TV tonight: Norma Percy's series on what led to the 7 October attacks

The Guardian

24-02-2025

9pm, BBC TwoHillary Clinton, John Kerry, Tony Blair, Ehud Olmert and Salam Fayyad are some of the highest-level political figures to speak in Norma Percy's all-encompassing series about the roots of the crisis that led to the attacks on 7 October 2023. It starts 20 years earlier, when Israeli settlers and armed forces were pulled out of the Gaza Strip, before Hamas won a shock election. The episode also features an interview with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, weeks before he was killed in July 2024. Hollie Richardson
8pm, BBC OneLast month, Axel Rudakubana was sentenced to at least 52 years in prison for the murder of three young girls – Alice da Silva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe – at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport. It's a story that horrified a nation, but more answers are needed. Panorama's Judith Moritz speaks with survivors and investigates how the authorities missed so many warning signs about the teenage attacker. HR
9pm, BBC One
'You think you're in control? This city's got rules of its own.' After the gas attack on Bradford's biggest LGBTQ+ nightclub, the serial killer embarks on a spot of kidnapping – and there's a potentially lethal cliffhanger for DI Harry Virdee (Staz Nair). 'Now the game begins … how long do you think you'll last, detective?' Ali Catterall
9pm, Sky AtlanticHow well do besties Laurie (Carrie Coon), Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and Kate (Leslie Bibb) actually know one another? Why is moody Rick (Walton Goggins) really in Thailand? Will Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) recognise dodgy Greg (Jon Gries)? Who is going to be shooting the place up by the finale? These are the deliciously dark questions that Mike White has set up perfectly for season three of his hit wealth satire. HR
10pm, Channel 4Shamsa dreams of a tall boyfriend. Is 1.9m (6ft 3in) impressive enough? She'll find out when Hamish walks into the First Dates restaurant, ready to share his love of Whitney Houston. Meanwhile, Dominic once went on a date to TK Maxx. Perhaps Rebecca, who loves swimming with sharks, is up for a more adventurous time? HR
11.05pm, BBC TwoA measured documentary series about Gloriavale, a religious fundamentalist cult in New Zealand, ends with the truth about the community's misogyny and abuse coming publicly to light. Elsewhere, a woman who has left Gloriavale behind tries to maintain contact with her sister, who is still inside and expecting her sixth child. Jack Seale
Corsage (Marie Kreutzer, 2022), 11.20pm, Film4
We're in Vienna in 1877, and Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Vicky Krieps) is bored rigid. Railing against the restrictions of her role as wife to Emperor Franz Joseph (Florian Teichtmeister), though still carrying around the baggage of privilege, she seeks a way out through dieting, excessive horse riding and flirting with her instructor (Colin Morgan). But the itch to escape won't be eased. Marie Kreutzer's costume drama is a fabulous, cheekily anachronistic tale of female agency (or the lack of it) with the luminous Krieps a mesmerising presence. Simon Wardell
Championship football: Sheffield United v Leeds, 7pm, Sky Sports Main EventA top-of-the-table encounter between the Yorkshire clubs.