TV tonight: our highlights for Tuesday 22nd September

The Great British Bake Off is just one of the gems on today...

Matt Lucas makes his Great British Bake Off hosting debut as the C4 favourite returns, Jack Whitehall embarks on more Travels With His Father on Netflix, and ex-Bake Off host Sandi Toksvig is helping The Write Offs on C4. Here’s what you shouldn’t miss on TV tonight.

Our hand selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include three 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

Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father, Netflix

TV tonight Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father — Jack and Michael are on their travels again

Neither Jack nor dad Michael Whitehall is exactly the butchest man on earth, so how about sending them on a testosterone-soaked tour Down Under? The results are comedy gold, needless to say. Jack fighting an emu? Michael dragging up as the Queen? Two highlights from a series showcasing the Whitehalls’ ability to fit in anywhere and proving (again) they’re game for just about anything, as well as a laugh.

★★★★ SM

The Great British Bake Off, 8pm, C4

TV tonight The Great British Bake Off — Matt Lucas joins the Bake Off team

How the world has changed since David Atherton won 2019’s Bake Off. We could throw parties, take cakes to the office and masks were just for fancy dress. Thankfully, C4 has found a way of bringing back the show, starting with cake week. As a bubble of 12 new bakers enters the tent, judges Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood return while Matt Lucas makes his debut as host alongside Noel Fielding. Things get going with as usual: a signature bake, followed by a tricky technical and finally the mouthwatering showstopper.

★★★★★ JL

The Write Offs, 9.30pm, C4/All 4

TV tonight The Write Offs — Sandi meets adults who cannot read

There are around eight million functionally illiterate adults living in Britain. Sandi Toksvig meets eight of them, all learning to read. People like Tommy, 66, who blames his dyslexia on his dad, who used to hit young Tommy with a poker when he spelt a word wrong. ‘When you can’t read… you feel like a failure,’ says Tommy, who is on a mission to learn how to write a letter and read it out to his colleagues. Rock on, Tommy!

★★★★ SMA

Wallander, seasons 1-4, BBC iPlayer, Netflix

TV tonight Wallander — Sir Kenneth Branagh stars

With Young Wallander currently streaming on Netflix, now is the perfect time to revisit the original BAFTA-winning series, which sees Sir Kenneth Branagh playing the Swedish detective in later years when he’s an inspector. Branagh is excellent as the dedicated but troubled cop dealing with some very dark investigations in a superb crime drama.

Best film to watch on TV tonight

Bugsy, 9pm, Sony Movies Classic

Warren Beatty is the 1940s mobster, Bugsy Siegel, whose twin obsessions are his girlfriend Virginia Hill (Annette Bening) and his lavish plan to turn desert town Las Vegas and the gambling capital of America. As a true-life gangster chronicle, this is a fascinating tale. Beatty brings plenty of hard-edged authority to Siegel’s time in the sun.