Inside the Bomb Squad

(C4, 8pm)

THE UK’s elite bomb disposal unit is often called on by the police to investigate illegal weapons used in gang warfare. Tonight Sergeant David Podmore is summoned after a shooting in the Liverpool area. The victim’s house has been raided and a potential improvised explosive device made out of industrial fireworks has been found. Meanwhile, in Aylesbury, Sam Jones and Corporal Matt Coogan have been called to a property to assess a mortar bomb. Finally, Alex Hughes is called to Llandudno, where a magnet fisherman has taken a mortar that he’s found to a garage – close to some gas canisters.

Only Connect (BBC2, 8pm)

VICTORIA Coren Mitchell returns with TV’s toughest quiz, as a trio of Boston United fans known as the Pilgrims take on the Corkscrews – a team of wine lovers. Even picking the question poses a challenge here. The contestants have to choose from six Egyptian hieroglyphs, before using lateral thinking to find the links between a series of seemingly random words or phrases. As usual, there is no prize money, just the chance of being crowned champions at the end of the series.

The Secret History of Writing

(BBC4, 9pm)

WE take it for granted, but every time we pick up a pen, we are employing the most powerful technology ever invented. Writing began about 5000 years ago making civilisation itself possible, and every innovation of the modern world is based on the foundation of the written word. But how and where did writing begin, and who began it? In the first of three films, we uncover the hidden links between all the diverse systems in use today and trace the origin of our own alphabet to a turquoise mine in the Sinai Desert.

The Diagnosis Detectives (BBC2, 9pm)

MICHAEL Mosley and the experts conclude the series by helping a young woman who lives with a constant fever. Carys, 24, has suffered from headaches, nausea and vomiting and infections for nine years. She’s seen specialists but no-one has given her a satisfactory explanation for her symptoms. Meanwhile, Andrew, 43, has up to 50 seizures every week and it’s having a devastating effect on his life.