1) “Dexter: New Blood” debut, 9 p.m., Showtime. In its eight seasons, “Dexter” drew four best-drama Emmy nominations, plus five best-actor ones for Michael C. Hall (shown here), as a police technician who secretly killed bad guys. Now here’s the solid start of a 10-part mini-series: For a decade, Dexter has been hiding in upstate New York. In public, he’s cheerful, dating the police chief; in private, he argues with images of his late sister. He meets someone from his past and worries that his old ways may return.
2) “Call the Midwife” and “Grantchester,” 8 and 9 p.m., PBS. Life transformed in 1967, when the British de-criminalized homosexuality (effective in ‘68) and abortion. Now both shows take tough looks at the agony before the changes: In “Midwife” (set in ‘66), a patient’s botched self-abortion causes Trixie to speak out; in “Grantchester” (‘50s), the gay curate is already in prison. Both hours have other stories – OK ones on “Midwife,” potent, post-war ones on “Grantchester.”
3) “Yellowstone” season-opener, 8-10 p.m., Paramount Network, repeating at 10 p.m. and midnight. In its first three years, “Yellowstone” thrived against weak competition. Now it steps into TV’s toughest night and busiest month, in mid-crisis. First are reruns of the second-season finale (9 a.m.) and the entire third season (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.). That ended in a fierce attack that critically wounded John Dutton (Kevin Costner) and two of his offspring, Kayce and Beth. Now the attack continues.
4) “Doctor Who,” 8-9:27 p.m., BBC America. Here’s a dandy bonus: This new “Who” season – the last one with Jodie Whittaker in the title role – will be 8 p.m. Sundays. Tonight, the time-traveling Doctor goes to the Crimean War and finds the British facing a brutal alien army of Sontarans.
5) “The Simpsons,” 8 p.m., Fox. After a baseball break last week, the show returns with something unusual: Homer and Net are sucked into, as Fox puts it, “the artfully violent world of prestige TV.” That requires a sea of guest voices, including Brian Cox (whose prestige “Succession” is 9 p.m. on HBO), plus Joe Mantegna, Cristin Milioti, Timothy Olyphant, Jessica Pare and Chris O’Dowd.