TV tonight: the jawdropping story of the mother who faked her son’s illness

Love You to Death 9pm, Channel 4 “He seemed to be allergic to the 21st century,” said journalist Paul Levie of Matthew Hayden-Johnson, a child from Torbay who, his mother, Lisa, claimed, was unable to walk, eat or breathe without medical assistance. However, as this jawdropping documentary series shows, Matthew’s litany of disability was a fantasy maintained by Lisa. With testimony from Matthew and Lisa themselves, it tracks a toxic fantasy as it took root, then fell apart. Phil Harrison Voices of the Valleys 8pm, Sky Arts This uplifting series about a sometimes overlooked but enduring Welsh folk tradition concludes. The big day has arrived for our three male voice choirs as they head to the Llangollen International Eisteddfod. As the competition looms, it’s a surprisingly intense and serious business. PH Professor T 9pm, ITV1 Ben Miller returns for the fourth season of Professor T, which doesn’t find him in a good place. He’s doing everything to avoid getting involved in police work after Lisa’s death, but when a young woman disappears on a boat, the whole team spring into action. Hannah Verdier Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee 9.45pm, BBC Three The fun fake 70s vibe of this gameshow (check out Ray’s massive kipper tie!) is eye-catching, but nostalgia takes a back seat to the genuinely laugh out loud one-liners delivered by the host and the banter with his guests, who this week include off-the-wall comic Ray Badran and flirty Josh Thomas. Priya Elan Outback Murder Highway 10pm, Channel 4 Creepy goings-on ... criminologist Louise Steding Photograph: Ryan McCurdy/Channel 4 Anyone who has seen the 2005 film Wolf Creek knows the drill: outback Australia, isolation, mystery and horror. This creepy series travels the desolate Flinders Highway along which 11 people have gone missing since 1970. First, two nurses who planned to hitchhike across Australia with fatal results. Criminologist Louise Steding explores their disappearance. PH Couples Therapy 10pm, BBC Two More couples explore their relationship pinch-points in the soothing company of Dr Orna Guralnik. First up, a man who has been paying women for “cuddling sessions” says himself to his remarkably tolerant better half, and a man with autism struggles to control the meltdowns he experiences when challenged by his partner. PH Film choice The Beast, (Bertrand Bonello, 2022) 11.40pm, Film4 Back in the future ... George MacKay and Léa Seydoux in The Beast. Photograph: Carole Bethuel Inspired by a Henry James novella, Bertrand Bonello’s anguished sci-fi romance crosses space and time to explore the loneliness, fear and desire that are all part of what makes us human. In 2044, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) is persuaded by the AI that controls the world to undergo a past-life regression to “purify” her DNA and rid herself of unacceptably complicated emotions. But, in each existence she discovers a deep connection with George MacKay’s Louis. In 1910, she’s a bourgeois Parisian wife with an existential dread of disaster (“the beast”) attracted to his English gentleman. In 2014 Los Angeles, she’s an actor menaced by his incel stalker. Back in the future, could he be her soulmate? Simon Wardell Monkey Man (Dev Patel, 2022) 11.30pm, BBC One You wouldn’t necessarily expect Dev Patel’s directorial debut to be an extremely violent action thriller. But this was a passion project for the actor, and he throws himself wholeheartedly into the tale of an Indian underground fighter who wears a monkey mask and is paid to take a beating. Then he sees the police chief (Sikandar Kher) who murdered his mother when he was a kid and vows revenge. Mixing social and political commentary in with the close-quarter fisticuffs, it’s an impressive first effort. SW Live sport Test cricket, England v Pakistan 10am, Sky Sports Main Event. Joe Root returns to captain England on the opening day of the first Test at Headingley. Women’s cycling, Tour of Britain 10:45am, TNT Sports 1. Stage one, a 158.9km route that starts and ends in Cockermouth. Champions League Football, Celtic v LASK 7.30pm, TNT Sports 1. A play-off round first-leg match.