New series tonight

Ashes To Ashes

BBC1, 9pm

The second tranche of the Life On Mars follow-up begins tonight. The first series took a lot of criticism but a lot of it was Extras Syndrome – a knee-jerk backlash. OK, it was far more cartoonish than Life On Mars, but then the whole thing is supposed to be happening in the imagination of Alex Drake, so it makes sense. There were some great touches, such as a young Tom Robinson at a gay rights rally, and the plot twist with the father finished off the series with a punch. Advice to viewers: fire up the Quattro, don't fasten your seatbelt (not a legal requirement till 1983, ahem) and just enjoy the ride.

The Omid Djalili Show

BBC1, 10.35pm

After a gap of 18 months, the London comedian gets a second series of his stand-up and sketch show. I say London comedian because that's what he is – a Chelsea-supporting West London boy with an Iranian background. So let's hope that there's a bit less of his earlier "only Iranian comedian" material, especially as he no longer is (Shappi Khorshandi et al); and a bit more general stuff. One thing 's for sure: when Mad Dog met Djalili recently, the comedian was complaining about the predominance of blue material in stand-up routines, so don't expect Horne & Corden.