Tonight's TV highlights

Frederick The Great And The Enigma Of Prussia | The Family | Getting On | Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights; The Morgana Show | True Stories: The Battle For Barking | Imagine
Frederick the great tv highlights watch this
Philosopher king ... Frederick the Great of Prussia. Photograph: Edward Gooch/Getty Images

Frederick The Great And The Enigma Of Prussia
9pm, BBC4

As the leader of Prussia who first established a single, unified Germany through martial conquest, Frederick the Great was revered by Hitler; the sole decoration in his final bunker was a portrait of the king. This documentary rescues Frederick from Nazi propaganda, depicting him as a "philosopher king" who played host to Voltaire, wrote music, deeply resented his father, who bullied him into the soldier-king role (almost having him executed when he tried to flee to England), and was probably gay.


The Family
9pm, Channel 4

Sunday and Vicky sing along to a Christian TV channel while their eldest son organises his love life over the internet. His friend, Rebecca, comes round to his room and lies on the bed with him listening to music. But he still loves his ex, over a year-and-a-half after they split up, and one day hopes to be with her again, opening up about how his long-term relationship broke down in the most heartbreaking way. Warming up nicely. JNR

Getting On
10pm, BBC4

"Fly on the wall" possibly isn't the most hygienic way to describe a hospital comedy, but this second series for Jo Brand's ward-based series has been all about the slightly grubby details. Successful as a nurse? Then you're likely to be a failure as a human being. Good with people? You'll never prosper. It's a potentially pretty bleak prospect, it's true, but, directed with lightness by Peter Capaldi, the show creates a real empathy for and between its characters. Tonight, Dr Pippa receives some disappointing news and Beattie's stay in London comes to an end. JR

Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights; The Morgana Show
10pm; 10.35pm, C4

It's not a widely held sentiment but, occasionally, you could feel slightly sorry for Frankie Boyle, someone who's now more famous for being controversial than for actually being funny. Still, anyone who describes Jonathan Ross as "a £500 haircut on top of a pile of melting ice cream" can't be entirely bad, a fact you hope is borne out by this mix of sketches and live material. Afterwards, Morgana Robinson's deranged creations in The Morgana Show should delight anyone with a thirst for League Of Gentlemen-style weirdness. JR

True Stories: The Battle For Barking
10pm, More4

Skilled documentary-maker Laura Fairrie follows Nick Griffin and his BNP colleagues as they try to wrest the Barking constituency from Labour's Margaret Hodge. It may be like making an even-handed documentary about Pol Pot, but Fairrie does manage to stand back and let the racists hang themselves. It is revealed at the end that one councillor has since moved to South Africa. Following his own advice, he should go back where he came from. A superbly measured documentary made even better for knowing it has a happy ending. JNR

10.35pm, BBC1

To tie in with an exhibition at Tate Britain, eccentric 19th-century British photographer Eadweard Muybridge gets the full going-over from Alan Yentob. Muybridge found fame with his beautiful tableaux of animals in flight, achieved using pioneering stop-motion photography. He also invented a popular device called a zoopraxiscope which allowed him to run the photographs in sequence at high speeds, creating the illusion of a moving image – an early indication of the power of cinema. SR

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