This brilliant idea for a programme uses drama to investigate the reality of the legal process. In a fictional incident, a woman accuses a work colleague of raping her. The two (superbly played by Daniel Mays and Anna Madeley) went to a party, had a few drinks and were going to sleep together when — allegedly — she changed her mind and he refused to stop. From that point on, real policemen, doctors and solicitors investigate this fictional crime, and the case is tried in front of a “real” jury. As a final kicker, viewers are shown what actually happened once the jury had reached its verdict. It is a harrowing demonstration of the difficulties of establishing the truth beyond reasonable doubt.

THE MAGIC OF SWAN LAKE
BBC One, 3.15pm

The BBC is doing Tchaikovsky in a big way. Over the next two months, its so-called Tchaikovsky Experience is offering 11 original programmes — made up of drama, performance, documentaries and masterclasses — on the television, on radio, online and probably in your local shopping centre. This onslaught of violence and beauty begins with Darcey Bussell introducing the story of Swan Lake, showing highlights from the ballet with Roberto Bolle and dancers from the Royal Ballet School.

It is followed by a full performance of the ballet (at 3.45pm), specially adapted for the BBC and based on the Kirov production at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. It is conducted by Valery Gergiev with Ulyana Lopatkina in the dual lead roles of Odette and Odile, the white and black swans.

WAKING THE DEAD
BBC One, 9pm

Two mummified corpses, sexually conjoined, fall through the ceiling of a disused bank in the City of London during a refurbishment. It happens, OK? When DS Boyd (Trevor Eve) and his team investigate, they discover that members of Opus Dei are involved — the usual crowd who whip themselves, shoot people and defraud banks. No surprises there, then. But — as ever — it is the tensions within the team that gives Waking the Dead its snap, crackle and pop. There is a furious clash tonight between Boyd and Foley (Sue Johnston), who is sick to death of his understated sexism. “You’re right and I’m wrong,” she snaps. “I’m just a silly little woman full of feminine logic. I’ll leave you to solve the case by shouting at people.”

TRIAL AND RETRIBUTION
ITV1, 9pm

All of Lynda La Plante’s Trial and Retributions stand head and shoulders above the average police procedural, even when they don’t fire on all cylinders. This two-parter is a relatively straightforward affair, without the psychological mayhem that often accompanies teams of investigators on TV tearing each other apart or drinking themselves into oblivion. The case deals with the murder of four girls over a number of years. There are no witnesses, no weapons and no DNA. The murder scenes are so clean, in fact, that it is almost as if a police officer were involved.

BEST OF THE REST . . .

CLIMATE CHANGE: BRITAIN UNDER THREAT
BBC One, 8pm

David Attenborough and others reveal the results of an experiment designed to predict the weather we can expect in the 21st century.

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