LOUIS THEROUX: DARK STATES,
BBC2, 9pm

LOUIS Theroux’s exploration of the dark side of American life concludes tonight with an episode called “Murder In Milwaukee”.

He’s in the north of the city, which is plagued by “sky-high levels of gun violence” and where the homicide rate is 12 times the national average. The episode begins with terrible tension as Louis, wearing a bulletproof vest, is in a police car chasing a vehicle filled with suspected armed robbers.

The suspects crash into a house and there is total chaos on the street.

It’s noticeable throughout that the police tend to be white and the suspects black, and so Louis moves into the territory of the Black Lives Matter campaigns.

He speaks to a black woman who claims the police aren’t trying to protect them but, instead, are “trying to escalate the crime”.

Why would they do this? “I dunno baby,” she says, but the sentiment is fixed, nonetheless; many black people see the police as their enemy, so what hope can there be of reducing crime and violence in such a fractured society?

YOUR SONG,
STV, 9pm

THIS programme is a nice idea. I’m naturally cynical, so I’m trying to find something wrong with it, but I can’t; it really does seem nice and heart-warming.

It’s a one-off special, presented by Emma Willis, where members of the public who’re going through a tough time, or who deserve a special kind of thank you for their charity work, are serenaded by their favourite pop stars. It’s like a musical version of Surprise Surprise.

And here’s the clincher: you’ll have heard of the pop stars! They don’t just rope in some nobodies who were once on The X Factor. There are genuine big names here, such as Paloma Faith, Little Mix, and Rita Ora.

Paloma turns up as a celebrant at a gay wedding and Rita Ora goes back to the youth club she used to attend as a teenager. One woman, who founded a charity to stop bullying, receives a special performance from James Arthur. Not only is he singing for her, but he has composed a song in her honour. Lovely!