The Escape Artist (9pm, BBC1)

The happier a family is at the start of the film, the more likely it is that one member will be dead or kidnapped by the end of the first act.

And so it was Ashley Jensen as Will Burton’s lovely wife who ended up splattered on the carpet after foolishly returning to the country cottage where she’d previously been scared out of her wits by a man peering through her upstairs window. (No, we’re still not entirely sure how he pulled that levitation stunt off either).

As Burton’s main rival, Maggie Gardner, this week it’s Sophie Okenedo’s turn to shine in her own murky way.

She’s defending the creepy Liam Foyle (Toby Keller) who’s been charged with the murder, and has no qualms, apparently, about doing so.  She even gets him freed on bail because the evidence against him – just Will’s own eye-witness account –  is so flimsy.

Of course, if the evidence were really so insubstantial the Crown Prosecution Service wouldn’t have brought the case to court in the first place.

As a witness Will (played by David Tennant) isn’t allowed to have any contact with the prosecuting lawyers, but this week he invites disaster by meeting publicly with one of them when he could achieve the same thing, with a discreet phone call or text.  So much for him being the country’s most brilliant young barrister.

The point this drama is trying to make is valid, but The Escape Artist would be even better if it didn’t force everyone to act like muppets in the process.

Holby City (8pm, BBC1) 

Not a squash injury. Squashed.  Malick is put on the spot tonight when his former professor turns up at Holby in need of major surgery. Malick hasn’t got the heart to tell him that the reason he’s got his arm in a sling isn’t because he hurt it playing sport but because his hand is only held on by stitches.

Which is how a man who was President Of the Surgeons’ Society ends up being operated on not by the best in the land,  but in a provincial teaching hospital by a nervous junior doctor (Arthur Digby) while Malick barks instructions at him like a man possessed.

Also tonight, Jac’s nose is well and truly put out of joint when Jonny Mac’s old friend Bonnie gets a permanent nursing job at Holby and she finds out that these two are now an item.

And Sacha proposes to Chrissie even though they’re already married. Truly, this man is a glutton for punishment.

Doesn’t he know by now to quit while he’s ahead?

American Horror Story: Coven (10pm, Fox)

Last week’s opener saw Jessica Lange dig up Kathy Bates who’s been buried alive for 180 years.  And if that doesn’t whet your appetite for the mystical goings-on, and the white-hot star power at work here then nothing will. 

Naturally,  supreme witch Fiona Goode has an utterly selfish motive for unearthing the most notorious racist in New Orleans – she just wants to know how she’s managed to stay so young looking all this time, and a visit to Angela Bassett as the voodoo-queen / hairdresser is called for. 

While most viewers would be quite happy to watch these three older actresses magnificently trading insults across eternity, two of the younger witches, Madison and Zoe, are busy too – trying to make amends for killing an entire bus load of high school jocks. 

But their plan to raise the dead sees them getting a little over ambitious by creating the perfect boyfriend.

SOAP ROUND-UP

Emmerdale (7pm, ITV)

Bonfire night in Emmerdale could often be mistaken for an episode of Casualty. But tonight, there’s a touch of the Jeremy Kyle too when the combination of a stray sparkler, a box of fireworks, and baby Archie in his buggy, sees Jai explode like a rocket. 

But why is Jai more concerned about Archie’s welfare than Rishi? Anything you’d like to tell us, Rachel?

Eastenders (7:30pm, BBC1)

It’s no secret that EastEnders has been pretty dire in recent months and there have been lots of theories about why that might be.

But can it just be coincidence that the second Michael Moon is bumped off, it’s suddenly perked up again? Tonight, his innocent stooge Alice Branning, is about to get a very disturbing visit in prison from Janine. And back in the square there’s another unexpected arrival when Bianca returns home with her new bloke in tow.