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“Adored yet unknowable”... American journalist James Foley, who was killed by ISIS in 2014
‘Adored yet unknowable’... American journalist James Foley, who was killed by Isis in 2014. Photograph: Dan Shakal/Dogwoof/Dan Shakal
‘Adored yet unknowable’... American journalist James Foley, who was killed by Isis in 2014. Photograph: Dan Shakal/Dogwoof/Dan Shakal

Sunday's best TV: Executed by Isis, Planet Earth II, Frankie Boyle's Election Autopsy

This article is more than 7 years old

The moving story of journalist James Foley, killed by Isis, is told in a new documentary. Plus, a jungle-themed Planet Earth, and Frankie Boyle dissects the US election - but are there any laughs to be had?

Storyville: Executed by Isis – The James Foley Story
10pm, BBC4

This moving film explores the capture and murder of journalist James Foley by Islamic State in 2014. It also documents his work, and it’s fascinating to be offered an insight into the lives of those intrepid souls who venture into the world’s troublespots in the hope of emerging with the bloody truth. Like many of them, Foley seems to have been adored yet unknowable. “We discovered Jim just like the world did,” says his proud, distraught father. Phil Harrison

Planet Earth II 8pm, BBC1

David Attenborough explores our planet’s teeming jungles this week, enthralling with the sheer abundance of peculiar life on display. There’s the impossibly beautiful footage of the sword-billed hummingbird, the only bird with a beak longer than its entire body. It lives a charmed life, supping nectar where others cannot reach. Then there’s the astonishing fluorescent fungi and the glow-in-the-dark click beetles it attracts. Ben Arnold

Life And Death The Pentecostal Way
9pm, BBC2

As evinced everywhere, the old, moderate order is falling away, replaced by more overt kinds of expression. And so it is with religion: overtaking the Church of England’s dwindling numbers, Pentecostalism has rapidly become the largest Christian faith in London, especially among the black community. This doc moves among the congregation and staff of Brixton’s New Testament Church of God to discover the nature of its appeal. Ali Catterall

Humans
9pm, Channel 4

It might lack the sex-and-sixgun fireworks of Westworld, but as a meditation on the emerging morality of artificial intelligence, Humans has at least one ace up its sleeve: it takes place in a recognisable, relatable near-future Britain. In tonight’s instalment, stressed-out mum Laura continues to evaluate the emotional state of headstrong synth Niska, while cash-strapped Ed and fugitive Mia make gooey eyes at each other in his rather bleak seaside caff. Graeme Virtue

Frankie Boyle’s US Election Autopsy
10.30pm, BBC2

Not so long ago, the idea of president Donald J Trump seemed the stuff of which surreal, grotesque, fantastical comedic riffs might be fashioned (indeed, Boyle did exactly that, on several, clearly fate-tempting occasions). In this recently recorded show, he and accomplices Sara Pascoe, Katherine Ryan, Michelle Wolf and Richard Osman face a daunting challenge now that it’s about to be a reality. Andrew Mueller

Pokémon: Sun And Moon
12noon, CITV

Of all the bizarre goings-on we’ve witnessed in 2016, the rise of an augmented-reality Pokémon game was perhaps the most enjoyable. You’ve borne witness to the phenomenon, now watch the TV show. This brand new series sees Ash and Pikachu venture to the Alola region to go to Pokémon school. They’ll be busting some never-before-seen Z-moves, which combine the power of both trainer and Pokémon. But you already knew that, right? Grace Rahman

Yonderland
6.30pm, Sky1

With the sweet smell of freedom finally coursing through his flared nostrils, inept ne’er-do-well Negatus agrees to turn mole for the elders to help investigate Cuddly Dick’s nefarious scheme. Meanwhile, due to a malfunction with craggy curmudgeon Nick’s portal, Debbie and Elf accidentally swap bodies. Thankfully, some simple science may suffice in righting their physical forms; all they need is a simple scientist. Mark Gibbings-Jones

Film choice

It’s murder most foul for Grace Kelly and John Williams in Hitchcock’s thriller. Photograph: Allstar/WARNER BROS/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar

Dial M For Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) 2pm, BBC2
Hitchcock didn’t care much for this adaptation of Frederick Knott’s Broadway hit, but out of his experiments – shooting the whole thing in one apartment, in a sometimes disorientating 3D – comes a typically gripping thriller. Ray Milland is a past-it tennis star planning to have his wife (Grace Kelly) murdered for her money. Kelly, moving from anxious to terrorised, is terrific and it’s loaded with claustrophobic suspense. Paul Howlett

Once (John Carney, 2006) 12.05am, BBC1
An Irish busker (Glen Hansard) meets a young Czech immigrant mum (Markéta Irglová) on the streets of Dublin, and they start making beautiful music together, while she helps him raise the money to take his talent to London. It’s an irresistibly warm-hearted romance-cum-showbiz story, and the couple’s coy mutual attraction has the down-to-earth ring of truth about it. PH

Micmacs (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 2009) 1.25am, Film4
After a gangster shootout, young orphan Bazil (Dany Boon) has a bullet lodged in his brain, causing wild cerebral flights and the imminent possibility of death. Adopted by a weird and wonderful group of Parisian rascals living in a magical cave under a rubbish tip, he persuades them to help him punish the weapons manufacturers he blames for his current woes. Another grotesquely surreal fantasy from the director of Delicatessen. PH

Live sport

Rugby League: Four Nations 2.05pm, BBC1 Mark Chapman presents the final from Anfield, as Australia and New Zealand face off.

Tennis: ATP World Tour Finals 6pm, BBC2 Sue Barker hosts coverage of the final at the O2 in London.

Premier League Football: Middlesborough v Chelsea 3.30pm, Sky Sports 1 Coverage from the Riverside Stadium (kick-off 4pm).

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