Renaissance: Blood and Beauty
9pm, BBC Two
Charles Dance stars as Michelangelo in this classy docu-drama series about the great rival artists of the Renaissance movement in Italy. Over the course of three episodes, he uses Michelangelo’s own writings to tell his story, along with the lives of Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. Holly Richardson
Artist of the Year: Master Class
6pm, Sky Arts
A wonderful educational show from the Portraitist of the Year team, where judge Tai-Shan Schirenberg teaches techniques to budding artists. Each masterclass focuses on a different theme, and the opening double bill includes “research tone” and “alla prima” (applying wet paint on wet paint). HR
Dispatches: Britain’s benefits scandal
20:00, Channel 4
Keir Starmer recently said the country was “not working” and promised to get more people into work with reforms to overhaul jobcentres and more funding for mental health. But how did we get here? Fraser Nelson investigates all the factors in the broken system and follows people claiming benefits for three months, as well as talking to experts and politicians. HR
24 hours in police custody: Living high
21:00, Channel 4
Two seemingly separate crimes—a fraud perpetrated against a vulnerable elderly man and a county drug ring—find themselves connected in the latest episode of this formulaic but reliably compelling true-crime chain. The seemingly sleepy market town of Biggleswade is the setting for a fascinating if desperate story. Phil Harrison
Dune: Prophecy
9pm, Sky Atlantic
The dark and brutal sci-fi backstory exploring the origins of Dune’s influential religious sisterhood goes even further back in time. How did growing up on a bleak planet where the main natural resource seems to be fur whales shape the worldview of sisters Valya and Tula? Graham Vertue
Person of interest
23.05, Channel 4
Writer and director Aisha Raffaele’s unique London noir is extremely relevant. Set in August this year, it looks at what it’s like to be a working-class British Muslim at a time when the fabric of society is on the brink of being torn apart. Minicab driver Shakeel (Aseem Chaudhry), hounded by rude passengers and the daily horror of the Gaza news, longs for peace – but is he under surveillance? Jack Seal
