China: Between Clouds And Dreams
7pm, Channel 4
China’s “environmental destiny” is explored, starting at a school where pupils are enthralled by a letter from their Russian counterparts asking them to look after endangered spoon-billed sandpipers as they make their journey to warmer climes. Meanwhile, on the Tibetan border – the global frontline of climate change – environmental issues are also being taught to youngsters. Worrying yet hopeful, and beautifully shot. Ben Arnold
Strictly Come Dancing
6.55pm, BBC1
Expect spray tans, dad jokes and Ed Balls gliding gracefully across the floor for week seven. There’s been plenty of drama so far in the series, said to be Len Goodman’s last. Who will the Strictly curse strike next? Lines open at the end of tonight’s episode so the public can decide which of the nine to boot off. Winkleman and Daly guide proceedings nicely, but it still seems cruel to make the dancers run up all those stairs after strutting their stuff. Grace Rahman
The X Factor
8pm, ITV
Following Gifty’s shock exit last week, no one is safe. Even so, this week’s theme – boyband v girlband – surely gives largely lifeless wildcards Four Of Diamonds and poundland JLS Five After Midnight some kind of advantage over the rest. As well as the two groups, Emily, Sam, Matt, Ryan, Saara and – of course – Honey G are still in the running. Whether the latter is a genius performance artist, an unfunny spoof or just chronically deluded remains to be seen. Hannah J Davies
Britain’s Ancient Tracks With Tony Robinson
8pm, Channel 4
The final trek in this series, along Britain’s oldest trackways, takes Tony Robinson up the North Downs Way, a route utilised by traders, hunters and invaders for millennia. Thought to have offered – and Brexiteers will doubtless be delighted to hear this – open access to mainland Europe in prehistoric times, the route would later afford ingress to Celts and Romans alike, providing a rich seam of archaic artefacts for modern history hunters. Mark Gibbings-Jones
The Code
9pm, BBC4
Penultimate-episode time for this smart, gripping cyber-thriller, and following an attack on the protest march, a life lies in the balance. Will the outcome drive Roth (an excellent Anthony LaPaglia) further into a supervillain-style rage? You betcha: “I haven’t decided what systems I’m going to target yet, but what I do know is nobody pays attention unless a lot of people are screaming,” he snarls wickedly. Can a conflicted but sympathetic Jesse save the day? Ali Catterall
Atlanta
10pm, Fox
Even before he was confirmed as young Lando in the 2018 Star Wars spin-off, Donald Glover was having a pretty good 2016 thanks to this excellent comedy-drama (which he writes, produces and stars in). Set amid Atlanta’s grassroots hip-hop scene, it’s a textured, sometimes surreal tale of hustle and flow, with Glover’s would-be mogul Earn teaming up with his gruff rapping cousin to navigate the pitfalls of the music biz, from radio payola to street beef. Graeme Virtue
Murder Files With Martin Kemp
9pm, Quest
The ex-EastEnder, now luminously orange and silver like a galvanised Troll Doll, is merely the bookend for a workmanlike look at Fred and Rose West’s crimes. The relevant detective, psychologist and pathologist recall grim discoveries, and there’s an interview with Caroline Roberts, who worked as a nanny for the Wests and then survived their attack. Roberts, whose testimony helped put Rose in prison, died in August. Jack Seale
Film choice
![Jeremy Renner in The Bourne Legacy.](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/802cce9e2b35dfe5f183d86a5f94cd6d4477c54f/0_0_3000_1800/master/3000.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none)
The Bourne Legacy (Tony Gilroy, 2012), 9pm, E4
Gilroy, screenwriter of the original trilogy, oversees this attempt to continue the series without Matt Damon’s Bourne. It picks up with the exposed CIA dirty tricks unit out to terminate its staff, including Jeremy Renner’s assassin Aaron Cross and scientist Rachel Weisz, but with no Bourne present it’s like a Batman movie without you-know-who. Paul Howlett
Glory (Edward Zwick, 1989), 10pm, BBC2
A stirring account of the first black regiment to fight in the American civil war, this is a sombre, harrowing film that marches bravely against the racism on all sides. Matthew Broderick is novice union colonel Robert Shaw who leads the fighting 54th; Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington are among those called up. The recreations of Gettysburg and Fort Wagner are stunning, and led to an Oscar for cinematographer Freddie Francis. PH
The Impossible (JA Bayona, 2012), 10pm, Channel 4
The Boxing Day tsunami of 2004 killed 230,000 people in south-east Asia, and this gripping film brings all the shock, horror and emotion of the disaster surging back. It’s based on the true story of a Spanish family who were separated in the chaos and struggled desperately to locate each other. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts are excellent as the parents in an extraordinary tale of familial love and survival. PH
The Lady Vanishes (Alfred Hitchcock, 1938) Saturday, 1pm, BBC2
Dame May Whitty is portly Miss Froy, who disappears from a train between the Tyrol and London; a concerned Iris (Margaret Lockwood) enlists handsome young Gilbert (Michael Redgrave) to help find her. A brilliant comic thriller set almost entirely on the train, The Lady Vanishes also introduces the famed double act of Charters and Caldicott, a pair of imperturbable, archetypal English gents played by Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne. Superbly scripted by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and seamlessly executed by Hitchcock. PH
Today’s best live sport
Rugby Union: Wales v Australia, 2pm, BBC1 The autumn internationals begin in Cardiff.
Rugby League: England v Scotland, 5pm, BBC2 The Four Nations continues in Coventry, with Scotland competing for the first time.
Premier League Football: Chelsea v Everton, 5pm, BT Sport 1 Ronald Koeman’s unpredictable Everton side visit Stamford Bridge.