Supervet (Channel 4, 8pm)

PROFESSOR Noel Fitzpatrick continues to carry the mantle for our All Creatures Great and Small interest by performing complicated surgical miracles which prevents pets having to be put down and earned himself the Supervet title in the process.

Tonight, there will be tears because he faces a situation where even his skills can't help.

Fitzpatrick lives in Guildford, but eats and sleeps next to his patients at Fitzpatrick Referrals – his multi-million pound neurosurgery and orthopaedic centre just outside the village of Eashing – so that he can see hundreds of pets with problems each week.

Among the four-pawed patients is six-month-old Max, a chihuahua puppy with deformity complications following a leg break; Maya, a blue Russian cat that’s sustained multiple jawbone injuries after a dog attack and Spud, a much-loved and amiable part-labrador that’s suddenly gone lame. The latter’s owner is from a homeless shelter and can’t afford to pay, so Fitzpatrick waives his fee, which isn't possible for all of course.

Closer to home, the Supervet recently helped one of the region’s most dedicated animal rights’ campaigners.

Christine Kipling, from Bishop Auckland, made the five-hour journey from Surrey with Fram, a Romanian rescue dog with part of one of its legs missing. The two year-old former stray was scavenging for food in Bacova when he had his front left leg hacked off with a machete by a group of youths.

The cross-breed lost a lot of blood and, unable to forage for food, struggled to survive. About four weeks later, a charity volunteer spotted Fram and kept him alive. After Ms Kipling expressed an interest, he was shipped to England where she looked after him at her Grey Street home.

Fram arrived in August and Ms Kipling first took him to Bishop Auckland vet, Paul Wilson, who gave him laser treatment to encourage new tissue to grow on his leg. However, further work was still needed and the first part of Fitzpatrick’s treatment was an in-depth assessment at a cost of £1,200.

Early hopes that Fram could have a prosthetic leg fitted were dashed when the dog needed surgery to remove the injured limb. Better news is that once back in the North-East, and after a period of recuperation, a foster carer has been found for Fram.

Ms Kipling, an animal behaviourist who has four other dogs of her own and works during the day as an accountant, says she is appalled by what happened to Fram.

“It is incomprehensible,” she said. “Those youths will never understand what they did. It is just despicable what some people can do to animals.”

Suspects (Channel 5, 10pm)

FAY Ripley, Damien Molony and Clare-Hope Ashitey return as the long suffering East London detectives in a fourth run of this partly improvised crime drama. In the first of four episodes, Jack and Martha are called to a rooftop protest to talk an emotional Ken Baxter out of doing something drastic. Grieving the loss of his wife who he buried two days ago, his army Lance Corporal son Pete has been missing for a week. Ken is convinced something happened to him as Pete would not have missed the funeral unless something was wrong. It transpires that Pete is suffering from PTSD following a harrowing incident on his last tour of duty. When the authorities receive an anonymous message claiming that 'the missing soldier is dead", concerns for the soldier's safety increase.

Dominic Sandbrook: Let Us Entertain You (BBC2, 9pm)

DOMINIC Sandbrook explores the rise of the individual in post-war culture in the final edition of the series. The idea first took hold during the Victorian period – in the era of the novel and self-help – despite industrialisation leading to the growth of a collective identity. The concept of individual identity and self-determination reached fruition after the war, and saw the emergence of performers such as John Lennon, John Self, Kate Bush, and the seemingly endless stream of TV talent show contestants. Last in the series.

Viv Hardwick