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The National Television Awards return: The 5 best things on TV tonight, Thursday 9 September

From Indigo Television

The National Television Awards 2021 on ITV and ITV Hub

Pictured: Joel Dommett.

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Joel Dommett hosts this year's rescheduled National Television Awards. (Indigo Television/ITV)

Awards season gets going on TV tonight, with ITV dedicating most of the evening to The National Television Awards.

If you're more of a music lover, tune in to BBC Four where the winner of the Mercury Prize will be announced live.

Read more: Joel Dommett to host rescheduled NTAs

True crime fans won't want to miss new series A Killing in Tiger Bay, a documentary about a miscarriage of justice murder case, while there's drama of a different kind on E4 with Married At First Sight UK's first-ever commitment ceremony.

Finally, the brilliant Ambulance on BBC One gives a look at how the service coped during the pandemic.

The National Television Awards - ITV - 7.30pm

LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 28: Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield pose with the award for Live Magazine Show for 'This Morning' in the winners room attends the National Television Awards 2020 at The O2 Arena on January 28, 2020 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield are usually big winners. (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

It's one of the highlights of the TV calendar, with the great and good of the small screen gathering to celebrate the best shows of the past year, but there's been a long wait after this year's ceremony was postponed.

We're expecting the usual focus on big winners Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, Ant and Dec, and the Strictly team, but there's also controversy with Piers Morgan up for best presenter for his former job at Good Morning Britain.

Read more: Piers Morgan amused to be nominated for best presenter NTA

One thing missing this year will be Holly and Phil's hungover appearance on This Morning the next day as Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary host Friday, but will they continue the tradition?

A Killing in Tiger Bay – BBC Two – 9pm

Programme Name: A Killing in Tiger Bay - TX: n/a - Episode: A Killing in Tiger Bay - generics (No. n/a) - Picture Shows: The 'Cardiff Five', (l-r) Ronnie Actie, Tony Paris, Stephen Miller, John Actie, Yusef 'Dullah' Abdullahi  - (C) BBC - Photographer: -
A Killing in Tiger Bay follows the case of the Cardiff 5. (BBC)

New three-part true crime documentary A Killing in Tiger Bay tells the story of one of our greatest ever miscarriages of justice from a 1988 murder case.

When 20-year-old Lynette White was killed in Cardiff's docklands, all the evidence pointed to a single white male having done it – but the investigation somehow led to the arrest of five Black men.

The documentary looks at how the investigation went so badly wrong and what really happened in Tiger Bay.

Mercury Prize 2021 Live: Album of the Year – BBC Four – 9pm

Lauren Laverne presenting during the Hyundai Mercury Prize 2019, held at the Eventim Apollo, London. (Photo by Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images)
Lauren Laverne is back to host the prize again. (Ian West/PA Images via Getty Images)

If TV awards aren't so much your thing as music, head over to BBC Four for the return of the prestigious Mercury Prize hosted once again by Lauren Laverne.

The 12 acclaimed albums up for the prize are Collapsed in Sunbeams (Arlo Park), Demotape/Vega (Berwyn), For the First Time (Black Country, New Road), Not Your Muse (Celeste), Promises (Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra), Conflict of Interest (Ghetts), Fir Wave (Hannah Peel), Pink Noise (Laura Mvula), As the Love Continues (Mogwai), Source (Nubya Garcia), Untitled - Rise (Sault) and Blue Weekend (Wolf Alice).

Of course, there'll be a chance to hear some of the nominated music, too, before the winner is announced.

Married At First Sight UK – E4 – 9pm

Pictured: Ant and Nikita.
Ant and Nikita have a lot to say about their honeymoon. (Channel 4)

Married At First Sight UK has had a glossy Australian-style makeover, and after Wednesday night's dramatic dinner party scenes, we now head into the first commitment ceremony of the series.

For the uninitiated, this means the group gather together with the experts to rehash every argument and slight of the past week in a painfully awkward encounter, before being given the chance to either profess undying love or bail on the marriage.

Read more: Married At First Sight UK removes Nikita for 'unacceptable behaviour'

Australia's ceremonies have included admissions of cheating and requests to recouple with a different spouse – will the Brits follow suit?

Ambulance – BBC One – 9pm

Programme Name: Ambulance S7 - TX: n/a - Episode: Ambulance S7 - ep 5 (No. 5) - Picture Shows: (l-r) Jack and Deeq  - (C) Dragonfly Film and Television - Photographer: Ryan McNamara
The ambulance service struggles to cope with the demands of the pandemic. (Dragonfly Film and Television/Ryan McNamara/BBC)

The medical documentary series obviously has a huge theme to showcase this series - and in Thursday's episode, we get a glimpse at how the North West Ambulance Service coped with staff shortages during the pandemic.

With 999 calls on the rise, staff off sick and a huge number of call outs to cover, the service brings in emergency staffing measures by giving military personnel a three-day crash course in joining them.

Watch: GMB presenters react to Piers Morgan's National Television Awards nomination