Real-life testimonies about the miracle of blood will have you weeping. Plus: Strictly’s not over just yet! Here’s what to watch this evening

9.20pm, BBC One

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The actor embarks on a journey through British myths and rituals. Plus: Nashville gets festive in Country Music Christmas. Here’s what to watch this evening

10pm, BBC ThreeA festive special with a decidedly pagan twist as This Country star Charlie Cooper embarks on another gentle but earnest investigation of the ancient myths and rituals that underpin Britain’s calendar. Charlie is a little disillusioned with modern attitudes to Christmas, so he explores everything from a barrel-burning festival in Devon to a morris dancing event in Surrey. What he finds is that, just under the surface, our collective attachment to these celebrations remains surprisingly strong. Phil Harrison

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Steven Frayne stuns with new tricks. Plus: Alison Hammond dons the tinsel to meet some gorgeous pooches. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, Sky Max

The magician known to his mum as Steven Frayne but to the world as Dynamo returns. It’s hard to know where he can go after last year’s terrifying stunt in which he was apparently buried alive. It seems the answer is back to his roots: he will be out and about, travelling the country and stunning passersby in the street with his undeniably startling sleight of hand. But he hasn’t lost his taste for the grand spectacle – expect a death‑defying finale. Phil Harrison

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The beloved TV baker enlists celebrity friends – Oti Mabuse, Nick Grimshaw and Amanda Holden – to create warming seaside snacks. Plus, the gorgeous finale of My Brilliant Friend. Here’s what to watch this evening

8pm, BBC One

She turns 90 next year, but the star baker Mary Berry is still at it with the help (or hindrance) of some celebrity friends. Oti Mabuse, Nick Grimshaw (pictured) and Amanda Holden join in as she makes almond snowballs for the cold-water swimmers and stocking-filler boozy apricots and ginger flapjacks for the annual Christmas carols celebration in aid of the search-and-rescue charity the RNLI. Expect to lust after turkey pasties and clementine creme brulee, too. Hollie Richardson

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A two-part film takes us through the biggest event of the summer. Plus: who will win Sports Personality of the Year? Here’s what to watch this evening

10pm, BBC Four

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The athlete swaps the city for quieter climes. Plus: will Eddie Redmayne’s assassin come a cropper as The Day of the Jackal ends? Here’s what to watch this evening

8pm, BBC OneWith the help of his daughter Briannah and property expert Alistair Appleton, it’s time for athlete Linford Christie to make a dash for the countryside. Linford has been a city boy all his life so can rural tranquility compete with the buzz of the town? During the course of this special, the Christies take a tour of the Chilterns and enjoy outdoor dining at the more bucolic end of the Thames.

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This fascinating documentary digs deep for genetic secrets. Plus: Shetland reaches its sombre conclusion. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, BBC Four“We will never get dinosaur DNA,” says one scientist in this fascinating documentary. But even allowing for this disappointingly defeatist attitude, the process surrounding DNA is becoming increasingly mind-boggling, to the point where it now seems that the genetic secrets of our deep past could help humanity navigate the future. The story is engagingly told, mainly thanks to the charismatic biologist Eske Willerslev for whom this field has become a labour of love. Phil Harrison

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Will we discover what the mysterious hum is in The Listeners? Plus: James Acaster’s very funny standup show. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, BBC One This series about a mysterious hum only audible to a select few has been a creepy treat. At the heart of it is a mesmerising performance from Rebecca Hall as Claire, a woman whose torment has gradually turned into a form of need as the hum takes over her world – and offers her a new form of belonging to replace everything she has lost. As the group of initiates is threatened by the outside world, can Claire control her impulses? Phil Harrison

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It’s the glorious final season of emotional comedy Somebody Somewhere. Plus: Charles Dance is Michelangelo in Renaissance – The Blood and the Beauty. Here’s what to watch this evening

10pm, Sky Comedy

Of all the underwatched series of recent years, this tale of a woman finding her feet after leaving the big city to return to her smalltown Kansas childhood home is top of the list. It’s a poignant, belly-laugh-packed emotional journey that’s crude, sweet, heartbreaking and has such an artsy vibe it wouldn’t feel out of place at Sundance. Its glorious final season begins with a double bill in which Sam (Bridget Everett) looks into dog adoption while her erstwhile roommate Joel moves in with his boyfriend, Brad. Brace for an hour of glorious TV that runs the gamut from weepy to joyful – and features the filthiest rendition of She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain you’re ever likely to hear. Alexi Duggins

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A suite in the ultra-exclusive Gstaad Palace costs up to £18,00 a night! Plus: Dua Lipa at the Royal Albert Hall. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, Channel 4

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The great chatterbox meets the queen of Christmas. Plus: Holly Willoughby revives an 80s gameshow. Here’s what to watch this evening

10.15pm, BBC Two

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Channel 4’s knotty New Zealand drama winds up this week with an incredible double bill. Plus: Reuben Owen gets his Yorkshire Christmas special in early. Here’s what to watch tonight

10pm, Channel 4Robyn Malcolm puts in the performance of the year in this emotionally knotty New Zealand drama, in which no-nonsense teacher Penny Wilding deals with the return of her husband, Phil (Peter Mullan), who, she says, she caught sexually assaulting a minor at a party five years earlier. In an incredible double-bill finale this week (the story concludes on Thursday), Penny is questioning everything she has believed until now, and has isolated herself from friends and family. Did she get it all wrong? Can there be a satisfying conclusion? Perhaps not, but at least by the end – at another party – we find out what really happened that night. Hollie Richardson

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