On TV tonight, Olivia Colman stars in a new take on Dicken's classic, Great Expectations from Steven Knight, a sinister chain of events is afoot in Grace, plus a new batch of celebs take on The Great Celebrity Bake Off, 12 strangers set off on an I'm A Celeb style adventure in Tempting Fortune, and Wild Isles focuses on our glorious grasslands in the latest episode. Here's what you shouldn't miss on TV Tonight.
- Our hand-selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include TV shows, a film, live sport and the latest trending need-to-binge-on-now box set
- Keep up to date with the latest soap spoiler storylines on TV tonight with our daily soap synopsis
- For more information about what’s on TV tonight see our TV Guide
What's on TV tonight
Our expert TV journalists have picked the best things on TV tonight...
Best TV shows on TV tonight
Great Expectations, 9 pm, BBC One
There have been plenty of adaptations of Dickens’ sweeping rites-of-passage novel over the years, but this one is rather special. Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight brings a brilliantly unsettling but sometimes darkly comic tone to the classic as the star-studded series follows orphan Pip (Fionn Whitehead, with Tom Sweet as the younger version) and his bid to move up in the world. But Pip’s life implodes when he helps escaped convict Magwitch (a terrifying Johnny Harris) and also becomes the companion to the ward of creepy Miss Havisham (a scene-stealing Olivia Colman). Book your place on the sofa for the next six weeks and settle in for a treat!
★★★★★ CC
Grace, 8 pm, ITV1
DS Glenn Branson was heartbroken when he discovered his wife was cheating on him, and we get a glimpse into that fraught relationship as he makes an awkward return to the family home tonight. These character arcs help separate Grace from the many other detective dramas and Richie Campbell plays the struggling copper with real pathos, but we’re also pleased to see him back on the beat after a week spent on Grace’s (John Simm) sofa. With a road traffic accident setting off a dark and sinister chain of events across Brighton, the pair have plenty to keep them busy!
★★★★ SMA
Tempting Fortune, 9 pm, Channel 4
Tonight, in a new six-part series, 12 strangers embark on a grueling 18-day trek across South Africa, with the aim of sharing £300,000 at the finish line. But there are eye-wateringly expensive temptations in their path! The twist is this: giving in reduces the prize pot – and if anyone leaves, £25,000 is removed. Resolve soon crumbles for some, as the reality of living on basic rations (I’m a Celebrity’s infamous rice and beans diet) sinks in, resulting in ructions over a £300 milkshake. With treachery, unexpected alliances and playfulness (host Paddy McGuinness turning up in a black cab, anyone?), The Traitors has a worthy rival. Continues tomorrow.
★★★★ ER
The Great Celebrity Bake Off, 7.40 pm, Channel 4
Comic actors Jessica Hynes and Tim Key, ex-TOWIE star Gemma Collins and presenter AJ Odudu are battling it out in the tent this week, and while AJ tempts fate by laughing, ‘How hard can it be?’, Gemma, who has rather a crush on a certain Mr Hollywood, boasts, ‘I’m a cooking genius!’ But the proof will be in the pudding, and for the Signature, they must make a deceptively simple sandwich cake, before a Technical that’s all about ‘precision’. Then, for the Showstopper, they recreate their earliest childhood memory from choux pastry – Paul cheerfully anticipates ‘a lot of problems’! Will there be tears before bedtime?!
★★★★ CC
Wild Isles, 7 pm, BBC One
There are some enchanting sequences in tonight’s episode of Sir David Attenborough’s glorious series, which this week focuses on our dwindling grasslands. We’re treated to stunning footage of boxing hares, a short-eared owl swooping down to catch a vole and a charming mason bee riding through a meadow on a tiny twig like a broomstick. But there are also some less beguiling spectacles, including the surprising sight of two adders, locked together after mating, as the female unceremoniously drags the male around everywhere she goes!
★★★★ HD
Best box set on TV tonight
Shadow and Bone is perfect for fantasy fans waiting for their next big fix. Season 2 picks up with Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li) on the run after escaping from General Kirigan's (Ben Barnes) grasp at the end of the first season. Here, she's determined to bring down the Shadow Fold, the rift of darkness that divides Ravka in half. Kirigan's got other ideas, though, as he's returned from the center of the Fold with powerful new monsters at his beck and call. Expect more magic, more characters, and more romance.
MS
Best film on TV tonight
Titanic, 5.15 pm, Film4
A party of explorers studying the sunken remains of the famous liner meets an elderly woman who was a passenger on the ill-fated maiden voyage. She recounts how she boarded the ship while on the brink of being forced into marriage by her family, and was stopped from killing herself by a penniless artist. She fell in love with her saviour, but the disaster on the horizon meant their time together was doomed to be short. James Cameron's Oscar-winning romantic drama, starring Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates and Bill Paxton. If you've somehow not seen it already, here's a perfect opportunity.
Live Sport
- EURO 2024 Qualifiers: England vs Ukraine, 4 pm (k-o 5pm), Channel 4
- World Golf Championships, from 7 pm, Sky Sports Main Event
- NCAA Basketball: 7 pm (Tip-off TBC), BT Sport 1
If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…
Don't miss Great Expectations on TV tonight.
Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide.
Happy viewing!
