Ellen E Jones, David Stubbs, Candice Carty-Williams, Andrew Mueller, Mark Gibbings-Jones, John Robinson and Paul Howlett 

Thursday’s best TV – Urban Myths: Marilyn Monroe and Billy Wilder; Civilisations

James Purefoy and Gemma Arterton have a ball imagining the capers of the film-maker and his muse, while Simon Schama explores the historical use of colour in art
  
  

Gemma Arterton and James Purefoy as Marilyn Monroe and Billy Wilder in Urban Myths
Gemma Arterton and James Purefoy as Marilyn Monroe and Billy Wilder in Urban Myths. Photograph: Steven Peskett/Sky UK

Urban Myths: Marilyn Monroe and Billy Wilder

9pm, Sky Arts
Did it really take Marilyn Monroe 47 attempts to nail one three-word line of dialogue on the set of Some Like It Hot? Does it matter? Accurate fact‑finding was never really the point of this original and fun anthology series, which takes dubious stories from pop culture history and imagines how they might have gone down. In this, the first episode of the second series, James Purefoy and Gemma Arterton have a ball playing Billy Wilder and his mischievous muse. Ellen E Jones

Living With the Brainy Bunch

8pm, BBC Two
Jack and Hollie are students at Chessington community college in London. With GCSEs approaching, they are struggling to cope. Fortunately, TV has a solution: moving them in with high-achieving, goody-two-shoed pupils from their year and subjecting them to the same disciplinary domestic conditions. David Stubbs

Not Going Out

9pm, BBC One
Lucy finds out that the lollipop man has, aptly, been giving the kids lollipops every day. This prompts her to send the family on an enforced health kick, much to Lee’s disdain. Lee wrestles hilariously with guilt when he is tasked with asking the elderly and lonely lollipop man to stop handing out treats. Candice Carty-Williams

Civilisations

9pm, BBC Two
Simon Schama returns to the helm of the BBC’s much-ballyhooed survey of the history of art. This episode explores the uses of colour – from such masters as Titian and Bellini to woodcuts popular in 19th-century Japan – and, as shown by Goya, the dramatic effect of withdrawing colour from the view. Andrew Mueller

The Investigator: A British Crime Story

9pm, ITV
Mark Williams-Thomas continues to investigate unsolved murders, tonight focusing on the deaths of Anna Kenny, Agnes Cooney and Hilda McAuley and potential links to suspect Angus Sinclair. But conclusively placing the suspect at crime scenes 41 years later is no simple task. Mark Gibbings-Jones

Indian Summer School

9pm, Channel 4
It is end of term for the Britons exported to India’s elite Doon school. TV-friendly moments persist – Ethan writes a school newspaper article about being gay and out; Jack goes on a Himalayan trek – but, as the boys resit their GCSEs, one question might be tougher to answer. Has any of what we have seen surprised us? John Robinson

Film choice

The Ninth Gate 9pm, Horror Channel
Roman Polanski’s occult thriller is in a similarly rich-blooded vein as his classic Rosemary’s Baby, with Johnny Depp starring as an antiquarian book dealer hired by saturnine Frank Langella to find the ancient tomes that will summon Satan. An intelligent gothic chiller. Paul Howlett

Live sport

Commonwealth Games 2018 6am, BBC Two. Beach volleyball and lawn bowls action.
Racing: Grand National festival 2pm, ITV. The opening day of the meeting at Aintree.
Europa League football: CSKA Moscow v Arsenal 7.30pm, BT Sport 2. The quarter-final second leg from Russia.

 

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