Tonight's TV

Avalanche: Making a Deadly Snowstorm (BBC2, 9pm)

EACH year, avalanches kill hundreds of people, and climate change seems to be making the lethal occurrences even less predictable.

Back in March, a team of scientists gathered in a remote valley in the Canadian Rockies with the intention of triggering a massive avalanche. This documentary shows how the experts, including presenter Professor Danielle George, prepared a series of cutting-edge tests in the hopes of understanding more about why and how they happen. Alongside the main experiment, we also hear from survivors such as Johno Verity, a snowboarder who was being filmed when an avalanche started right beneath his feet. The climax to the programme shows what happens when the explosions are detonated and over 1,000 tonnes of snow rush down the mountainside.

The Big Bang Theory (E4, 8.30pm)

IT may have all started with a big bang, but now fans are coming up with their theories about how the hugely successful US sitcom will end as it's been announced that this 12th season will be the last.

It may seem like Sheldon has already got his happy ending after marrying Amy at the end of the last run, but in this opening episode, their honeymoon is about to go awry in New York. Meanwhile, Penny and Leonard discover they have a disturbing amount in common with Amy's parents, and Raj gets caught up in a social media war after insulting astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Emmerdale 1918 (ITV, 8.30pm)

Bhasker Patel, who plays factory owner Rishi Sharma, follows the dramatic story of Alfred Martlew, a 19-year-old clerk at Rowntree's chocolate factory in York who faced a huge moral dilemma when war broke out.

As his colleagues signed up to do their bit, Alfred refused, causing controversy by becoming a conscientious objector. Eventually he was faced with the biggest decision of his life - ignore his morals and join the army, or stick to his principals and face the firing squad.

Ambulance (BBC1, 9pm)

NEW series. The return of the Bafta-winning documentary, this time following the work of the North West Ambulance Service.

The staff and crews face a busy weekend dealing with 11,000 calls as 80,000 fans descend on Manchester for the annual Parklife festival. As the handlers try to prioritise the influx of calls, Andrea and Glynn are diverted from a one-year-old having a seizure to a road traffic accident on a dual carriageway. Meanwhile, Debbie and Shaun try to persuade a homeless man he needs to go to hospital.

Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip (ITV, 9pm)

GORDON RAMSAY, Gino D'Acampo and Fred Sirieix's European adventure brings them to Fred's cherished homeland of France, where an old friend has asked him to host an oyster festival in Arcachon on the Atlantic coast.

As the trio set off across France in search of ingredients, Fred is determined to show his companions the best his country has to offer, with highlights including the famous nudist beaches of the French Riviera - where Gordon attracts unwanted attention - an unruly pony and Fred demonstrating his questionable musical skills.

Child of Mine (C4, 10pm)

THE UK has one of the highest rates of stillbirth in the developed world, yet these hidden bereavements are rarely talked about, often leaving parents isolated and alone.

Vicki and Bruce allow a documentary crew to follow the birth of Ruby, their stillborn daughter, and their journey of loss and recovery over several months, in the hope that their story will draw attention to the one in 200 babies that are stillborn in the UK. Narrated by Amanda Holden, whose son Theo was stillborn in 2011, Child of Mine was filmed over two years at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) and the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge, and follows three couples' very different experiences of losing a child before birth. It reveals the devastating impact on these and other parents, as well as highlighting the urgent need for more dedicated resources across the NHS.