Great Continental Railway Journeys (BBC2, 8pm)

NEW series. Armed with a 1936 edition of Bradshaw’s Continental Railway Guide, Michael Portillo ventures on to the European rail network, beginning an emotional journey that takes him deep into his family’s past. In Salamanca in north-western Spain, he visits the university to hear of opposition to the fascist takeover of Spain by General Francisco Franco. Travelling on to Madrid, Portillo hears how the bombing of a small town in the Basque Country in 1937 inspired one of the 20th century’s most shocking works of art, before making his way to the town of Huesca.

Celebrity MasterChef (BBC1, 9pm)
THE remaining contestants take part in the first semi-final, travelling to the National Breeding Centre at Leamington Spa’s Guide Dogs For The Blind to face their toughest challenge so far. Cooking in tents and faced with unfamiliar equipment, the celebrities are split into two teams and challenged to cook up a feast to celebrate Guide Dogs For The Blind’s 90th anniversary. Back in the MasterChef kitchen, the competitors are tasked with recreating their favourite takeaway dishes in the Invention Test.

Mrs America (BBC2, 9pm)
YOU might not know the names Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, but the indie filmmakers have done a rather good job of helming four episodes of this star-studded drama examining the Equal Rights Amendment. In the first of this week’s double bill, it’s 1977, Bella Abzug is appointed to head the revived Women’s Commission and has to organise the first-ever National Women’s Convention in Houston. Meanwhile, Phyllis is determined to mobilise her own supporters to attend.

Britain’s Lost Roman Roads (5SELECT, 9pm)
THIS week, Dan Jones travels the historic Roman road of Ermin Way, which links the two Roman towns of Calleva Atrebatum and Glevum, now known as Silchester and Gloucester. Ermin Way is arguably Britain’s most industrial Roman road and in Silchester, Professor Michael Fulford talks Dan through his excavations of this huge, economically important site, which has been described as “the British Pompeii”.