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George W Bush (with chief of staff, Andy Card) in his bedroom on Air Force One on 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room.
George W Bush (with chief of staff, Andy Card) in his bedroom on Air Force One on 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room. Photograph: Eric Draper/BBC/Archival Operations Division, NARA/George W Bush Presidential Library and Museum
George W Bush (with chief of staff, Andy Card) in his bedroom on Air Force One on 9/11: Inside the President’s War Room. Photograph: Eric Draper/BBC/Archival Operations Division, NARA/George W Bush Presidential Library and Museum

TV tonight: what President George W Bush really did on 9/11

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In a new documentary, the former US president and his team recall the 12 hours after the September 2001 terror attacks. Plus: Daisy Haggard returns in Back to Life. Here’s what to watch this evening

9/11: Inside the President’s War Room
8.30pm, BBC One

Where Monday night’s Surviving 9/11 told the story of some of the civilians who found themselves in the midst of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, this documentary analyses 12 hours in the US presidency as the news and its aftermath unfolded. Former president George W Bush recalls hearing of the attacks at a primary school, while members of his team revisit their unpreparedness for an attack like that, as the press records their reactions. Ammar Kalia

Saving Lives at Sea

8pm, BBC Two

More heroics from the volunteers of the RNLI, the charity that became a political football earlier this summer for rescuing refugees in trouble at sea. Tonight, they plunge into a rip current to save a mother and son and help a man who has fallen off a cliff. Phil Harrison

The Secret Life of the Zoo

8pm, Channel 4

This week at Chester Zoo, the keepers are trying to create a romantic atmosphere to encourage a pair of Kenyan antelopes to mate. Meanwhile, there’s potential danger in store as keepers try to get blood samples from the crocodiles, and George, a Malagasy giant rat, undergoes major surgery. AK

Long Lost Family

9pm, ITV

It’s never too late to reconnect with family. Tonight’s searcher is Roy, 86, who lost touch with his daughter nearly 60 years ago, when his ex-wife moved without warning. All this happened in New York, so his hopeful quest for a reunion is now a transatlantic task. Jack Seale

Britannia

9pm, Sky Atlantic

It’s gone from bad to worse for Queen Antedia after being sold into slavery, as the brilliantly mad druids’n’drugs drama continues. Her new home is a hovel and her owners are the pits. But there is an escape route on the cards … Meanwhile, an unwitting Cait meets the man who blinded her father. Ali Catterall

Begin again … Daisy Haggard returns for a second series of Back to Life. Photograph: Luke Varley/BBC/Two Brothers Pictures

Back to Life

10.35pm, BBC One

Daisy Haggard’s ingenious comedy-drama about ex-convict Miri Matteson’s return to her small-town home after an 18-year sentence begins its second season. We pick up six weeks on from Miri’s release as she tries to fend for herself, although she is still avoiding her mum and best friend Mandy. AK

Magnificently curmudgeonly … Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino. Photograph: Photo by Anthony Michael Rivetti/Malposa Productions

Film choice

Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008), 10pm, ITV4
Recent widower and embittered Korean war vet Walt Kowalski only cares about his car, a pristine Gran Torino. He reserves his meanest snarls for the Hmong family next door, until violent local hoods cause him to befriend and defend them. It’s a wry, elegiac drama, with Eastwood magnificent as the old curmudgeon. Paul Howlett

Live sport

Paralympics 2020 9am, Channel 4. Coverage of the swimming finals.

Cricket: Saint Lucia Kings v Trinbago Knight Riders 2.40pm, BT Sport 1. T20 match from Warner Park Sporting Complex.

Baseball: Tampa Bay Rays v Boston Red Sox 12midnight, BT Sport ESPN. American League match from Tropicana Field.

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