The Undeclared War
9pm, Channel 4
Espionage, malware and Simon Pegg doing his best serious face feature as Peter Kosminsky's cyber-thriller returns for a second season. When we left him, GCHQ director of operations Danny Patrick (Pegg) had discovered shocking secrets about both the internal workings of government and his own marriage. Perhaps inevitably, things are now even worse. Saara (Hannah Khalique-Brown) has observed irregularities in flows of information that can only mean one thing: a mole in the intelligence agency. Plenty of scowling and running down empty corridors ensues, with Adrian Lester back as the prime minister and Siân Brooke joining as Danny's wife, a former MI6 member.
The Great British Sewing Bee
8pm, BBC One
Sophie Willan hosts the crafty competition, which continues with a week dedicated to colour and prints. The briefs for each round showcase a range of tastes and talents, but that doesn't mean it's a cinch. “This is absolutely hideous,” says one contestant, inspecting their own handiwork.
Murder 24/7
9pm, BBC One
Another series of this raw and grimly intimate show that takes viewers into the inner workings of real murder cases. This time, Jo is found dead with a knife wound and her husband, Mohamed, is arrested. But with no fingerprints on the presumed weapon and blood patterns not indicating a struggle, something doesn't add up.
Faithless
9pm, Sky Atlantic
The series concludes with a time-spanning double bill. In the late 1970s, actor Marianne (Frida Gustavsson) is having a torrid affair with director David (Gustav Lindh), which reignites when they work together at her theatre. Their increasingly reckless shenanigans reach fever pitch at a birthday party. By 1980, Marianne is divorcing her husband when a tense night-time meeting ends in tragedy.
Johnny Vegas' Little Shop of Antiques
9pm, Quest
Season two of a pleasantly lackadaisical reality show, and Vegas – plus his best mate Bev and girlfriend Vikki – has a new antiques shop to fit out, an electric van and dreams of taking the business online. Meanwhile, the endless need for new stock prompts a trip to Anglesey, and another haggling match with fearsome veteran Trish.
Film choice
The Pillow Book (Peter Greenaway, 1996), 1.10am, Film4
Peter Greenaway found perfect source material for his perennial obsessions with art, sex and death (with a side order of lists) in the titular notebook penned by Sei Shōnagon, a lady in the imperial court of late-900s Japan. In this exquisitely stylish drama, Sei's present-day counterpart is model Nagiko (Vivian Wu), who gets sexual gratification from calligraphers writing on her body. Then she starts a torrid affair with British translator Jerome (Ewan McGregor) and finds a very literary way to take revenge on the publisher who destroyed her father.
Live sport
The Hundred women's cricket: MI London v Sunrisers Leeds, 2.30pm, BBC Two. Southern Brave v Welsh Fire is on Wednesday at 2.15pm.
The Hundred men's cricket: MI London v Sunrisers Leeds, 6pm, BBC Two. Southern Brave v Welsh Fire is on Wednesday at 6pm.
This article was amended on 21 July 2026. An earlier version included a preview of Prison Wives of TikTok on U&W, but after publication the channel said that transmission of the programme had been postponed.
