There’s a great selection of horror and thriller films on tonight as well as a real life horror story – in my opinion anyway – about the growing ‘purity movement’ in Cutting Edge’s Virgin Daughters at 9pm. So on with tonight’s telly offerings…

Emmerdale, ITV1, 7.30pm ~ In Yorkshire tonight, Eli wants Danielle to leave so he sets her up with a place in a local hostel but the lady has other ideas and won’t go that easily! Nicola tries desperately to make amends with Rodders and Ashley hears that the church may close.

Hollyoaks, E4, 7pm ~ On the other side of the pennines in Chester, Russ and Tina both have very big decisions to make. Russ is struggling with the prospect of being a father but instead of talking to Caroline about it, he decides to leave Hollyoaks. Dom is upset over losing Tina but his brother Tony reckons he should give it another try while Cindy’s fed up of Darren fussing over Newt.

Gorillas – Wildlife Special, UKTV Documentary, 7pm ~ This beautifully filmed documentary sees Gavin Thurston on the trail of gorillas through forests in the Congo. Are they savage, fierce animals or gentle intelligent giants? The amazing footage in this documentary seeks to dispel some of the myths about gorillas.

The Bill, ITV1, 8pm ~ An Honour To Serve, Part 1: When Sun Hill officers are called to a non-fatal stabbing, it appears to be an open and shut case, but things aren’t all they seem. The victim – ex-Casualty actor Christopher Colquhoun – accuses the husband of a woman he had a brief affair with, but the forensic evidence concludes that his injuries were self-inflicted. Realising how unstable and potentially dangerous the man is, Smithy mounts a desperate search to get to him before he gets to the woman’s daughter. In a showdown with the armed man, Gina evacuates the school where the girl is in lessons while Smithy risks his life to disarm him.

The Great Italian Escape, Channel 4, 8pm ~ If you’ve ever dreamt of escaping the rat-race, this documentary series is worth a look. It follows the lives of Richard and Sarah Turnbull who emigrated from the UK to Tuscany to live their dream life. As harvest time arrives in Tuscany, the Turnbull’s head off to nearby Sorana where Sarah and the kids help with the harvest of beans which are a local speciality. Meanwhile, Richard shows a UK crime writer around a house that’s only just come on the market and is pleasantly surprised to receive an offer on it there and then.

Don’t Tell the Bride, BBC3, 8pm ~ Linda & James: ~ A rather ludicrous series in which the groom must choose and arrange every detail of his wedding, from the venue to the cake to the wedding dress. In tonight’s show, James and Linda are desperate to get wed but don’t have enough money – hence the reason for their doing this show I imagine. They are given £12,000 and James to prove to Linda that he’s capable of arranging the entire wedding. The show even goes to the extreme lengths of having the couple sign legally binding documents to say that Linda must know nothing of any of the arrangements before the big day. Will James handle the pressure and give Linda a day she’ll never forget or will he fail and give her a day she’ll want to forget?

The Virgin Daughters, Channel 4, 9pm ~ Tonight’s film by Jane Treays, for the Cutting Edge series, explores the controversial purity movement in America, where one in every six girls pledges to remain a virgin – and some to even save their first kiss – until her wedding day. The film follows a group of fathers and daughters as they prepare to attend a ‘purity ball’ in Colorado Springs, which is run by Lisa and Randy Wilson. The ball is a chance for fathers to present their daughters and to pledge that she will remain a virgin until she’s married.

Most of the girls interviewed insist that ‘staying pure’ is what they want and their own decision however the film investigates just how much influence the fathers bring to bear on their daughters, often from a very young age. Is this just another US fad or is there something slightly sinister and unsavoury in fathers having such a vested interest in the sexual activities of their daughters?

Along Came a Spider, Film 4, 9pm ~ The excellent Morgan Freeman plays the role of detective and psychologist Alex Cross in this prequel to Kiss the Girls, both based on the bestselling novels by James Patterson.

When the daughter of a senator is kidnapped from her expensive private school, a desperate race to hunt down her psychotic captor begins. Cross is still trying to come to terms with the death of his partner but when the kidnapper leaves a piece of evidence in his postbox, Alex becomes involved on a level that will see him risking everything. Excellent nail-biting stuff!

Bones, Sky 1, 9pm ~ Yanks in the UK: The forensics drama returns tonight with a double-length special set in London. FBI special agent Seeley Booth, played by the drop dead gorgeous David Boreanaz, and Dr Temperance Brennan – who is Kathy Reichs lead character in many of her books – visit the UK to give lectures at Oxford University and Scotland Yard. However, they find themselves caught up in a murder case when the body of an American heiress is found in the Thames. The pair join forces with a British detective and a forensic anthropologist to investigate the murder. Viewers have a choice of start times so you needn’t miss Along Came A Spider!

Room 101, BBC2, 10pm ~ For a little light relief from all that crime drama, join Paul Merton who hosts this chat show in which celebrity guests are asked what they would rid the world of if they could. His guest tonight is Phil Collins who suggests that he’d get rid of TV evangelists and the Gallagher brothers, but will the studio audience agree?

Hostel, Five, 10pm ~ If you fancy scaring yourself witless before bed, then this film from director Eli Roth – who also directed Cabin Fever – will be right up your street. In fact, if you watch Along Came A Spider as well, you may have to sleep with the light on and a chair wedged up against your door.

Three backpackers travelling across Europe hear of a Slovakian inn where “their every hedonistic desire will be met”. However, they soon discover they’ve been lured into a trap, where wealthy and depraved businessmen pay for the chance to torture people to death and have it filmed for posterity. Sounds a bit like Butlins actually. Anyone who’s ever heard Red Coats singing will doubtless agree.

Samantha Who? E4, 10pm ~ 3/15 – The Wedding: American sitcom about a woman who develops amnesia after a hit-and-run accident. Tonight, Sam makes a faux pas when she attends a friend’s wedding. She forgot that the bride had ‘uninvited’ her so she hurriedly tries to patch things up.

That’s it for tonight’s telly picks but I’ll be back with more what’s on tomorrow.