THE WEEK TV extra Extraordinary tales of animals’ lives on the line

Open Heart Surgery Live (C5, 10pm)

soldiers who had died? Here, Dan Cruickshank explores the creation of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the role played by Sir Fabian Ware, who, as a commander of a mobile ambulance unit during the early stages of the war, had been shocked by the treatment of the dead. The presenter also visits cemeteries in France, Belgium and Turkey to discover the challenges involved in memorialising soldiers from different religions and backgrounds.

Next year marks 50 years since Professor Christiaan Barnard performed the first heart transplant, and even in 2018 the concept is mind-boggling. There are no such feats here, although it’s still remarkable TV. There’s full coverage of a surgical procedure live from inside the operating theatres of St Bartholomew’s Hospital and the Royal London Hospital of Barts Health NHS Trust. In this edition, surgeons guide viewers through open-heart surgery, from the moment the chest is opened to the replacement of an aortic valve and the restarting of the heart.

WEDNESDAY Dark Heart (STV, 9pm)

It seems fitting that the first episode of this crime drama aired on Halloween – it has featured some very grisly murders. So will it be upping the ante in this penultimate episode, especially as the series concludes tomorrow? It gets off to a dramatic start when the body of a young woman is found in an east London church. DI Will Wagstaffe and the team get an apparent lead when it turns out that she has recently been dealing with a stalker, but is her tormentor responsible for her death or could her murder be linked to her complicated personal life? Speaking of complicated personal lives, Wagstaffe’s own, which is troubled even by the standards of brooding TV detectives, is spinning out of control.

Trust (BBC2, 9pm)

It’s based on a true story – one that also inspired the recent film All the Money in the World – but that hasn’t made this series about the Getty family any less gripping. The last episode is particularly intriguing as it explores how the Gettys and the Italians deal with the repercussions of the kidnapping, and follows Chace as he embarks on a new journey. While some aspects won’t come as news to those familiar with the tales, there may still be a few surprising revelations and intriguing suggestions – and, of course, there’s also that first-rate cast.

James Bulger: The New Revelations (C5, 9pm)

Broadcast 25 years since the end of the trial, this documentary looks at the case of James Bulger, who was kidnapped in 1993 from a Liverpool shopping centre at the age of two and murdered by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. Consisting of testimony and evidence from those who knew them well and dealt with them at the time of the prosecution, this documentary offers new and startling evidence, throwing light on what turned two 10-year-old boys into killers. In addition, new interviews and testimony present the most complete picture yet of Thompson and Venables.

THURSDAY Children in Need Rocks 2018 (BBC1, 8.30pm)

Highlights of last week’s annual star-studded

Inside the Foreign Office (BBC2, 9pm)

For the first time in more than 20 years, the BBC has