TV tonight: Celebrity Hunted lineup, school probe, and evolution's mysteries
The Guardian's evening TV rundown highlights the new series of Celebrity Hunted, an investigation into strict schools, a deep dive into animal intelligence, and a Mastermind family retrospective.
Celebrity Hunted assembles a likable cast
Channel 4 at 9pm airs the seventh series of the survival show "Celebrity Hunted." This year's runaways include Strictly stars Amy Dowden and Carlos Gu, comedian Brian Conley and his daughter Lucy, Love Island's Chris Taylor and Toby Aromolaran, TV presenters JJ Chalmers and Sophie Morgan, property experts Scarlette and Stuart Douglas, and comedians Jen Brister and Laura Smyth. Conley joked that only older people know who he is.
Panorama investigates school discipline
BBC One at 8pm has "Britain's Strictest Schools," a Panorama special in which Richard Bilton examines the Athena Learning Trust in Devon and Cornwall. The trust recently announced it would dissolve and transfer its schools to other organisations after parents complained about strict disciplinary measures. Bilton speaks with former teachers and students about the trust's practices.
Evolution: from eyes to brains
BBC Two at 9pm explores how intelligence emerged and which animal first "thought." Chris Packham focuses on the remarkably smart dolphin and rewinds billions of years to light-sensitive cells that evolved into the first eyes and led to the first brains. Surprisingly, moths also get a mention in this journey of cleverness.
Long Lost Family spin-off and Mastermind memories
ITV1 at 9pm airs "Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace," the spin-off that helps foundlings trace their origins. Nicky Campbell and Davina McCall assist David, who was abandoned in a London block of flats in 1960, in finding his roots in France and the Netherlands. For Sarah, the story begins in a Leicester telephone box in 1983. BBC Four at 9pm offers "Sally Magnusson Remembers … Mastermind," a documentary in which Sally Magnusson recalls her father Magnus Magnusson's iconic quiz show. She shares memories of its origins, her youthful excitement, and how strangers would shout "I've started, so I'll finish!" at her in the street.
Gypsy Wives: a new chapter
Channel 4 at 10pm continues "Secret Lives of Gypsy Wives." The episode looks at Trewley's experiences of marginalisation at school and follows her to Liverpool as she considers launching a lipliner range, wondering whether impostor syndrome will get the better of her.
