Gareth Thomas’s Tour de Trophy for Sport Relief (BBC1, 11.30am)
It’s almost 25 years since the eponymous rugby star, above, made his debut on the international stage and proceeded to blaze a glorious trail. Last December he faced one of his biggest challenges, embarking on a 500-mile bike ride from Cardiff to Aberdeen, towing the 40kg BBC Sports Personality of the Year trophy for Sport Relief.
The Greatest Dancer (BBC1, 6.30pm)
Alesha Dixon and Jordan Banjo host the final of the dancing contest. Just four performers remain in the contest, and with the help of the dance coaches Cheryl, Matthew Morrison, Oti Mabuse and Todrick Hall, they will put on one last show to impress the studio audience and win £50,000 and a chance to showcase their skills on Strictly Come Dancing.
The Royals: A Family in Crisis (C5, 8pm)
The Queen famously branded 1992, the year Charles and Diana separated and Windsor Castle caught fire, as an “annus horribilis”, but 2019 could give it a run for its money. This documentary looks at the issues that affected the monarchy last year, including the rift between princes Harry and William that would eventually lead to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (left) acrimoniously stepping back from the royal family.
Hilary Mantel: Return to Wolf Hall (BBC2, 9pm)
In case you didn’t know it, the eponymous author was the brains behind Wolf Hall. That 2009 novel, which documented the rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII, left critics worldwide rubbing their hands with glee, and paved the way for a second tome, Bring Up the Bodies, which hit shelves in 2012. Both books spawned the hit Mark Rylance drama, and now a second series is in the pipeline. Shot over six months in the run-up to publication of The Mirror and the Light, the final book in her Booker-winning Tudor saga, this film delves into Ms Mantel’s past.
Lost Lives (BBC2, 10pm)
Michael Hewitt and Dermot Lavery’s (right) often moving documentary is inspired by the namesake 1999 book. Written over seven years, it recorded the circumstances of the deaths of 3700 people killed during the Troubles. Among them was nine-year-old Patrick Rooney, killed by a bullet during a riot in 1969. Extracts are read by stars of stage and screen, including Liam Neeson; Line of Duty’s Adrian Dunbar; Game of Thrones’ Michelle Fairley; Pulp Fiction’s Bronagh Gallagher; Harry Potter veteran Brendan Gleeson; Flesh and Blood’s Stephen Rea, and Kenneth Branagh. The latter rose to fame in the Belfast-based Billy Plays, before becoming one of the world’s most sought after directors and actors.
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