Pick of the Day | Wednesday 11 July

8.00, The Alastair Campbell Diaries, BBC2
NEW SERIES Three-parter giving a glimpse into what went on behind closed doors as Tony Blair decided to run for PM in the wake of John Smith’s death, and the ensuing power struggles in the Labour party. It’s a good excuse for footage of the early years, with Tony and Gordon still looking young and fresh, but the music and shots of Campbell ‘writing’ in his diary may make you wish you had just bought the book instead.

9.00, Wire in the Blood, ITV1
NEW SERIES Robson Green drops his chirpy chappy routine for another series of the dark crime drama. Tonight’s series opener sees the Doc and the DI investigating a child abduction which gradually turns into a much more complex and sinister case.

9.00, FILM Election, ITV2
A deliciously malicious black comedy from Alexander Payne, the director of About Schmidt and Sideways, starring Matthew Broderick as a high-school teacher who hates perky student Reese Witherspoon so much he conspires to ruin her chances of becoming school president.