TV tonight: a nightmarish thriller about a group of women accused of an awful crime

Hunting Alice Bell is a twisty drama by Peter Bradshaw and David Baddiel. Plus, Ken Loach on Cathy Come Home. Here’s what to watch this evening

9pm, Channel 4 Fran (Alexandra Roach) is a suburban mum working at a leisure centre. When she makes a video for her work’s website, it goes viral for the wrong reasons: trolls believe they have worked out that she is, in fact, Alice Bell, a former nurse who helped her anaesthetist serial killer boyfriend, Jason (Simon Pegg), then resumed life with a new identity. As events unravel, Fran learns she’s not the only woman who has been forced to deny she is Bell. But who is telling the truth? Is one of them lying? Created by David Baddiel and the Guardian’s chief film critic, Peter Bradshaw, it’s a nightmare that, in this AI world, never feels too far-fetched. Hollie Richardson

8pm, BBC One The beautiful Indonesian island of Sulawesi is the destination but, as our celebrities discover, there are plenty of bus stations and ferry ports in which to bumble around first. Still, this year’s celebrities are a uniformly likable bunch – although some (hello Jeff Stelling) are less happy to forgo creature comforts than others. Phil Harrison

9pm, BBC Two In the final episode of John O’Kane’s sobering three-parter, will there be any redemption for the McCartney sisters as the investigation into the murder of their brother Robert concludes? With the IRA’s internal inquiry proving opaque, their hopes are pinned on a trial. The result is revealing in terms of scars that refuse to heal. PH

9pm, ITV1 A defiantly ridiculous crime series ends in suitably overheated fashion, as rogue pathologist Winter (Richard Armitage, giving it everything) looks into a potential case of a woman held in slavery. As he strides manfully into the heart of darkness, has our man finally found a puzzle that even his scalpel-sharp brain can’t safely solve? Jack Seale

10pm, Channel 4 Fred ushers more hopefuls through the restaurant doors, including shopping TV host Alexandria, 74-year-old singer Lili and 21-year-old funeral director JJ – a Ken-lookalike seeking his very own Barbie. Meanwhile, advertising exec William has returned for another stab at love – but this time he’s not looking for a wife; he’s looking for a husband. Ali Catterall

Even in a career as storied as Ken Loach’s, the 1966 TV play Cathy Come Home remains a highlight – its account of a family becoming homeless still rings horribly true. In this interview, Loach recalls making the film and the angry aftermath during which the BBC was accused of abandoning impartiality. PH

“He changed everything.” Such high praise is common in Ron Howard’s scintillating profile of photographer Richard Avedon, but based on the stunning images shown here they are fully justified. His career ranged from shooting IDs for merchant marines to bringing movement and theatricality to the staid fashion spreads of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, but this childhood friend of James Baldwin was also deeply political, with series on the Vietnam war and mental health institutions making waves. Simon Wardell

ISS (Gabriela Cowperthwaite, 2023), 9pm, Film4 Better known for investigative documentaries Blackfish and The Grab, Gabriela Cowperthwaite goes into orbit with this speculative sci-fi thriller set on the International Space Station. Scientist Kira (the always convincing Ariana DeBose) has just arrived to join the six-person crew – half American, half Russian – when nuclear war breaks out (glimpsed ominously through the portholes). Both sides receive orders to take control, but the futility of their efforts is clear as Earth burns beneath them. Co-starring Chris Messina and Pilou Asbæk, it’s a tense drama with a sharp edge of despair. SW

Modesty Blaise (Joseph Losey, 1966), 9.10pm, Talking Pictures TV

It can be hard to spoof James Bond (see the Peter Sellers Casino Royale) and Joseph Losey’s spy caper is slightly too in love with the globetrotting and gadgetry that epitomise 007 to be truly satirical. But with arthouse darling Monica Vitti swanning around in a series of outlandish costumes as thief and/or secret agent Modesty, assisted by Terence Stamp’s suave cockney, it rarely matters. Dirk Bogarde, who would have been an exceptional Bond villain, is a louche foe in a proto-Barbarella riot of colour and chaos. SW