TV tonight: strap in for a new War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds

9pm, BBC One

More than 80 years on from Orson Welles’s US radio broadcast of HG Wells’s drama, which sparked actual panic among listeners fearing the end of the world, this new adaptation stars Rafe Spall and Eleanor Tomlinson as socially outcast lovers George and Amy, who get caught up in an interplanetary crisis amid their burgeoning affair. Robert Carlyle plays astronomer Ogilvy with a brooding quietude while majestic special effects and the eerie tone of Doctor Who writer Peter Harness pad out this much-told tale. Ammar Kalia

Seven Worlds, One Planet

6.15pm, BBC One

David Attenborough’s spectacular natural history doc reaches Australia this week. That means beasts capable of ridiculous feats of both aggression and survival. There are resourceful wombats, ruthless dingos and, most memorably, magnificent cassowaries. Phil Harrison

His Dark Materials

8pm, BBC One

A well-paced dramatisation crystallises its narrative this week, as the bad guys go full fascist and the goodies get together on a houseboat. Just as thrilling as the window-ledge escapes and acts of extreme courage is the ebb and flow of a political meeting with the resistance. Jack Seale

America’s Greatest Opera House: The Story of the Met

8pm, BBC Four

This feature-length doc charts the illustrious history of the Metropolitan Opera House, which opened in New York’s Upper West Side in September 1966. There are interviews and archive footage but, of course, the real draws here are the legendary performances. Hannah J Davies

Reggie in China

9pm, BBC Two

Reggie Yates heads to Shenzhen – China’s rapidly developing tech megacity – in the first of this new series exploring China’s modernising transformation over recent decades. Reggie is typically affable, yet he fails to get beneath the moneyed sheen to witness the human costs of such hectic expansion. AK

I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!

9pm, ITV

Ant and Dec reunite in the Aussie jungle for this year’s schadenfreude-fuelled gladiatorial celeb contest. This year’s edition boasts a strong lineup including the likes of Caitlyn Jenner, Nadine Coyle and Ian Wright. Expect grotesque eating trials and the usual meltdowns. AK

Film choice

Poor Cow, 10pm, Talking Pictures TV

Ken Loach’s brilliant debut brought the social concerns and uncompromising style of his TV work vividly to the big screen with an unsparing portrait of hard south London lives. Carol White is superb as Joy, married to abusive crook John Bindon and getting into a hopeless tangle with equally dodgy Terence Stamp. Paul Howlett

Live sport

International Football: Kosovo v England 4.15pm, ITV. Concluding Group A Euro 2020 qualifying match.

F1: Brazilian Grand Prix 5.05pm, Sky Sports Main Event. Live from the 20th and penultimate round of the season.

Tennis: ATP World Tour Finals 6pm, BBC Two. Coverage of the final of the men’s season-ender in London.