The Lakes, ITV3, 9pm

A rerun of John Simm in his breakthrough role in Jimmy McGovern’s 1990s drama.

The Somme, Discovery, 10pm

On July 1, 1916, 120,000 British soldiers went over the top along an 18-mile front. Fifty-eight thousand were mown down. This powerful evocation of the worst day in British military history (shown on Channel 4 in 2005) is based on the letters and diaries of the soldiers who took part, and enormous effort and expense have been spent on making the dramatisations feel authentic. One soldier compared the fighting to “mischievous apes tearing up the image of God”.

Reaper, E4, 9pm

Imagine a Simon Pegg/Nick Frost-style couple of buddies dropped into a comedy episode of Heroes, and you have Reaper. Tonight’s pilot, in which our champion Sam (Bret Harrison) finds out that his parents sold his soul to the Devil (Ray Wise), also benefits from the direction of the Clerks legend Kevin Smith – it’s great fun, but it’ll be interesting to see how it develops next week without Smith at the helm.

Words for Battle/A Diary for Timothy, Sky Arts, 10.35pm

A double bill of Humphrey Jennings’s short but moving Second World War films, the first voiced by Laurence Olivier, the second scripted by E. M. Forster.

The Police: Everyone Stares, BBC Four, 11.30pm

Fascinating compilation of the Police drummer Stewart Copeland’s reels of 8mm footage taken during the band’s early1980s heyday. From this insider’s perspective, it charts the dynamics within the band as they progress from chaotic tour schedules and shabby hotels to plush excess.

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