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Louis Downie plays Mark Duggan in Lawful Killing.
Louis Downie plays Mark Duggan in Lawful Killing. Photograph: Des Willie/BBC/Acme Films Ltd
Louis Downie plays Mark Duggan in Lawful Killing. Photograph: Des Willie/BBC/Acme Films Ltd

Monday’s best TV: Lawful Killing – Mark Duggan; Brits Icon – Robbie Williams

This article is more than 7 years old

Who was the man whose death by police sparked the 2011 London riots? Plus, everyone’s favourite muso-eccentric rolls out the hits yet again

Lawful Killing: Mark Duggan
8.30pm, BBC1

The 2011 riots were the worst in Britain for nearly 30 years. The incident that sparked them was the shooting by police of Mark Duggan, who was – depending on who you listen to – a ladies’ man, a family man, or a Tottenham gangster. With reconstructions and interviews, this programme tries to get to the bottom of events, along the way making explicit the massive cultural gulf that separates the police and black youth. John Robinson

Titanic’s Tragic Twin: The Britannic Disaster
9pm, BBC2

The story of the Titanic has been widely told, but rather less known is the similar fate that befell its also supposedly unsinkable sister passenger ship, the Britannic. That Britannic went down in the first world war, victim of a mine while serving as a hospital ship, means its story has been submerged but it’s retold here, using diaries, interviews with survivors’ descendants and a dive to visit the well-preserved wreck. David Stubbs

Brits Icon: Robbie Williams
9pm, ITV

Many bridled at the news that former boyband belter Williams was set to follow in the footsteps of John Lennon, David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, and receive a Brits Icon lifetime achievement award in 2017. But even if his accomplishments do feel a touch skinny in that exalted company, he’s sustained a longer career than might have been reasonably expected. Here, he rolls out the hits at London’s relatively intimate Troxy venue, as well as playing tracks from his latest album, The Heavy Entertainment Show. Phil Harrison

Our Guy In China
9pm, Channel 4

This three-part series has seen motorcycle racer-turned-traveloguer Guy Martin get stuck in over in China, sussing out the nation not by yapping with politicians but by getting his hands dirty assembling bikes and sorting through scrap metal. In this final episode, he’s not quite as upbeat as usual, however, as he takes on a record attempt that’s billed as his “toughest ever physical challenge”: a 341-mile desert journey by bicycle in less than two days. Hannah J Davies

Major Crimes
9pm, Universal

The final episode of a three-part tale of the slick and sharp police procedural, with loose ends aplenty to tie up. Tough-but-caring detective Julio faces a sad goodbye after the authorities track down his foster son Mark’s grandparents. The team are closing in on the Dwight Darnell murderer, while Buzz is getting closer to finding his father and uncle’s killers. Rusty goes undercover to help, but how will Buzz react to the perpetrator’s complicated back story? Hannah Verdier

Two Doors Down
10pm, BBC2

Sunday lunch. A time to relax, loosen your belt and dispel concerns about anything more weighty than achieving optimal gravy distribution. Sadly, that doesn’t quite apply at the Bairds’ home. Beth and Eric abandon all hope of a soothing Sabbath when a simmering tiff between Cathy and Colin burbles into outright hostility. Not only that, but Christine won’t let the lack of an invite stop her from joining the lunch table for lamb and all the trimmings. Plus chips. Mark Gibbings-Jones

Nasa’s Unexplained Files
11pm, Discovery

More mysterious goings-on from the vaults of Nasa, the most diverting being the Kepler mission’s discovery of an “alien megastructure” earlier this year. Because of its odd behaviour, the scientists seem genuinely foxed. And slightly scared. Too big to be a planet, could it be the tails of a massive comet shower? There’s also a look into the Apollo astronauts’ claims that they saw unexplained light flashes on their mission to the moon. Ben Arnold

Film choices

Mr Turner (Mike Leigh, 2014) Monday, 9pm, Film4

This portrait of the great painter is a cinematic work of art. Turner (Timothy Spall) is an abrasive master, his profound love for his father balanced by a shabby treatment of women: Sarah Danby (Ruth Sheen), who’s left to bring up their illegitimate daughters, and the misused housekeeper Hannah (Dorothy Atkinson). Only Turner’s muse Sophia Booth (Marion Bailey) is respected. They inhabit a Victorian world of high minds and low life, with Spall’s all-too-human genius its beating heart. Paul Howlett

The Guard (John Michael McDonagh, 2011) 11.55pm, Film4

Director John Michael McDonagh and star Brendan Gleeson make an excellent job of this cranky, low-key, Irish-set comedy-drama. Gleeson is superb as garda sergeant Gerry Boyle, ruling his Connemara patch with his gift for colourful, eye-wateringly bad language; but is he really as dim as the three unwelcome drug barons and FBI visitor Don Cheadle seem to think? PH

Live sport

FA Cup Football: Lincoln City v Oldham Athletic Coverage of the second-round clash from Sincil Bank. 7pm, BT Sport 1

Squash: British Grand Prix The men’s final at the Manchester tournament. 7pm, BT Sport 2

Premier League Football: Middlesbrough v Hull City Hull visit the Riverside with memories of their bright start to the season fading fast. 7pm, Sky Sports 1

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