EMPATHY

BBC One, 9pm

A superior thriller that, having kicked off with a gross improbability, develops with its own relentless logic. An ex-con (Stephen Moyer) is released from prison after serving nine years. The moment he gets outside the prison gates, he discovers he has a supernatural gift; whenever he touches someone, he experiences a vision that allows him to see into their past. At first he thinks he is going mad, then other people think he is mad. Eventually he comes to believe that his visions may either be a punishment, or a chance to redeem himself as he tries to help a sceptical police force to investigate a murder inquiry. The fascination comes from watching someone struggling to explain the irrational to a rational world.

DEADLIEST CATCH

Channel 4, 7pm

And you thought you weren’t that bothered about crab fishing ( above). Every October, 250 fishing vessels and 1,200 fishermen sail into the dangerous waters of the Bering Sea to try to catch their share of valuable Alaskan king crabs. The total catch is worth $70 million, but the moment the quota is reached, the season is declared over.

Last year, it lasted four days. And so for 100 hours, the crews perform backbreaking and perilous tasks with no sleep in appalling conditions in what amounts to a test of endurance and a race against time. Tonight’s episode sets the scene; in part two, next week, it all kicks off. It is the most enthralling documentary about crab fishing you will see.

ALIVE: NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET

Channel 4, 8pm

A new series from the producers of Touching the Void, with more stories of unimaginable human endurance. In tonight’s episode, three climbers get horribly unstuck as they scale Mount McKinley in Alaska, which – at over 20,000ft – is the highest peak in North America. To make the final dash to the summit, they left their heavy equipment behind at a camp at 16,000ft. But the weather suddenly changed and temperatures dropped to -50 degrees. Two of them stayed on the top, suffering from frostbite. The other went for help and fell 1,100ft, shattering his left leg in 12 places and fracturing his right leg.

The three somehow survived and are now missing significant chunks of their bodies – noses, fingers, legs, hands, and so on – and yet they can’t wait to get back up that mountain.

BRITISH FILM FOREVER

BBC Two, 9pm

Tonight’s collection of clips and talking heads looks at romantic films in British cinema, beginning and ending with what John Sessions calls the escapist syllabubs of Richard Curtis. “Falling in love,” says Curtis, “is a very wonderful thing. And if you can just get a pinprick of that same joy, it’s such a big exhilaration”. The films range from the cuddly to the repressed ( Brief Encounter and Educating Rita) and the twisted ( The Servant and Bad Timing), with high-end contributions. “In really successful romantic movies,” concludes Curtis, “you fall in love during the course of the movie.”

BEST OF THE REST . . .

CASUALTY

BBC One, 8.10pm

The Guppy drug-addiction storyline reaches fatal proportions in the last of the current run.

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