I am Ruth
Thursday, 9 p.m., Channel 4
For anyone who was ever a teenager, this feature-length drama is nerve-wracking to watch – it captures so brutally just how horrific everything can be. Kate Winslet, who co-wrote the episode with Dominic Savage, gives a floor performance as single mother Ruth, who is worried sick about her reclusive, social media-obsessed 17-year-old daughter Freya (played by real-life Winslet child Mia Threapleton). While it’s no news that the digital age is a terrifying world to grow up in, this story shows how its toxicity seeps into the lives of young people. Sure, the nepotism hasn’t gone unnoticed, but Threapleton’s talents are undeniably impressive. Hollie Richardson
Planet sex with Cara Delevingne
10 p.m., BBC 3
“Can you read my mind through my vagina?” This is just one of many “Forgive me?!” moments from Cara Delevingne’s journey into modern sex. Tonight she explores her own homosexuality – something she doesn’t think she’s always had the freedom to do. First step: a “big lesbian day” in Palm Springs, where she judges a twerk contest. HOUR
The secret genius of modern life
8 p.m., BBC 2
Professor Hannah Fry’s playful but fascinating series on the laid-back sheen of modernity continues with a focus on the fitness tracker. They are, Fry believes, “a miracle of miniaturization.” But how were they developed? It’s a bizarre story involving car crashes in the 1970s and dogfights in World War II. Phil Harrison
Christmas at Blenheim Palace
8 p.m., Channel 4
Will the staff at the stately home manage to erect a mile-long trail of lights before the opening of their festive show? Can they arrange afternoon tea for 12,000 people? And is that level of danger intriguing enough to sustain a three-part series on the fly? This episode should reveal all. Alexis Duggins
English
9 p.m., BBC 2
Nobody wants an encounter with the wheel-dealer Black-Eyed Mog (a terrifying Nichola McAuliffe), but Lady Cornelia has no alternative in the penultimate episode of Emily Blunt’s majestic western. She’s not the only one under pressure: the Trafford herd is in danger and Eli is desperate to clear his conscience. Hannah Verdier
Live at the Moth Club
10 p.m., Dave
This week’s edition of the stand-up show’s mockumentary sees headliner Tom Davis step down after an incident with his hair corks. Thankfully, in the audience is City Boy, who looks a lot like Jamie Demetriou and fulfills a routine that’s every bit as painful as Stath’s worst moments. AD
Choice of movies
Pinocchio by Guillermo del Toro (Guillermo del Toro, 2022), Netflix
This stop-motion animated version of the fable is co-directed by Mark Gustafson, known for Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox, so attention to detail is guaranteed, with Del Toro providing the whimsy and wonder. Gregory Mann plays the wooden boy on a perilous quest to be human, while David Bradley (Geppetto), Ewan McGregor (Cricket) and Cate Blanchett (Spazzatura) are just a few of the famous names lending their voices. The recent (mostly) live-action version with Tom Hanks was typical schmaltzy Disney fare; Del Toro’s vision is much darker. Simon Wardel
Long Weekend (Colin Eggleston, 1978) 11:30 p.m., Talking Pictures TV
Colin Eggleston’s largely forgotten but pleasantly edgy eco-horror, part of Australia’s new wave of the 70s, is more in the vein of Ozploitation than the fuzzy, ambiguous dramas of Peter Weir that embodied the movement. John Hargreaves and Briony Behets play a couple on a trip to a secluded beach hoping to mend their strained marriage, but their jaded spoliation of their surroundings – from running over a kangaroo to spraying insecticide – returns bite them. Think birds with additional dugongs. SW
Live sports
Golf: Alfred Dunhill Championship, 10 a.m., Sky Sports Main Event First day of the Leopard Creek Country Club tournament in South Africa.