TV tonight: our highlights for Thursday, August 7, including The Gone

Here's our TV tonight picks for Thursday, August 7 (for more information about what's on TV, see our TV Guide)...

The Gone, BBC2, 9 pm

Last week, the stylish Irish-New Zealand drama ended on a thrilling cliffhanger with the team mounting a daring rescue mission. Tonight, we jump back in time 48 hours to reveal what happened after missing journalist Aileen Ryan (Carolyn Bracken) and gangster Derry Fallon (Aaron Monaghan) fled into the bush together and how they ended up forming an uneasy alliance.

Meanwhile, detectives Diana (Acushla-Tara Kupe) and Theo (Richard Flood) now have another murder to solve and they strongly suspect the dormant serial killer ‘The Goatman’ has resumed their activities. Continues tomorrow.

Tom Kerridge Cooks Spain, ITV1, 8.30 pm

There has been no shortage of culinary touring on the box in recent months. From Tucci in Italy to Gary Barlow’s Wine Tour, there have been gourmets galloping all over the place, so it’s not necessarily an easy market to stand out in. Fortunately, three Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge has the personal likeability, knowledge of his subject and sheer enthusiasm for the produce he encounters to pull it off, and his journey around Spain has been a midweek treat.

This third part finds Tom in Andalusia, where he embarks on a ‘pilgrimage’ to the Sherry Triangle, near Jerez, to discover the complex art of making sherry vinegar, before a trip to Cádiz to learn more about the booming avocado business. Smashing!

The Secret Life of Trees, 5, 9 pm

This excellent series moves to Thursday for its final part, which uncovers the mysteries of arboreal old age. Michael Palin narrates as a host of experts reveal the amazing ways in which trees can extend their lifespan, how they are able to adapt following traumatic experiences and how, ultimately, in dying and decaying, trees provide vital nutrients to other organisms and the soil. Life-affirming telly.

MasterChef, BBC1, 8 pm

The next group of amateur cooks, including a nurse, an accountant and a landscape gardener, step into the kitchen.

Their first task sees them transforming an everyday ingredient into something special, with the best two awarded a MasterChef apron and storming into the next round. The rest face the mystery box, with cauliflower, bacon and pear on offer - and again, only two will make it through to the last stage, cooking a two-course meal for MasterChef champions Jane Devonshire (2016), Irini Tzortzoglou (2019) and Shelina Permalloo (2012)