The Honourable Woman, ABC, 8.35pm

Matters are hurtling towards a climax and if you haven’t signed on for this top-notch rollercoaster from the start it’s probably too late now, such are the twists and turns and nicely balanced moral dilemmas. Maggie Gyllenhaal is in devastating form as Nessa.

Ainsley Harriott’s Street Food,  SBS, 8.30pm 

So where in the world is Ainsley this week? Pottering around the medina in Fes, Morocco, that’s where. And he’s picked a top time to take in the sights, sounds and food as it’s almost Eid and everyone is gearing up for some serious feasting. It’s a joyful time for everyone in the Muslim world as the sense of anticipation builds towards the celebrations. Well, practically everyone – Eid is presumably not so popular among the millions of lambs who form the  centrepiece of the Eid meal. And this being Morocco, the meat doesn’t come packed in polystyrene and plastic; it’s   covered in wool and saying baa.

With admirable intestinal fortitude, Ainsley gets to witness one unfortunate specimen being dispatched on a family rooftop. Shortly afterwards he then exclaims at how fresh the liver is, which, considering the lamb was recently using it as a ... er, liver ... is hardly surprising. There’s not much the big feller won’t chow down on, although he does draw the line at some undercooked snails. The clue  they might not be quite ready for the plate lies in the fact  several  are making a dash to freedom. Ainsley cuts a slightly gormless and wide-eyed figure through all these shenanigans, playing up the Englishman abroad stereotype for all it’s worth. Still, it’s always a gentle and pleasant journey in his company, and the few dishes he does get around to cooking look pretty good, too.

Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, Seven, 9.15pm 

The fact Joe Nagy’s closest friend is a goat speaks volumes about the Ohio-based restaurateur. Certainly, he’s got no friends among the humans who work  at his Mill Street Bistro, a supposed paddock-to-plate fine-dining restaurant that is performing dismally for reasons that rapidly become apparent. As well as being  deeply unpopular, Joe is also a very angry man. Which means bringing him together with Gordon Ramsay  makes for very entertaining,  shouty, television. 
Nick Galvin

PAY TV

Sisterhood of Hip-Hop, Channel [V], 9.30pm

An intriguing start to a reality series that looks like it might be less about shouting and throwing drinks and more about the various talents of five young female rappers and the challenges they face in a male-dominated industry. The women have all converged on New York but they have different backgrounds and goals. Brianna is studying economics and business in the hope of turning herself into a one-woman industry; Diamond wants to get out from under the shadow of her childhood success and past relationships with better-known rappers; Siya, the first openly gay female MC in the business, wants to crash through some walls. Tonight the women briefly explain where they’re at, and the likes of Timbaland and Rick Ross provide encouragement.
Brad Newsome 

MOVIES

Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010), Eleven, 9pm 

When it came to adaptations of dystopic young adult novels Australia was actually on the ball, with John Marsden’s story about a group of teenagers fleeing and then fighting back when Australia is invaded by a foreign power being made into this passable adolescent action-adventure. The resolute if conflicted heroine here is Ellie (Caitlin Stasey), who returns from a camping trip with her high school friends to discover their town has been occupied. The set-up suggests John Milius’ Cold War ode to patriotism Red Dawn, but the scenes of confrontation are divided by teenage romance and an initial belief in avoiding conflict. That requires more from the screenplay by director Stuart Beattie, as well as more nuanced performances by the young supporting cast, and that’s where the film falls short. It’s caught between trying to show the horror of war and avoiding an xenophobic attitude to Asia, between wanting to explore the characters and having them engaged in makeshift battles.

Friends with Money (2006), Romance Movies (pay TV), 10.35pm 

The Los Angeles residents Nicole Holofcener assiduously documents in Friends with Money are affluent but not excessively rich. They’re screenwriters or boutique fashion designers; they live in up-market suburbs, but not the Hollywood Hills. They should have a degree of comfort but, as the film subtly reveals, happiness is just out of reach, almost defying them. The lives of her female protagonists come closest to making sense when they’re together, emphasising their communal bond and what they individually lack. The exception to marriage and privilege is Olivia (Jennifer Aniston), a former private school teacher who quit her job to clean houses and date a succession of inappropriate men while pining for a married former lover.

Her situation is both a source of amusement and, in an unspoken way, a reproach to her close friends Jane (Frances McDormand), Christine (Catherine Keener) and Franny (Joan Cusack). Yet Friends with Money is not a picture about wealth or class – Holofcener relates to this scene so closely that she can critique it from within, but not in relation to the wider world. Holofcener favours illustrative action and quiet discussion. Her aversion to cathartic confessions is welcome, even if there’s a certain insider quality to the composition of Christine and David (Jason Isaacs), married screenwriters who argue over each page and disagree about what their characters would do as a surrogate form of playing out their anger with each other.
Craig Mathieson