TV tonight: our highlights for Monday 18th January

Davina McCall, Nicky Campbell

Long Lost Family is just one of the gems on TV tonight...

Long Lost Family sees a couple search for their son after 40 years apart, while Lucy Worsley brings us secrets from behind the closed doors of royal palaces. 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

Long Lost Family, 9pm, ITV 

Nicky Campbell and Davina McCall TV tonight

Davina and Nicky are back with a new series of Long Lost Family (Picture: ITV) (Image credit: ITV)

We can’t quite believe it has been a decade since Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell oversaw their first emotional and utterly compelling family reunion. Now, they are back for their 10th run and the contributors’ remarkable journeys to locate their loved ones are just as heart-breaking and heartwarming as ever. First up, Irish couple Kevin and Phyllis, who have been together since they were teenagers in the 1970s, ask for help to find their eldest son who was adopted as a baby. Meanwhile, grandfather Michael is eager to get to the truth about why his birth mother left him with another family in Glasgow in the 1950s. ★★★★ CC

Murdoch Mysteries, 9pm, Alibi 

It’s not quite Have I Got News for You, which ended 2020 on series 60, but 14 series isn’t bad going for this Canadian period crime drama. As new episodes air on Alibi from tonight, detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) returns to solve cases in early 20th-century Toronto. When a vaudeville artist is killed, Murdoch’s subsequent investigation turns out to involve two visiting Englishmen, Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel… ★★★ JP

Royal Palace Secrets, BBC iPlayer 

Lucy Worsley's Royal Palace Secrets

Lucy brings us secrets from inside royal palaces in her latest documentary (Picture: BBC/Tom Howard) (Image credit: BBC/Tom Howard)

In Lucy Worsley’s latest documentary, she’s got the run of three palaces during lockdown. As chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces, she’s the ideal guide: feeding ravens at the Tower of London with the magnificently named yeoman warder Shady Lane; revealing an example of the expensive (and huge) gowns worn at Hampton Court in Stuart times; and dressing up as Victoria and Albert to illustrate their first meeting at Kensington Palace. Entertaining and full of fascinating details, not least the fact that Lucy had her job interview in the room where Queen Victoria was born! ★★★★ JP

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

Not Going Out, Series 1 to 10, BBC iPlayer

Not Going Out TV Tonight

Series 1 - 10 of Not Going Out are now available on BBC iPlayer (Picture: BBC/Avalon/Pete Dadds) (Image credit: BBC/Avalon/Pete Dadds)

With series 11 of Not Going Out currently airing on BBC1, what better time to catch up with the past 10 series of the show and find out how Lee (Lee Mack) and Lucy (Sally Bretton) went from being young, free and single, to married with three kids. There are plenty of laughs and many famous faces making appearances across the 10 series which are currently available to stream on iPlayer.

Best film to watch on TV tonight

Fargo, 11.45pm, ITV

Pregnant detective Frances McDormand is on the case when a botched kidnapping leaves three bodies in its wake. Brilliant. ★★★★

Soaps

Live sport

  • Premier League Football: Arsenal v Newcastle United, 8pm, Sky Sports

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight… 

Don't miss Long Lost Family - an hour full of emotional moments.

Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide. 

Happy viewing!

Claire Crick
Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch

Claire is Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch and has been a journalist for over 15 years, writing about everything from soaps and TV to beauty, entertainment, and even the Royal Family. After starting her career at a soap magazine, she ended up staying for 13 years, and over that time she’s pulled pints in the Rovers Return, sung karaoke in the Emmerdale village hall, taken a stroll around Albert Square, and visited Summer Bay Surf Club in sunny Australia. 


After learning some tricks of the trade at websites Digital Spy, Entertainment Daily, and Woman & Home, Claire landed a role at What’s On TV and whattowatch.com writing about all things TV and film, with a particular love for Aussie soaps, Strictly Come Dancing and Bake Off


She’s interviewed everyone from June Brown — AKA Dot Cotton — to Michelle Keegan, swapped cooking tips with baking legend Mary Berry backstage at the NTAs, and danced the night away with soap stars at countless awards bashes. There’s not a lot she doesn’t know about soaps and TV and can be very handy when a soapy question comes up in a pub quiz! 


As well as all things soap-related, Claire also loves running, spa breaks, days out with her kids, and getting lost in a good book.