Memorable documentary series require at least three elements: a great story, big ideas and dazzling photography. The six-part history “The Story of India” (8 p.m. and 9 p.m., PBS, airing on Mondays through Jan. 19) has all three and much more.

In fact, there is simply too much story and too many ideas from India’s more than 10,000 years of history to cram into six hours. But give writer, producer and host Michael Wood credit for trying. The first hour does a good job of helping viewers understand the extremely ancient origins of Indian culture by tracing elements of language and faith back nearly 10,000 years to the very dawn of human civilization.

Subsequent installments cover India’s religious traditions, its embrace of Hinduism and the birth of Buddhism and the many foreign empires that conquered and occupied the subcontinent only to depart. The armies and kingdoms of Alexander, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane and even the British Empire have all moved into the past tense, while India endures and is poised to become a dominant economic superpower in the 21st century.

I generally don’t go for these vast survey history documentaries and prefer to approach general history through the lens of a very particular subject. But Woods and his collaborators found that while there have been dozens of film histories of ancient China, Rome and Greece, India has remained uncovered. And “The Story of India” does a fine job of introducing its subject in a thought-provoking manner with stunning images both beautiful and strange.

• Jason Mesnick, whose proposal of marriage was rejected by a previous winner of “The Bachelorette,” is now “The Bachelor” (7 p.m., ABC) returning for a 13th season. Mesnick is also a single dad, the first in the series history.

Tonight’s other highlights

• The competition continues on “Superstars of Dance” (7 p.m., NBC).

• “Antiques Roadshow” (7 p.m., PBS) opens its 13th season in Palm Springs, Calif., and features the most valuable object ever appraised on the series — a 1937 painting by abstract expressionist Clyfford Still, estimated to be worth $500,000. Mark L. Walberg returns as host.

• Amy has decisions galore as “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” (7 p.m., Family).

• Ohio State and Texas tangle in the Fiesta Bowl (7:15 p.m., Fox).

• Over the course of a season, the new series “Masters of Illusion” (8 p.m., MyNetwork) will showcase the work of more than 70 top magicians in front of live audiences.

• A corpse in a sinkhole offers gruesome clues on “CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS).

• Holidays become competitive on “Momma’s Boys” (9 p.m., NBC).

• Our host travels to Mexico to savor the culture and cuisine of his friend’s hometown of Puebla as well as Mexico City on the fifth-season premiere of “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” (9 p.m., Travel).

• Five friends strive to lose 30 pounds each over the 90 days leading up to their friends wedding on the new five-part series “Diet Tribe” (9 p.m., Lifetime).

• Eight attractive contestants try to prove that they possess inner beauty in the new elimination series “True Beauty” (9 p.m., ABC).

Cult choice

A man murders rich widows to support his invalid wife in the 1947 black comedy “Monsieur Verdoux” (3 a.m., Eastern, TCM), directed by Charlie Chaplin and starring Chaplin and Martha Raye.