On TV tonight, Death in Paradise on BBC1 has a locked-room mystery, there are new virtual-reality makeovers in Your Garden Made Perfect on BBC2, and Lee Child's anti-hero gets his own series in Reacher on Prime Video. 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
Death in Paradise, season 11, 9pm, BBC1
This week’s case involves a young British singer found dead at the Saint Marie recovery centre where she was staying. But who gave her the fatal aspirin to which she was known to be allergic? It’s another puzzle for the police – and Neville (Ralf Little) is also wondering why his sister has suddenly turned up out of the blue. ‘It’s so weird that you two are related,’ says Marlon (Tahj Miles) to his boss, ‘because she’s so cool and funny and chilled, and you’re, well, you know…’ Yes, Marlon, we know. And who else but DI Parker would see an ‘upside down’ toothbrush as a vital clue in a murder case?
★★★ JP
Your Garden Made Perfect, 8pm, BBC2
Angela Scanlon returns to help people create seriously dreamy gardens with some incredible designs. Tonight, garden designers Manoj Malde and Pip Propert compete to reimagine newly divorced Steph’s poky garden, using virtual-reality technology. Pip’s design features a living wall, a yoga studio and a pergola with coloured Perspex! Meanwhile, new recruit Tayshan Hayden-Smith has a budget of £800 to transform a patch of gravel outside Rhona and Mark’s family caravan into a calm oasis. A much-needed ray of TV sunshine.
★★★★ HD
Reacher, season 1, Prime Video
Previously played by Tom Cruise in two films, Jack Reacher is a hulking former military policeman with Sherlock Holmes-like powers of deduction and a knack for getting into trouble. In this TV adaptation of the first of Reacher creator Lee Child’s books, the physically imposing Alan Ritchson plays the title character, who is arrested on suspicion of murder upon arriving in a small Georgia town. The square-jawed Ritchson is well cast in what promises to be an enjoyable hard-boiled crime drama.
★★★★ IM
Best box set to watch on TV tonight
Hotel Portofino, season 1, BritBox
There are glorious Italian seascapes, plenty of 1920s glamour and an English family embarking on a brave overseas adventure in BritBox’s new series, which bears some similarities to the sunny escapism of ITV’s The Durrells. The six-episode story centres on Bella Ainsworth (Natascha McElhone), who has moved from dreary post-war Britain to set up a hotel in the stunning town of Portofino with her dashing but dangerous aristocratic husband, Cecil, and their grown-up children, Alice and Lucian. As well as family secrets, troublesome hotel guests, run-ins with the mafia and the rise of Mussolini’s fascists, at the heart of the story is a classic whodunit mystery. Anna Chancellor, Vigil’s Adam James and Oliver Dench (Dame Judi’s nephew) are also among the top-name cast.
Best film to watch on TV tonight
True History of the Kelly Gang, 11.20pm, Film4
Stark, poetic, elegiac images battling with brutal punk energy, this take on the legendary Australian bandit Ned Kelly – based on Peter Carey’s acclaimed novel – is a force to be reckoned with. Featuring a wild-eyed performance from George MacKay as the adult Ned, with Essie Davis as his strident mother, director Justin Kurzel’s powerhouse biopic is also assisted by a superb supporting cast that includes Russell Crowe, Thomasin McKenzie and Nicholas Hoult. We witness how dirt-poor, downtrodden Ned and his family scrap and thieve to survive against a brutish regime under the English in the seemingly lifeless Australian wilderness of the mid to late 1800s, eventually leading him to become the outlaw he’s now famed to be. It’s a tale told with venom and beauty.
Live Sport
- Winter Olympics: Opening Ceremony, 11.30am, BBC1 & Eurosport 1
- FA Cup, Manchester United v Middlesbrough, 7.30pm (k-o 8pm), ITV
- Premiership Rugby Union, Gloucester v London Irish, 7pm (k-o 7.45pm), BT Sport 1
Soaps on TV tonight
- EastEnders, 8pm, BBC1
- Emmerdale, 7pm, ITV
- Hollyoaks, 6.30pm, C4
- Neighbours, 6pm, Channel 5
- Home and Away, 6pm & 6.30pm, 5Star
If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…
Don't miss Death in Paradise on TV tonight – Neville is surprised by an arrival from back home.
Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide.
Happy viewing!
