TV tonight: Julia Roberts tells a sweet story about oddball friends

4 hours ago 4

Leonard and Hungry Paul

10pm, BBC Two
Julia Roberts narrates an endearing comedy drama based on Rónán Hession’s novel. Leonard (Alex Lawther) is a thirtysomething oddball who lives with his doting mother. But when she suddenly dies, Leonard finds himself looking for more from his quiet life. Joining him is his best friend, Hungry Paul (Laurie Kynaston). Might a new extrovert colleague, played by Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, be the key to opening up Leonard’s world? Hollie Richardson

The Race to Build 1.5 Million Homes

8pm, BBC One
Although, arguably, the more important questions are what sort of houses they’ll be and who will own them, the government’s pledge that 1.5m new homes will be built in England by 2029 is a major logistical challenge in itself. Anita Rani and Justin Rowlatt travel the country to investigate everything from the planning system to brick manufacture. Jack Seale

Joe Swash: Forgotten Young Dads

8pm, BBC Three
Joe Swash was 25 when he first became a father: “I was scared, young, vulnerable … I don’t remember any baby groups for dads.” In this candid and sweet documentary, he speaks with dads in their teens and 20s – a group he says is misunderstood and under-researched – who want to smash the stereotypes and be good parents. HR

Blue Lights

9pm, BBC One

The Belfast cop show is lighter on laughs this week, as the peelers face some of their toughest personal moments. Annie is burying her mother, Grace remembers her childhood, and Tommy is forced to take action on traumatised Aisling. All the while, plans are being made in the city’s drug underworld. HR

The Secret Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots

9pm, BBC Two
This documentary juxtaposes the tale of three amateur codebreakers, who collaborated across continents to decipher a mysterious cache of coded letters from the 1570s and 1580s, with the story of the person they discovered to have been their author. We’re given insights into the turbulent life of Mary, as well as the ingenuity needed to disguise her missives’ contents. Alexi Duggins

The Forsytes

9pm, Channel 5
This new adaptation of John Galsworthy’s generation-spanning novels finds the late-Victorian family once again torn between duty and the pursuit of personal happiness. Jolyon’s stable marriage is threatened by the reappearance of an old flame, while his cousin, Soames, falls for the beautiful, highly unsuitable Irene. Ellen E Jones