Pick of the day: Great Continental Railway Journeys
8pm, BBC Two
Sporting his trademark yellow jacket/red trousers combo, Michael Portillo sets off with the latest edition yet of Bradshaw’s guide book, this one from 1936 – the year that the Spanish Civil War erupted and most travellers to the country were volunteer soldiers or war reporters. The series begins with a deeply personal stop in Salamanca, where Portillo’s father, Luis, worked as an anti-fascist lawyer before seeking asylum in Britain, and his son is shown Luis’s secret political file. Then it’s off to Madrid to gaze upon Picasso’s Guernica, before dancing in Aragon and visiting the haunting “lost station of the Pyrenees”.
Paul O’Grady For the Love of Dogs: What Happened Next
8pm, ITV
The pooch-loving comedian continues to catch up with dogs that have appeared in the eight years O’Grady has been visiting Battersea. This time, there is a heart-warming update with Chester, the most injured dog ever featured; Louis, who now works at a medical detection school; and Sydney, Battersea’s most famous rescue and firm favourite of actor Tom Hardy.
How to Stop Your Nuisance Calls
8pm, Channel 5
The journalist Alexis Conran – a previous winner of Celebrity MasterChef – investigates the plague of cold calls, asking who is making them, whether enough is being done to deal with them and what customers can do to prevent them. The programme follows the stories of Jay, who was conned out of hundreds of pounds for postage costs, and Sarah, who bought a non-existent puppy for her children.
Celebrity MasterChef
9pm, BBC One
The first semi-final sees the remaining celebrities travel to the National Breeding Centre at Leamington Spa to cook up a feast to celebrate Guide Dogs for the Blind’s 90th anniversary for 120 staff, volunteers and those whose lives have been changed by the organisation. Back in the MasterChef kitchen, the competitors recreate their favourite takeaway dishes.
Mrs America
9pm, BBC Two
The latest double-bill of this excellent drama about the culture wars in 1970s America opens with a pie being thrown in the face of conservative campaigner Phyllis Schlafly (Cate Blanchett), who responds with characteristic poise that she’s glad it wasn’t a cherry pie because that would have stained her dress. The focus then shifts to Bella Abzug (Margo Martindale), who’s just been appointed by President Jimmy Carter to serve as chair of the National Commission on the Observance of International Women’s Year. Now she has some political clout, will Abzug use it draw gay people into her liberal “big tent”?
Anne: The Princess Royal at 70
9pm, ITV
Helped by Erin Doherty’s portrayal of her in The Crown, the equestrian-skilled only daughter of the Queen has had her image enhanced in recent years, although her dry sense of humour was evident a long time ago when she appeared on A Question of Sport. Princess Anne turns 70 next month and, in an extended interview, she discusses growing up in a family in which women tended to be seen as “honorary men”, recalls that 1974 kidnap attempt, and why she refused royal titles for her children.