The Missing (BBC1, 9pm)

THE first episode took us back to late 2014, when Alice Webster stumbled through the streets of Eckhausen, Germany, the same town she was abducted from in 2003. Yet when the action moved to the present day, it was clear that not all was well with the reunited family.

For Keeley Hawes, who plays Alice's mother Gemma, that was part of what drew her to the role. She says: "I've read about people who've experienced a child going missing and every day you must wake up and think 'is today the day?' And in our story, today's the day. But it's also a case of 'be careful what you wish for': after so much time, it's not going to be the same. The family dynamic has changed and it's one of the saddest things. Of course it's inevitable, but this family has already been torn apart once, and they get smashed apart again."

David Morrissey, who plays Keeley's onscreen husband Sam, adds: "The Websters have obviously been through a terrible, traumatic episode, but they've stayed together. And in the midst of this, their daughter walks back into their life. And it's how this family cope with her return and the bombshell that it brings. We then see the present-day storyline and the real physical destruction of this family. But we don't quite know what's happened to them in those intervening years, so the story's about putting those pieces together."

This final episode should finally off some answers, and writers Jack and Harry Williams have held back some of the clues to his multi-stranded thriller, in spite of fans already knowing the identity of the abductor.

Detective Julien Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo) believes Alice's abduction was linked to the disappearance of another girl, Sophie. In 2014, the truth about the re-appearance of "Alice" is revealed, as the circumstances of her escape back to Eckhausen finally come to light.

Meanwhile, in 2016, armed with fresh information, Sam and Gemma present a new, united front as they join Julien in a desperate race to track Alice and Sophie's abductor all the way from Germany to the mountains of Switzerland.

Morrissey says: "With the multiple timelines, you really have to keep hold of the different elements. But I think that's very rewarding for an audience as those stories start to unfold in front of you."

And there's always that prospect of some questions going answered.

THE SUPERVET (C4, 8PM)

ANYBODY who's ever had a beloved pet will tell you that seeing them in pain is a horrible experience. It's one that the owners of a Bengal cat called Tia have faced after she was hit by a car, smashing some of her tiny bones in the process. Thankfully, supervet Neil Fitzpatrick thinks he can patch her back together again using a combination of rods and pins. However, he isn't so confident about Wobble, a whippet who has already suffered a tough time – he was rescued from a shelter by his current owners. Now he's so badly injured that Neil feels the only option open to him is a high-risk operation. Meanwhile, lovable Labrador care-dog Alfie needs a little TLC to deal with his elbow dysplasia.

24 Hours in A&E (C4, 9pm)

THE air ambulance is dispatched to collect Frances, an 80-year-old woman who fell three metres into her empty swimming pool while gardening, and has received a head wound that might have resulted in a life-altering bleed on the brain. Ruth, aged 86, arrives at St George's A&E with her heart beating three times faster than the normal rate. Doctors are concerned it may not be pumping enough blood around her body, and quickly prescribe fast-acting medication. Plus, students Jerry and Sakille turn up at the hospital after Jerry crashed her car on the way home from a party. While Jerry stayed sober to serve as the designated driver, she concludes that balancing a full-time job with her studies and a hectic social life might not be a sensible idea.

Viv Hardwick