10pm, BBC Two Sophie Willan may be calling it a day with her Bafta-winning sitcom but she’s going out on an absolute high. This week’s episode expertly blends pathos and comedy as Alma (Willan) finally makes contact with the father who walked out on her mum Lin (Siobhan Finneran and those teeth!) when Alma was a baby. Grandmother Joan (the mighty Lorraine Ashbourne) recalls that this rock-star wannabe was “tall, thin and walked like a moody gorilla”, while Alma herself was convinced that he was really Richard Ashcroft of The Verve.
Disappointment surely beckons as Craig Parkinson ( Line Of Duty , Grace ) guests. 8pm, BBC One A second chance to do what, you might ask? To destroy American democracy while ensuring he stays out of prison and throws Ukraine to the Russian wolves? In any case, as we stand Donald Trump has an even chance of returning to the White House in November, and this is Panorama ’s take on the convicted felon’s election campaign. 9pm, BBC One Miraculously, Bernardine Evaristo’s novel doesn’t feel too overstretched by this eight-part adaptation, the inter-generational aspect given space to breathe.
The focus in the opening episode of this double-bill is mostly on Barry’s daughters Donna and Maxine (Sharlene Whyte and Tamara Lawrence). 9pm, BBC Two Professor Brian Cox shares his wonderment at the solar system’s frozen places, revealing the dwarf planet where mountains of solid ice float across the surface and the black and white moon painted.
