Elementary, Sky Living, 9pm

BENEDICT Cumberbatch has a worthy sleuthing rival in the shape of New York’s finest private detective played by English actor Jonny Lee Miller, who is also a modern-day Sherlock Holmes... assisted, until this third series, by the delectable Lucy Liu as Joan Watson.

Former disgraced surgeon Watson (she stopped operating after feeling responsible for a patient’s death) had become heroin-addicted Holmes’ sober companion until discovering an interest in solving seemingly-impossible crimes. At the end of the previous series the couple’s relationship had become more stressed than a Mike Ashley stadium renaming promise with Watson ending an affair with Holmes’ brother Mycroft (Rhys Ifans) and Holmes returning to London to shake off a drugs relapse and to work with MI6.

Last week’s opener, a year on, saw Watson happily continuing her work as New York Police Department’s crime consultant until the return of Holmes proves no coincidence. She had a murder of a woman in witness protection to solve, and Holmes had the answer... plus another attractive female protégée in tow, Kitty Winter played by Ophelia Lovibond (who recently starred in the movie Guardians Of The Galaxy). The name of Kitty Winter has been plucked from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel The Adventure of the Illustrious Client.

NYPD Captain Gregson (Aidan Quinn) and Detective Bell (Jon Michael Hill) are now faced with Watson and Holmes behaving more like Cannon and Ball with the English detective trying to make amends for deserting his crime-solving colleagues.Plus there are also several more additions to the cast, including another boyfriend for Watson called Andrew Paek, played by Raza Jaffrey... but, apparently, no fireworks when he meets Holmes. I suspect that Mr Paek will have as many skeletons in his cupboard as Mycroft just as Holmes and Watson must work as partners again this week to solve a mysterious double homicide (sorry, I slipped into the language on the wrong side of the pond).

The Missing (BBC1, 9pm)

THIS particular drama is helped along by the fact that central character Tony Hughes, played so well by James Nesbitt, is joined by such a top-drawer cast, but Frances O'Connor, who plays Emily Hughes in the hard-hitting drama, couldn't speak more highly of her co-star.

She says: "Every time you do a scene, he steps up and really gives it a hundred per cent for you. I love all the choices he makes, he's great. We've had to do some really tricky scenes but he's been very supportive.

"Because I'm a mother, I instantly related to the story. I did a bit of research about what it's like for people whose children have gone missing but really I just had to use my imagination. It's every parent's worst nightmare so I found it pretty easy to access the emotions for it."

We reach the halfway mark tonight. In the present day, Julien (Tcheky Karyo) is on a mission to reinvestigate the links between the dead witness and Oliver's disappearance, while raking over the past starts to take its toll on Emily and her relationship with Mark (Jason Flemyng).

Secrets of the Castle with Ruth, Peter and Tom (BBC2, 9pm)

AFTER sampling what life would have been like for those living on Tudor, Victorian, Edwardian and wartime farms, historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold are about to immerse themselves in a completely different way of life - and thankfully for them, it doesn't include mucking out animals.

Not that they're going to be able to put their feet up - the trio are joining a 25-year project in Guedelon in the Burgundy region of France, where experts are attempting to build a medieval castle from scratch, using only the tools and materials available during the 13th century.

The first edition sees Tom and Peter set to work in a quarry, where they help masons dig stone, shape it and lift it into place on the towers via a wooden treadmill. Ruth, meanwhile, is occupied equipping the wattle and daub hovel that will be their base with a rush floor and cooking pots.