TV tonight: catching a serial killer who targets happy families

The Hunting Party 9pm, U&AlibiThe US crime thriller in which former FBI profiler Rebecca Henderson (Melissa Roxburgh) returns to clean up after a secret underground prison explodes. A skin-crawling opening to episode two proves just how terrified they should be about the escaped serial killers – including Clayton Jessup, who targets happy families and is looking to kill again. Hollie Richardson The Repair Shop 8pm, BBC OneMitchell and Webb fans may struggle to see The Repair Shop in the same way after their hysterical parody The Weeping Shed. But really, it’s still one of TV’s loveliest shows, as this week’s episode – featuring a cherished pair of motorcycle goggles – is sure to affirm. Hannah J Davies The Celebrity Traitors 9pm, BBC OneAt the time of writing, Alan Carr is still – somehow – the traitor to watch, and Jonathan Ross might well be about to be caught out and banished. But the real question of course is: what on earth will Celia Imrie do next? Continues on Thursday. HR Grand Designs 9pm, Channel 4 This week’s project is the biggest in Grand Designs history: Piers and Emma have bought a castle outside Stratford-upon-Avon and decided to tear it down so they can create an 1,100 sq m futuristic replacement, complete with moat and tower. Their £2.2m budget soon evaporates as the sheer size and complexity of the job overwhelms them – but they refuse to give up. Jack Seale BBC New Comedy Awards 2025 9pm, BBC ThreeWeek three in the search for comedy’s next big name, and Sara Pascoe hosts the south of England heat at Alexandra Palace. Catherine Bohart and Michael Odewale guest judge, alongside Fatiha El-Ghorri. Battling it out: Blank Peng, Fab Goualin, Sharifa Butterfly, Sydney May and Evaldas Karosas. HR New Zealand’s Best Homes With Phil Spencer 10pm, Channel 4New Zealand is a country of extremes, with an incredibly varied landscape. And some properties make the most of those views. Though just two hours east of Auckland, the ultimate beach house on the Coromandel coast feels, as Phil says, “like a world away”. Elsewhere, there is a massive luxury barn near Queenstown, and a beautiful lakeside home in Lake Wānaka. Ali Catterall Film choice Ballad of a Small Player (Edward Berger, 2025), out now, Netflix After Conclave proved to be a ludicrous (and extraordinarily well-timed) piece of Oscar bait, all eyes were on director Edward Berger to see what he’d do next. And what he did was Ballad of a Small Player, which feels like the exact opposite of Conclave. A sweaty, vibrant, Macau-set fever dream of a thriller, it sees Colin Farrell hamming it up as an aristocratic English gambler scrambling to pay off his debts while trying to shake off Tilda Swinton, playing a woman who knows his true identity. While the results aren’t quite as satisfying as Conclave, it’s nevertheless very exciting to see a director as elegant as Berger turn his hand to something so trashy. Stuart Heritage Hedda (Nia DaCosta, 2025), out now, Prime VideoBetween Marvel and her 28 Years Later sequel, Nia DaCosta has quietly snuck out an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s 134-year-old play Hedda Gabler. It’s far from the first – there have been at least 20 others – but it’s certainly the most modern. Tessa Thompson plays the lead, and the debauchery is ramped up beyond all comprehension. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a review of this film that doesn’t compare it to Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn; if nothing else, it should slake your thirst for sexy period fare until Fennell’s Wuthering Heights comes out in February. Stuart Heritage Late Night With the Devil (Cameron and Colin Cairnes, 2023), 9pm, Film4Just when you thought found footage horror had run out of steam, along comes 2023’s absurdly good Late Night With the Devil to revive it. The found footage comes in the form of a Halloween episode of a 1977 talk show that flies off the rails after an appearance by a 13-year-old possessed girl. The joy doesn’t just come from how scary it is but in the glee it takes in destroying show business tropes. It’s a note-perfect reconstruction of a time when late-night hosts were the most powerful people on TV. SH