TV tonight: a gripping new thriller about the fall of Kabul
Kabul
9pm, BBC Four
When Joe Biden decided it was “time to end America’s longest war”, he set in motion a tragic and shameful train of events, dramatised in this gripping thriller. As Americans withdrew from Kabul the Taliban moved in, which meant hell for women, dissidents and anyone who had collaborated with the occupiers. Through the eyes of the Nazany family – trying to decide whether to stay or flee – Kabul illuminates the human dilemmas behind the geopolitics. Phil Harrison
Celebrating Graceland at the Proms
7.30pm, BBC Two
A barely believable 40 years have passed since the release of Paul Simon’s remarkable album Graceland. As befitting their prominence on the original record, South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo will be at the heart of the action at this Royal Albert Hall concert. They’re joined by Laura Mvula and James Bay. PH
Bettany Hughes’ Lost Worlds: Dawn of Civilisations
8pm, Channel 4
Historian Hughes concludes her journey across ancient Anatolia with a whistlestop tour of Neolithic sites. Amid the ruins of Karahantepe, she marvels at life-size human statues dating back 12,000 years, before travelling to Gordion to untangle some knotty myths about King Midas. Graeme Virtue
Ghosts US
8.40pm, BBC Three
Four back-to-back episodes open the fifth series of this American reimagining of the hit comedy – including a Halloween special involving an Egyptian ghost who is accidentally summoned. It’s zippy enough, with the spoilt Hetty, camp Issac and ditzy Flower being as watchable as their UK counterparts – even if the main couple are no match for Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe. Priya Elan
Concorde Crash: Days That Shocked the World
10pm, Channel 4
The 2000 Concorde crash in Paris wasn’t just a tragedy for the 113 people who lost their lives. It also marked the end of an era in terms of supersonic passenger flight. This fascinating one-off documentary explores the circumstances around the crash and asks if it could have been prevented. PH
The Staircase
11pm, ITV1
If you didn’t know it was based on a celebrated true-crime documentary, the revelations in this tense family drama might seem implausible. But after a lengthy trial, novelist Michael Peterson (Colin Firth) has finally been jailed for the death of his wife Kathleen. Will it give his shattered clan closure? (Short answer: no.) Graeme Virtue
Film choice
Signal One (Jonathan Sobol, 2026), 3.05pm, 10.20pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
One for fans of Denis Villeneuve’s film Arrival and the Netflix thriller 3 Body Problem, Jonathan Sobol’s science-fiction puzzler also digs into the complexities of first contact with extraterrestrials. Dennis Quaid’s tech billionaire Sam lures computer genius Annika (Isabelle Fuhrman) to his Caribbean island, where David Thewlis’s physicist Perry is on the verge of communicating with aliens. But how do you talk to them? And are they friendly or hostile? A sharp mystery in which scientific hubris vies with humanity. Simon Wardell
The Batman (Matt Reeves, 2022), 9pm, ITV2
Probably the most brooding Batman on record, Robert Pattinson’s masked vigilante barely raises his voice above a whisper or his hopes above the despairing in Matt Reeves’s wonderfully dark take on the urban hero. In a crime-sodden Gotham, the murder of the mayor by a killer with a penchant for riddles plunges Bruce Wayne and his alter ego into a reckoning with widespread corruption and his own legacy. Zoë Kravitz, as the cat-like Selina Kyle, and Colin Farrell, unrecognisable as the Penguin, provide the zing as our implacable do-gooder battles chaos. SW
Live sport
Athletics: European Championships, 10am, BBC One The penultimate day sees Georgia Hunter Bell and Laura Muir in the 1500m heats from the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham.
Championship Football: Sheffield Utd v Birmingham, 5.15pm, Sky Sports Main Event
On Sun, Watford v Southampton is at 12.30pm, followed by Burnley v West Ham at 3.45pm.
