The Tudors
BBC Two, 10pm
“The King’s infirmities give us all cause to think of the future.” They certainly do. Just think of it — no more Saturday nights with The Tudors. In the final episode, King Henry (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is toying with the idea of chopping off the Queen’s head, but in the end he can’t be bothered. (I hope that doesn’t constitute a spoiler.) And while Holbein is painting the King’s portrait, all his past wives keep dropping in from the afterlife to give him a piece of their minds. To mark the end of the series, the episode is filled with swirling clouds and leaves that float symbolically to the ground and white horses galloping through the woods in slow motion while the orchestra swoops away in the background. “The King is dead! Long live the King!” On second thoughts, please no. I’m all Tudored out.
Casualty
BBC One, 8.25pm
Casualty has benefited enormously from the arrival of William Beck as another borderline-bonkers doctor. Beck is a British version of John Malkovich, who specialises in playing vaguely sinister but strangely likeable characters. His eccentric doctor almost certainly has a heart of gold because he hurries home every night to talk to his dog. But he’s abrupt and rude and can’t remember anyone’s name, so it may be a while before his innate goodness shines through. Elsewhere, that nice Dr Ruth (Georgia Taylor) who tried to drill a hole through a patient’s head a few episodes back, is being looked after by Charlie (Derek Thompson) in his new guise as a benign Nurse Ratched, so it won’t be long before she’s back on the wards. Where would we be without Casualty?
Goldie’s Band:By Royal Appointment
BBC Two, 9pm
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The 12 members of the band get together for the first time with the daunting challenge of writing 12 original songs to perform at the concert at Buckingham Palace. There is no doubting the incredible talent of the young people Goldie and the mentors have put together, but most have never composed a song before in their lives. Through a series of intense writing sessions, jams and one-to-one masterclasses, some songs start to emerge. It is a fascinating insight into the songwriting process, with the mentors encouraging the best out of the group through hard work and happy accidents. They all excel, but Lester and Natalie have a chemistry that leads to something special. This is the antithesis of The X Factor — a genuine talent show. Joe Clay
Spiral
BBC Four, 9pm/10pm
First The Sopranos and The Wire. Then The Killing. And now the French cop show Spiral. The most electrifying dramas of late have come out of New Jersey, Baltimore, Copenhagen and Paris, and you have to go all the way back to Prime Suspect to find anything on British television that bears comparison. Admittedly this is the third series of Spiral, but the success of The Killing has helped to create a more receptive climate to dramas with subtitles. It is also self-contained, so although there are allusions to the two earlier series and the characters have a shared past, it isn’t necessary to have seen them. The basic plot — the search for a brutal killer — is familiar fare, but this is brilliantly produced, superbly performed and it catapults you headfirst into a wholly unfamiliar world.