TV tonight: what really happened to John Cantlie in Syria?

4 hours ago 4

Hostage

9pm, BBC Two
What really happened to John Cantlie? This three-part documentary builds on the acclaimed Last Man Standing podcast to investigate the British photojournalist who “went into the hornets’ nest” for a news story and was kidnapped by a group of British Islamic State extremists in Syria. Fellow hostages, politicians, including David Cameron, and imprisoned jihadis tell the story. Hollie Richardson

Alice Roberts: Our Hospital Through Time

8pm, Channel 5
Prof Roberts explores the modern-day wards and the private archives of St Bartholomew’s hospital in London. Barts has withstood many crises but only barely survived the whims of Henry VIII, who defunded it before giving in to public pressure and signing a charter to protect it – and we view that very document. Jack Seale

Landscape Artist of the Year 2026

8pm, Sky Arts
It’s the final, and the three remaining painters Kim, Libby and Tom take on Scotland’s futuristic, cog-heavy Falkirk Wheel (as Tom says, “Steampunks would have a field day here”). The winner receives a £10,000 commission to paint Croagh Patrick for the National Gallery of Ireland – documented in a film straight after this. Ali Catterall

The Stolen Girl

9pm, ITV1
Another week, another pulpy small-screen thriller about a playdate gone very wrong à la All Her Fault (if this one sounds particularly familiar, it has already aired on Disney+). As the mystery deepens, Elisa and Fred receive a ransom note for missing daughter Lucia. Hannah J Davies

The Surgeon

9pm, Channel 5

A surgeon in scrubs and a face mask holding a syringe

Adyita, 45, has been diagnosed with a rare brain tumour that has been growing since birth – it’s now the size of a tangerine. The operation (shown in great, grisly detail) is the first carried out by consultant brain surgeon Omar Pathmanaban, whose remarkable work is the focus of this week’s episode. HR

We Might Regret This

10pm, BBC Two
More from the acerbic sitcom, with Freya and Jo sitting down to talk through their friendship issues. Cue a fun, if excruciating, flashback to when they first arrived in London and started dating (“He called me Wheel Smurfette,” deadpans Freya). Meanwhile, Abe has planned a very public display of affection. HR

Film choice

Mars Attacks!, 8.40am, 4.10pm, Sky Cinema Greats

If you’ve ever wanted to see Tom Jones with an eagle on his arm, this is the movie for you. Tim Burton’s 1996 film – based on a 1962 trading card series – is a joyful, deeply silly homage to those shonky old sci-fi films that always seemed to feature flying saucers held up by string. When an armada of spaceships arrive from Mars, the preening US president (Jack Nicholson) is keen to be the world’s peacemaker – but the Martians seem keener on dissection than diplomacy. Simon Wardell