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The self-made con man ... Michel Cohen in $50 Million Art Swindle.
The self-made con man ... Michel Cohen in $50 Million Art Swindle. Photograph: BBC/Top Hat/Michel Cohen
The self-made con man ... Michel Cohen in $50 Million Art Swindle. Photograph: BBC/Top Hat/Michel Cohen

TV tonight: the $50m art heist to end all others

This article is more than 4 years old

Filmmaker Vanessa Eagle tracks down culprit Michel Cohen who escaped police clutches in 2003. Plus: DS Steve Fulcher is in the dock in A Confession. Here’s what to watch this evening

The $50 Million Art Swindle
9pm, BBC Two

It reads like something out of a heist movie: the self-made man with no knowable past pulls off one of the biggest art cons in history, making away with more than $50m from auction houses and art dealers. The man is Michel Cohen, and since escaping extradition from Brazil in 2003 he had never been seen – until the film-maker Vanessa Engle managed to track him down for this feature. It is a wild, thrilling ride examining how greed and success dovetail in a society that bases trust largely upon appearances. Ammar Kalia

Jamie’s Meat-Free Meals
8pm, Channel 4

As the UK turns towards vegetarianism and veganism in droves, Jamie serves up some meat-free options such as a scrumptious cauliflower cheese and a crunchy pad thai crowned with a crispy chilli egg. In rural India, local culinary magic also inspires him to add pickle to his roast spuds. Ali Catterall

A Confession
9pm, ITV

Anguished drama ... A Confession. Photograph: Colin Hutton/ITV

From The Office to Sherlock, Martin Freeman has excelled at coiled exasperation but rarely has it felt so raw as in Jeff Pope’s anguished fact-based drama. Despite collaring a likely serial killer, DS Steve Fulcher (Freeman) finds himself under pressure in the dock, while two devastated families look on. Graeme Virtue

Crime and Punishment
9pm, Channel 4

With HMP Winchester in special measures due to overcrowding and a worrying rise in self-harm and violence among inmates, prisoners are allowed out of their cells for only 45 minutes a day, prompting widespread protests in this second episode of the in-depth doc. A deeply challenging yet necessary watch. AK

Coca-Cola vs Pepsi: Cola Wars
9pm, Channel 5

It is a fundamental life question: are you a Coke or a Pepsi person? While Coke has always been the most recognisable brand, Pepsi has built its own empire as “the other one”. An entertaining watch on the often underhand marketing ploys between the two bitter(sweet) rivals. AK

Stath Lets Flats
10pm, Channel 4

The final episode of this superb series has all the vital awkward moments when Stath invites his love interest to join him for a flat viewing before the Haringey Letting awards. Stath is shocked when his dad makes a decision about the business, but Sophie steals the show with her awards night performance. Hannah Verdier

Film choice

A Hitchcockian nightmare ... Harrison Ford and Emmanuelle Seigner in Frantic (1988). Photograph: Warner Bros/Sportsphoto Ltd/Allstar

Frantic (Roman Polanski, 1988) 11.30pm, TCM Movies

Since Knife in the Water, Polanski has dabbled with tales of people out of their depth, and here Harrison Ford gets to flounder. Searching for his vanished wife in an indifferent Paris, he is deep in a Hitchcockian nightmare when a punk, Emmanuelle Seigner, comes to the rescue. Strange and unsettling. Paul Howlett

Live sport

Specsavers County Cricket Championship 10am, Sky Sports Main Event. The domestic calendar comes to a close with this final round.

Rugby World Cup: Wales v Georgia 10.25am, ITV. Wales play their first World Cup game in Japan.

WTA tennis 10pm, BT Sport 2. The Toray Pan Pacific Open final.

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