From There to Here
(BBC1, 9pm)

OKAY, so I know it’s another throwback to the past, but Philip Glenister is only going back 18 years this time – as opposed to the 1970s and 80s with DCI Gene Hunt in Life on Mars and its sequel Ashes to Ashes.

This time he’s Daniel Cotton, a happily- married man with two grown-up children, who changes personality after an IRA bomb destroys much of Manchester’s city centre in June 1996.

His near-death experience makes him reckless and restless and before long he becomes embroiled in a double life which threatens to tear his family apart.

And if that isn’t enough Daniel’s wayward brother Robbo (Steven Mackintosh) gets into trouble with the underworld after rowing with the siblings’ father (Bernard Hill).

Glenister says Peter Bowker, the writer, looks at the new three-parter as love letter to Manchester, “I think that’s very true,” says the southerner who has a soft spot for the city.

“From my own personal point of view, I’ve done so much work in Manchester it’s been an incredibly important and significant city in my career. I haven’t been back I think for a few years since I finished filmingLife On Mars. So it’s lovely to be back.

“What’s extraordinary is each time I come back, even though it’s been about six years now, the city evolves and changes. It feels like my adoptive city.”

It wasn’t just the setting which attracted him to the script, though: “Peter is a friend and neighbour of mine funnily enough and I’ve always been a huge admirer of his work. I think he’s one of our finest writers. So to get a script written by him, you know you’re in for something quite exciting, and I wasn’t wrong – it’s a page turner.”

Horizon: The £10million Challenge
(BBC2, 9pm)

THE Beeb’s science documentary series literally strikes gold by celebrating its 50th anniversary seeking the public’s opinion on how to spend £10m. Don’t give it to Gary Barlow, would be my advice.

To celebrate the milestone, Alice Roberts is inviting viewers to play their part in confronting some of the science world’s biggest perplexing issues.

It’s a feat which is possible thanks to the Longitude Prize 2014, an award designed to discover the next big innovations, named after a similar 18th Century scheme. Roberts launches the event at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich with a public vote to determine which ideas are worthy of clinching a multimillion pound reward.

At this stage, there are six nominees still in the running, and tonight Michael Mosley, Liz Bonnin, Iain Stewart, Helen Czerski, Kevin Fong and Saleyha Ahsan each examines one of them.

Heston’s Great British Food
(Channel 4, 9pm)

IN spite of my addiction to the classic British afternoon tea – you can blame that on Betty’s – I’m not sure I could stomach Heston Blumenthal’s adding an edible stand, made out of sponge, for a Victoria sandwich cake.

Then again, the controversial chef cuts up rough about the Victorians adding powdered deer antler to cakes to make them light and fluffy. There’s one final surprise as the series ends, a teapot that pours Earl Grey chocolate tea.