CRITIC’S CHOICE
Live Uefa Euro 2024
3.30pm/7.15pm, ITV1
This afternoon sees England play Slovakia in the round of 16 after winning a relatively easy group (kick-off 5pm). Gareth Southgate’s underwhelming (to put it mildly) team now return to Gelsenkirchen – scene of their opening victory over Serbia.
Can the manager reshape England and inject a bit of fire into their bellies, or is this the end of the road? This evening, Spain take on underdogs Georgia in Cologne (kick-off 8pm).
The Sound of Music – Live!
7.45pm, Sky Arts
The hills were alive again in this American television special originally broadcast by NBC in 2013. Country singer and American Idol winner Carrie Underwood takes the iconic Julie Andrews role as Maria von Trapp in a performance filmed in New York’s Grumman Studios, with Stephen Moyer as Captain von Trapp.
Suranne Jones: Investigating Witch Trials
9pm, Channel 4
The Gentleman Jack actor brings her look at the persecution of alleged witches to a conclusion at the site of the most infamous trials of all – Salem, Massachusetts. Nineteen people were executed in this small agricultural settlement after an outbreak of mass hysteria that originated with a little girl’s epileptic seizures. Jones goes on to consider how the phrase “witch hunt” is used today by powerful men, like Donald Trump, to paint themselves as victims, while feminist activist Laura Bates claims that witch hunts have now moved into the online sphere.
Scary Tales of New York
9pm, Sky History
Back in the 40s and 50s, long before the Unabomber’s infamous crimes, New Yorkers were terrified for 16 years by an attacker who planted bombs across the city.
The culprit was an electrician called George Metesky, a paranoid schizophrenic who planted devices in theatres, terminals, libraries and offices. This series about the city’s most notorious crimes of the 20th century and their impact is narrated by actor Colm Meaney.
Brothers & Sisters
9pm, W
The latest double bill of this engaging and meatily cast family saga from the Noughties finds Justin (Dave Annable) receiving a letter from the US Army stating that he must return for active duty. Fearing for his life, Justin wants to flee to Mexico. Meanwhile,
Kitty and Warren’s plans for a relaxing weekend are thwarted, the Walkers have to sell their holiday cottage in order to save the company and Sarah (Rachel Griffiths) has trouble making Gabe feel more like part of the family.
Carry On: Secrets & Scandals
10pm, Channel 5
This documentary (a repeat from last year) reveals the darker side of the cheap and outwardly cheerful Carry On... films. Made on the tiniest of budgets, the franchise made millions at the box office, and is still regularly repeated on TV. But interviews recorded by cast members at an event in 1998 reveal their true feelings about their treatment at the hands of producer Peter Rogers, especially the sexist treatment of the female stars (earning half the salaries of their male counterparts), safety issues and difficulties getting on with a “grumpy” Kenneth Williams. Gerard Gilbert
LaRoy, Texas
8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere (Shane Atkinson, 2023)
A decent slice of B-grade Coen brothers homage, in which a meek small-town loser discovers his wife is being unfaithful and then, having handily just bought a gun in order to kill himself, is mistaken for a contract killer and becomes tangled up in a plot involving blackmail, a briefcase of money and a hapless private investigator.
The Maze Runner
8pm, BBC Three
(Wes Ball, 2014)
One of the best adaptations of a young adult dystopian fantasy novel that Hollywood churned out in the wake of The Hunger Games, this high-concept movie deposits a couple of dozen teenage boys in a vast concrete maze to contend with Lord of the Flies-style rivalries and giant mechanical spiders.
Silly, but also lean, unpretentious and exciting.
Amy
9pm, Sky Documentaries
(Asif Kapadia, 2015)
This hit docuportrait of Amy Winehouse shows that she was a prodigious vocal talent but ideally would have been a jazz singer, not a pop star: the particular combination of fame, drugs and men she had in her life was toxic. She begins bubbly and funny, but the light leaves her eyes by the end. Laurence Phelan