TV Tonight: Our highlights for Monday, February 13

Better on BBC1 is a crime thriller starring Leila Farzad and Andrew Buchan.

Better is a crime thriller starring Leila Farzad and Andrew Buchan. (Image credit: BBC)

On TV tonight, Better kicks off on BBC One, the penultimate episode of Maternal sees devastating consequences, Scarlett Moffat is on a mission to help people get their driving licence, and more. Here's what you shouldn't miss on TV Tonight.

Our hand-selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include TV shows, a film, live sport and the latest trending need-to-binge-on-now box set
Keep up to date with the latest soap spoiler storylines on TV tonight with our daily soap synopsis
For more information about what’s on TV tonight see our TV Guide

What's on TV tonight

Best TV shows on TV tonight

Our expert TV journalists have picked the best things on TV tonight...

Better, 9 pm, BBC One

This crime drama from the writers of Humans centres on the uneasy alliance between Leeds detective Lou Slack (I Hate Suzie’s Leila Farzad) and Col McHugh (Broadchurch’s Andrew Buchan), a big fish in the local criminal underworld. Both have benefited from their 19-year association, which started when Col was a police informant.

But when tragedy strikes Lou’s family, she starts thinking about how she can cut loose from the arrangement, which, in episode one, sees her retrieving a firearm from a crime scene where someone’s been gunned down by one of Col’s henchmen. Both leads are excellent in this intriguing bent-copper saga that blurs the lines between heroes and villains.

★★★★ IM

Maternal, 9 pm, ITV1

As we reach the penultimate episode of this compelling medical drama, Helen (Lisa McGrillis) comes to a difficult decision about her husband Guy (Oliver Chris), but there are devastating consequences. Elsewhere, Maryam (Parminder Nagra) is still struggling to cope, while Catherine (Lara Pulver) is delighted to have her daughter Elis back – but is acutely aware of her lack of childcare options when Elis falls ill on the day of Catherine’s big interview.

Her main rival for the job, Jack (Lara Pulver’s real-life husband, Raza Jaffrey), is annoyingly matey with the head of the interview board. Can Catherine pull out all the stops when it really matters?

★★★★ JP

Scarlett's Driving School, 8:30 pm, BBC One

After failing her driving test 13 times since she started taking lessons at the age of 17, Scarlett Moffat is on a mission to not only get her longed-for licence but help other people who are in the same boat. Each week, a learner driver arrives at her driving school in the Teesside area with a loved one, who has taken on the role of driving instructor, and it soon becomes clear when the problem doesn’t lie with the provisional licence holder!

After five days of stressful stalls, near-misses and satnav confusion, the learners head off to take their tests again. Expect a few tears when they return to tell Scarlett whether they have passed or failed…

★★★★ MD

Rick Stein's Cornwall, 6.30 pm, BBC Two

Rick Stein posing by the water — (Image credit: BBC)

TV chef Rick embarks on another Cornish adventure, sharing his inside knowledge of the best food and cultural hotspots in his beloved home county. Over the next two weeks, Rick forages for mussels on Merope Rocks, tours Bodmin Moor’s dark past with son Jack and discovers Europe’s largest tea plantation, right beside the Fal River, where conditions are just right for the perfect cuppa!

Whipping up dreamy dishes including venison Wellington, cheese and thyme soufflés and a hearty steak and kidney pudding, Rick serves up another mouth-watering series.

★★★★ RF

Best box set on TV tonight

You season 4, Netflix

American stalker and serial killer Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) brings murder and mayhem to London in this thrilling fourth series, which is split into two parts, with the second instalment due on 9 March. Now living under the alias of university professor Jonathan Moore, Joe is managing to make a fresh start in the UK – until he becomes mixed up with a privileged group of socialites, including frosty art-gallery director Kate (Ghosts’ Charlotte Ritchie) and popular aristocrat Lady Phoebe (ex-EastEnders star Tilly Keeper).

Then, when a night out at an elite members’ club ends in tragedy, Joe finds himself embroiled in a murder-mystery. Has the hunter become the hunted?

Best film on TV tonight

The Italian Job, 6:55 pm, Film4

Michael Caine in The Italian Job — (Image credit: Paramount Pictures)

A crook assembles a motley gang to steal £4million in gold bullion from an Italian armoured car, which brings Turin to a standstill and enables the robbers to make a quick getaway in a fleet of Minis - but they end up falling foul of the Mafia along the way. Crime comedy, starring Michael Caine, Noel Coward, Benny Hill, Tony Beckley and John Le Mesurier.