TV Times top picks tonight
What’s on telly tonight? Here the TV Times team of expert reviewers highlight the best shows on Monday 9th July
Who Do You Think You Are?, 9pm (times vary), BBC1
Olivia Colman has won countless awards for her tear-jerking acting performances – and we promise she will have you blubbing along with her once more on this incredible journey into her family’s past with her heart worn openly on her sleeve. After uncovering a surprising divorce scandal, courtesy of her four-times great-grandfather, Olivia pays her first-ever visit to India, where she is both stunned and profoundly moved to learn that her three-times great-grandmother, Harriot Slessor, was half-Indian and had a deeply tragic start to life. Back in the UK, Olivia is thrilled to be able to solve a mystery involving a rumour that she had a French ancestor! Rating: ****
The Jumbo Jet: 50 Years in the Sky, 9pm, Channel 5
To celebrate the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Boeing 747 – which came to be known as the jumbo jet – this two-part documentary features fascinating archive footage and interviews with some of the engineers and pilots who made the prototype a reality. This first episode, subtitled ‘Creating an Icon’, looks at the variety of challenges that hampered the design and construction of the world’s first wide-body plane, and reveals how a highly ambitious delivery deadline meant the ‘plane that shrank the world’ nearly didn’t get off the ground. An interesting look at an invention that has changed most of our lives. Rating: ****
Versailles, 9.30pm, BBC2
Despite having little affection for his late wife, no one mourns the death of Queen Marie-Thérèse more than King Louis. The Spanish-born queen was crucial to Louis’ ambitions in Europe and he must act fast to prevent Leopold, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, outflanking him. His solution is to win favour with the Pope by persecuting Protestants. Then Louis’ brother Philippe makes a shocking discovery… Rating: ****
More previews tomorrow.
