Super Surgeons: A Chance at Life
10pm, Channel 4
“The longer I spend in this field, the more the unfairness of it all strikes me,” admits Prof Vin Paleri – one of the oncologists followed in this remarkable three-parter about pioneering cancer treatment. In the opening episode, mum Jade has a throat tumour that a robot needs to remove through her mouth, while photographer Dimitrios accepts that beating cancer may also mean losing his arm. Although emotionally hefty and graphic, it shows the extraordinary work that so many people rely on. Hollie Richardson
24 Hours in A&E
9pm, Channel 4
Filmed in the autumn of 2020, 70-year-old recovering alcoholic Jim is rushed into St George’s hospital with breathing difficulties. Meanwhile, Savita – an intensive care nurse during the pandemic – is brought in with her five-year-old son, Rylan, after they were both hit by a car. HR
Gambling: A Game of Life and Death
9pm, BBC Three
Harri and Jack are two teenagers with gambling addictions. In this one-off documentary, friends and family join them in sharing powerful testimonies about why recovery has felt so impossible – and why online betting has exploded in recent years. HR
Westworld
9pm, Sky Atlantic
A pivotal episode of the confusing sci-fi saga brings further revelations about who is and isn’t human, as well as the unravelling of a nefarious grand plan. Also, Aaron Paul (as Caleb) heroically takes on the burden of a gruelling amount of “almost dead from gunshot wound” acting. Jack Seale
The Invisible Pilot
9pm, Sky Documentaries
In the second episode of this documentary, family man Gary Betzner – a pilot who faked his own death by jumping off a bridge – soon gets caught up in dodgy dealings with Pablo Escobar. HR
Big Zuu’s Big Eats
10pm, Dave
Although far too young to watch the Fresh Prince first time round, affable foodie Big Zuu seems awed to meet Geoffrey the Bel-Air butler – AKA RSC actor Joseph Marcell. At an apropos London location, the pair neck rum and cook up a St Lucian feast while Zuu’s wingmen Hyder and Tubsey attentively wait on them. Graeme Virtue
Film choice
Full Metal Jacket, (Stanley Kubrick, 1987), 11.25pm, TCM Movies
It’s a film of two halves, Stanley. Kubrick’s typically individual 1987 take on the Vietnam war focuses first on the dehumanising training of a group of US Marines, then on an ill-fated mission during the Tet offensive. Matthew Modine’s cocky Private Joker is the link between the two. He’s witness to the brutal persecution of overweight recruit Pyle (Vincent D’Onofrio) by Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (a terrifying R Lee Ermey). Later, in Vietnam as a forces reporter, he joins a patrol in an urban wasteland of bombed-out, blazing buildings (no jungle combat here) in a brilliantly sustained exercise in tension. Simon Wardell
