TODAY'S TV

Drowning in Plastic (BBC1, 8.30pm)

AT least eight million tons of plastic waste enter the Earth's oceans and seas each year.

One million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastic in our oceans, while it is estimated that more than 50 per cent of sea turtles have consumed plastic. In conclusion, plastic is devastating our oceans, but can the tide be turned back before it's too late? In this one-off documentary, Liz Bonnin travels to a remote island off the coast of Australia where newly hatched shearwater chicks are filling up on deadly plastic. She also visits the Coral Triangle that stretches from Papua New Guinea to the Solomon Islands to find out more from scientists trying to work out why plastic is so lethal to the reefs. Finally, she looks at possible solutions, such as a monumental 600-metre construction that will travel across the ocean's 'garbage patches' collecting millions of pieces of plastic pollution.

Jamie Cooks Italy (C4, 8pm)

AFTER serving up amazing food in the Aeolian Islands, Puglia, Naples, Basilicata, Sicily, Tuscany and Rome, the chef concludes his cookery and travel series in the Italian Alps, seeking out Piedmont's famed comfort food and its world renowned wines such as the rich and deep red Barolo made from the ethereal Nebbiolo grape. In a valley near the Swiss border, he discovers macaroni cheese with an alpine twist, and cooks a winter warmer of dumplings with roasted red onions and crispy pancetta. Finally, Jamie learns the secrets of making the perfect risotto. Using the region's abundant red wine, sausage and alpine cheese, he creates a mouth-watering version of the classic rice dish which he serves to the locals.

Monkman & Seagull's Guide to Britain (BBC2, 8pm)

THE breakout stars of University Challenge are enjoying a new wave of publicity as Eric Monkman and Bobby Seagull soak up the wonders of the British Isles.

Sadly we're already up to episode three, the penultimate edition, and our tour guides are in Northern Ireland. The invention of the ejector seat; Armagh Observatory; a railway museum inside a barber shop, and Titanic's little sister, SS Nomadic are all on their 'to see' list. Like a mix of The Big Bang Theory and Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island, this is one of the best additions to the schedules in many a moon.

Travel Man: 48 Hours in Milan (C4, 8.30pm)

RICHARD AYOADE is joined by actress and comedian Morgana Robinson for a two-day break in the Italian city of Milan, taking in art, pasta, the bowling game of bocce, and a drink in Backdoor 43 - a tiny bar that can hold a maximum of four customers at a time.

At a viewing of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, Richard finds the painting to be quite good, but Morgana thinks it's 'no Tracey Emin'. The pair also take in the city's epic cathedral and tdrop in on a pasta-making lesson that proves strangely musical. Last in the series.

Strangers (ITV, 9pm)

BRITISH professor Jonah Mulray finds himself left adrift when David goes off the radar and cannot be located, so fearing the worst, he decides to track him down.

Fuelled by suspicion and paranoia, the search takes Jonah to the dazzling gambling island of Macau, where he comes face to face with David's dark past. Thriller, starring John Simm as the British professor whose life is turned upside down by his wife's tragic death, with Anthony Wong, Emilia Fox, Katie Leung, Anthony Hayes and Tim McInnerny.

Black Earth Rising (BBC2, 9pm)

KATE and Michael finish their work on Alice Munezero's case in France, but are shocked when indicted Rwandan and Congolese war criminal Patrice Ganimana arrives in the UK.

Excited by the chance to prosecute him, Michael is unsettled to learn that an old rival is handling his defence. Meanwhile, this turn of events prompts Alice to delay her own return to Rwanda, and a difficulties multiply for an extradition of Ganimana to the International Criminal Court, Kate and Michael's relationship begins to fray.