Wednesday’s best TV: Little Big Shots, Roots, Under Lock and Key (original) (raw)

Little Big Shots

8pm, ITV

There are two types of viewer when kids perform on talent shows. Some go gooey as the girls and boys bravely belt out Brown Sugar or breakdance, while others cringe and reach for the remote. The former subset is tonight’s target, as Dawn French shines the spotlight on talented children delivering in disciplines from classical music to cookery. The talent may be tiny but the talents aren’t. However, for those with an innate anti-precocity filter, one to avoid. Mark Gibbings-Jones

Benidorm

9pm, ITV

The slightly sunburnt but enjoyably bawdy sitcom returns for a ninth series of outre poolside hijinks. Former hard-partying holidaymaker Sam (Shelley Longworth) rocks back up at the Solana, this time as an ambitious rep, causing friction with highly strung hotel manager Joyce (Sherrie Hewson). Meanwhile, Nigel Havers guest-stars as a dentist who, after a trim at the Blow’n’Go salon, fixates on the late Herbert’s dazzling false gnashers. Graeme Virtue

The Royal House of Windsor

9pm, Channel 4

It is hard to escape how heavily The Crown has influenced our understanding of the royal narrative, but familiarity does no harm here. Tonight, we’re shown archive colour footage of the first postwar royal tour (South Africa, 1947), which offers surprises – some good, some bad – at the empire’s close. The letters of private secretary Alan “Tommy” Lascelles, however, are where the biggest revelations lie. John Robinson

Roots

9pm, BBC4

A viciously bleak yet ultimately very satisfying conclusion to the series based on Alex Haley’s 1976 classic. Chicken George has returned from the UK to be reunited with his family, only to find his wife in the employ of a particularly unpleasant racist. However, with civil war about to break out, he learns that those he encounters are not all that they seem. Sadly, this series feels as necessary today as it was in the 1970s. The Next Generations next, please. David Stubbs

Under Lock and Key

10pm, Channel 4

There are few things harder for a family to bear than the institutionalising of a loved one due to mental health issues. This documentary by Alison Millar meets several families experiencing exactly this, illustrating both the angst and bewilderment of the situation, and the weaknesses in the system they rely upon. Mental health services are among those facing budget cuts, making this film particularly urgent. Andrew Mueller

24: Legacy

9pm, Fox

This reboot of 24 has, to the relief of the original series’s many adherents, refused to deviate too significantly from its berserk template. It’s still a show tottering on the edge of utter absurdity but, equally, if you buy in, it remains one hell of a ride. Tonight, Carter (Corey Hawkins) makes a break from the police precinct in a bid to meet Grimes and make the exchange. Meanwhile, in the background, Rebecca and Donovan are trying to isolate the leak. Phil Harrison

Unspun with Matt Forde

10pm, Dave

The UK’s answer to John Oliver in format but sadly not execution (although John Oliver is surely also our own answer to John Oliver, being from Birmingham and all), Matt Forde’s relatively ersatz Unspun returns for a new series of topical skewering. Guest comedians will include Oliver’s former cohort Andy Zaltzman and Phil Wang, while political guests – unknown at the time of writing – will be drafted in to give their twopenn’orth. Ben Arnold

Film choice

The Thomas Crown Affair (John McTiernan, 1999) 11.25pm, TCM
A stylish, sexy remake of Norman Jewison’s 1968 cat-and-mouse caper movie. Pierce Brosnan plays Crown, a billionaire businessman and occasional art thief; Rene Russo is insurance investigator Catherine Banning, who falls for her suspect. A sharp script makes the most of this perfect couple struggling to trust one another.

Live sport

ATP Tennis: Dubai Duty Free Championships 10am, Sky Sports 1. Coverage of day three of the ATP 500 event from the Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Dubai.

FA Cup Football: Manchester City v Huddersfield Town 7.30pm, BBC1. A replay between title chasers and Championship contenders.

NBA Basketball 1am, BT Sport 1. Boston Celtics take on the Cleveland Cavaliers. LA Clippers v Houston Rockets follows.