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Overstretched … Giulio Anichini in Hospital, BBC2
Overstretched … Giulio Anichini in Hospital, BBC2. Photograph: Ryan McNamara/BBC/Label 1/Ryan McNamara
Overstretched … Giulio Anichini in Hospital, BBC2. Photograph: Ryan McNamara/BBC/Label 1/Ryan McNamara

Wednesday’s best TV: Hospital; Italy’s Invisible Cities; No Offence

This article is more than 7 years old

A brutally realistic documentary explores the NHS today; Alexander Armstrong and Michael Scott offer a computerised view of Venice; and Paul Abbott’s pacy but heartfelt police drama continues

The Worst Witch
4.30pm, CBBC

Jill Murphy’s anarchic novels about young Mildred Hubble’s struggles at a magical boarding school predate Harry Potter. Previously adapted for TV in the late 1990s, this new Murphy-approved version adds some modern touches, but leaves the core story untouched: a plucky non-adept brass-necking her way through an arcane curriculum. Amid a talented cast, Raquel Cassidy stands out as icy deputy head Miss Hardbroom. Graeme Virtue

Hospital
9pm, BBC2

This documentary looks at life in five hospitals across London, painting a brutal, realistic and frustrating picture of the NHS today. While a cancer patient waits for life-saving surgery after a string of cancellations, a woman with a ruptured aneurysm is rushed towards St Mary’s in Paddington in an ambulance. All the surgeons want to do is get on with their work, but, with only one bed, decisions must be made by the overstretched team. Hannah Verdier

Italy’s Invisible Cities
9pm, BBC1

The great cities of Italy have been so thoroughly tramped by junketing TV presenters that finding plausible new angles presents a challenge. Hence a bit of technology – 3D scanning, drone cameras, CGI, virtual reality – to illuminate what might otherwise be a fairly boilerplate travelogue. This week, Alexander Armstrong and classics boffin Michael Scott explore Venice – but by far the most interesting sections are the computerised sequences. Andrew Mueller

No Offence
9pm, Channel 4

Paul Abbott’s pacy and compelling police drama continues, with the consequences of the crematorium bomb continuing to multiply. And, as her team face life-threatening situations, Joanna Scanlan’s DI Viv Deering is only just holding it together. The strength of No Offence lies in this beautifully realised vulnerability: these cops are hard-bitten, but very human, and their dilemmas, anxieties and mistakes give the series heart, heft and a real ring of truth. Phil Harrison

James May: The Reassembler
9pm, BBC4

The least ridiculous Grand Tour host puts interesting things back together in his workshop, musing away like an uncle with a New Scientist subscription. This week, he reassembles the tiny 1976 Honda Z50A mini trail motorbike, AKA the Monkey Bike (“Just about the least motorcycle you can get away with”). Somehow, it’s hard to imagine the other two allowing themselves to be filmed with dirty nails and big sticking plasters on their fingers. Ali Catterall

Common Sense
10pm, BBC2

A bit like Gogglebox, but for the news, this new series finds the topical stories of the day – from breaking news to bizarre headlines – dissected by “real British people”. So, that means dinner ladies from Leeds, market traders from London’s East End and butchers from Birmingham. The folk giving their two penn’orth are so chosen for their incisive wit and “unfiltered” manner, so expect blunt reactions to the week’s news. Ruth Jones is on voiceover duties. Ben Arnold

The Chris Ramsey Show
10pm, Comedy Central

A new offering in which the geordie comic welcomes guests to a TV studio seemingly decked out to resemble a teenage boy’s bedroom, where he besieges them with games and challenges. Like Ramsey himself, it’s amusing and good-natured, although Jimmy Carr’s reliably sharp, close-to-the-bone gags threaten to overshadow both the host and fellow guest Natasia Demetriou in places. Plus, ever-orange Vicky Pattison offers tanning tips. Hannah J Davies

Film choices

The Two Faces of January (Hossein Amini, 2014), 7.10pm, Film4

Viggo Mortensen and Kirsten Dunst in The Two Faces of January.
Photograph: Allstar Picture Library

Chester and Colette MacFarland (Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst) are a handsome American couple holidaying in Greece, where they meet tour-guide-cum-chancer Rydal (Oscar Isaac). It’s no time at all before Chester’s shady business dealings return to haunt him, leading the three of them into a labyrinthine swirl of sex, double-cross and murder. It’s beautifully shot, but an efficient, rather than outstanding, thriller. Paul Howlett

Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin, 2012), 1.35am, Channel 4

Zeitlin’s affecting fable is a masterful piece of magical realism, inspired by hurricane Katrina, which devastated Louisiana in 2005. It’s set deep in the bayou, where a small community lives in houses on poles, among them the ailing Wink (Dwight Henry) and his six-year-old daughter Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis), through whose eyes this extraordinary tale of dreams and reality unfolds. PH

Live sport

Greyhound Racing: Coronation Cup, 7pm, Sky Sports 2 Coverage of the race from Romford greyhound stadium.

League Cup football: Southampton v Liverpool, 7.30pm, Sky Sports 1 Semi-final first-leg contest from St Mary’s stadium (kick-off 7.45pm).

Tennis: Sydney International, 1am, Eurosport 1 Day five of the men’s event, featuring the quarter-finals.

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