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Cold Feet … simmering tensions.
Cold Feet … simmering tensions. Photograph: Ben Blackall/Big Talk Productions / ITV
Cold Feet … simmering tensions. Photograph: Ben Blackall/Big Talk Productions / ITV

Monday’s Best TV: Great British Menu; Panorama; Cold Feet

This article is more than 7 years old

Blowtorched liver and coconut hummus from the top chefs in the north-west. Plus, the disturbing truth about betting machines, and the Cold Feet gang continue to deal with middle-age angst

Great British Menu
7.30pm, BBC2

The heats roll on to the north-west, where a guest judge – we’re banned from revealing who it is, but here’s a clue: if you don’t closely follow the UK restaurant scene, you’ll have never heard of them – flicks a withering tongue over starters created by top area chefs. The banter’s bland but the food’s not: it’s “contemporary” Brit cuisine, so that’s blowtorched liver, sous-vide spuds and, in the episode’s emetic nadir, coconut hummus in a coffee and langoustine broth. Jack Seale

Why Are Gambling Machines Addictive?: Panorama
8.30pm, BBC1

What is it that makes betting terminals so moreish? Wendy Bendel has good reason to want to know: her partner, hooked on terminals easily accessible across the UK for more than two decades, eventually killed himself. As well as seeing evidence the machines can affect the brains of long-term gamblers, Bendel hears from former business insiders who accuse the gambling industry of putting profits before people. Jonathan Wright

British Sitcom: 60 Years of Laughing at Ourselves
9pm, BBC4

For the British, sitcoms aren’t just entertainment, they’re much more important than that. Over the past half-century, they’ve been a means for us to discuss race, gender, sexuality and – again and again, deep into the past and no doubt far into the future – class. This cheery accompaniment to the BBC’s sitcom season enlists Steve Coogan, Graham Linehan and many more for a whistlestop survey of TV’s funniest, sharpest half‑hours. Phil Harrison

Cold Feet
9pm, ITV

One should not, of course, kvetch about the return of Cold Feet: it was the first time round, and is once more, a smart, funny and gently affecting drama, well written and acted and so forth. Its exhumation does remind you, however, how little TV of this quality Britain now produces. Tonight’s second episode further tweaks the tensions simmering among the group of old friends, who are finding themselves enjoying middle age to markedly different degrees. Andrew Mueller

Secrets of the SAS
9pm, Channel 5

A harrowing and pertinent account from former SAS man Colin Maclachlan, who describes the events of what should have been a straightforward mission in Iraq in the immediate aftermath of the capture of Saddam Hussein in 2005. While delivering a detail of security agents to Kuwait, he and a colleague had their covers blown and were captured and taken hostage. The servicemen were subjected to terrifying mob violence and mock executions at the hands of brutal gangs. Ben Arnold

Celebs Go Dating
10pm, E4

The matchmakers return to help some of the most eligible singletons on the reality TV circuit find love. Their dating woes are relatable: Stephanie from Made In Chelsea had a strop after being set up with a model, and Tyger from Outnumbered can’t get women to stop asking about his famous porn-star parents. In tonight’s show, the celebs go speed dating and bump into some familiar faces from earlier episodes, including the Joey Essex-obsessed Marlene. Grace Rahman

Dara O Briain’s Go 8 Bit
10pm, Dave

Another pixel-packed episode, with captains Sam and Steve joined by two standups from contrasting ends of the video-gamer spectrum: Marcus Brigstocke’s favoured gaming tipple being multi-dimensional physics puzzler Portal 2, while Gina Yashere gave up around the time of Snake. The mismatched mirthmakers duly do battle, along with quite possibly the tensest Sonic 2 battle since the days of imperial phase Hadaway. Mark Gibbings-Jones

Film choice

Martha Marcy May Marlene

(Sean Durkin, 2011) 1.25am, Film4

This uneasy drama sets out as a sensitive exploration of a troubled young woman’s psyche, then elides into something more threatening, more frightening. Elizabeth Olsen is Martha, who goes on the run from an abusive rural cult ruled by the Manson-like John Hawkes. When she moves in with her sister (Sarah Paulson) and husband (Hugh Dancy), the shadows start to gather over their idyllic Connecticut home. Paul Howlett

Live sport

Paralympics 2016

Decorated swimmers Ellie Simmonds and Sascha Kindred compete today. 1pm, Channel 4

Premier League Football: Sunderland v Everton

David Moyes takes on his old club at the Stadium of Light. 7pm, Sky Sports 1

NFL: Washington Redskins v Pittsburgh Steelers

Coverage of final matches from the opening round; the 49ers v the Rams follows. 11.30pm, Sky Sports 1

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