On TV tonight, one-off coming of age film My Name is Leon is a total joy on BBC Two, the brilliant Hacks returns for a second season on Prime Video and new comedy Avoidance, starring Romesh Ranganathan, begins on BBC One. Can you guess which Joey lives in this house as a new series of This is My House starts on BBC One, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? For Soccer Aid is on ITV, another series of Celebrity Gogglebox kicks off on C4 and new documentary series British Planes That Won the War with Rob Bell takes to the skies on Channel 5. Here’s what you shouldn’t miss on TV tonight.
- Our hand selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include seven 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
My Name is Leon, 9pm, BBC Two
Outshining a cast that includes Monica Dolan, Christopher Eccleston and Olivia Williams is no easy task, but this is no ordinary screen debut from Cole Martin. The young actor captivates us from the first moment of this moving and uplifting one-off film about a mixed-heritage boy who’s separated from his blond-haired and blue-eyed baby brother after they’re taken into care. Based on the acclaimed 2016 novel by Kit de Waal and set against the backdrop of Birmingham’s 1981 race riots, it’s a wonderful coming-of-age tale that will have viewers crying one moment and laughing the next.
★★★★★ SMA
Hacks, season 2, Prime Video
The delay between the first series of this acerbic yet warm-hearted comedy being shown in the US and the UK was such that it had already won a clutch of awards before being screened here. But it also means that fans haven’t had to wait too long for this second series, which sees veteran comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her chaotic twentysomething joke-writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) take to the road. Their relationship has never been better – but there’s a cloud hanging over them….
★★★★ JP
Avoidance, 9.30pm, BBC One
Comedian Romesh Ranganathan’s deadpan delivery style and own experiences of fatherhood are put to perfect use in this bittersweet comedy. The six-part series, created and co-written by Romesh, sees him play Jonathan, a man who hates confrontation and will do anything to avoid facing reality. Life isn’t going too well, as the series begins with him being booted out of the family home and being told by his partner Claire (fellow comic Jessica Knappett) that their relationship is over. It’s funny, touching and has a great cast, including newcomer Kieran Logendra, who is fabulous as Jonathan’s son, Spencer.
★★★★★ TL
This is My House, season 2, 8.30pm, BBC One
Last seen in March with a Comic Relief special, the property quiz resumes its second run with celebrities Judi Love, Richard Madeley, Harry Hill and Harriet Kemsley trying to guess which four people – all called Joey – are the owners of a newly renovated three-bedroom semi in the Welsh market town of Conwy. Expect lots of anecdotes about wet holidays in North Wales, treks up Snowdonia and some giggling Joeys if Harry can crack their poker faces.
★★★ MC
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? For Soccer Aid 9pm, ITV
Let’s face it, two defining characteristics of we Brits are our charitable nature and love of a good quiz. This special combines the two to raise money for UNICEF (ahead of Sunday’s football match). In the hot seat and facing a grilling by Jeremy Clarkson are the erudite Omid Djalili and Eddie Izzard, so let’s hope the cash raised matches their big brains.
★★★★ NT
Celebrity Gogglebox, 9pm, C4
The celeb version of the TV analysis show is back for a Friday-night comfort watch, and the returning familiar faces include Martin and Roman Kemp, Mo Gilligan and Babatunde Aleshe, and Shaun Ryder and Bez. Later in the series, there will be a new channel hopper as Duncan James joins Denise Van Outen.
★★★ NT
British Planes That Won the War with Rob Bell, 9pm, Channel 5
In early 1915, as war raged across Europe and the hope that it would be over by Christmas was well and truly gone, the Allies desperately needed a new tactic. The aviation industry was still in its infancy, but, galvanised by the war effort, an engineer called Herbert Smith created the Sopwith Camel, a powerful little plane that dramatically changed the course of World War One. This four-part series looks at four history-making aircraft, beginning with this primitive but effective fighter plane that quickly dominated the skies and made heroes of the brave young pilots who flew it.
★★★ JL
Best box set to watch on TV tonight
The Midwich Cuckoos, season 1, Sky Box Sets/NOW
The man behind BBC One’s espionage hit The Night Manager turns his hand to sci-fi as he brings John Wyndham’s iconic 1957 sci-fi novel to the small screen. Writer David Farr has brought the tale, which sees all the women of childbearing age in a small town fall pregnant by aliens, into the modern age. The setting is now an affluent commuter town just outside of London, rather than a rural village as in the original novel and Keeley Hawes drives the story forward as Dr Susannah Zellaby, a character reimagined as a woman, which is an excellent way to tell this sinister and uniquely female horror story. Also watch out for Max Beesley as DCI Paul Kirby and Aisling Loftus as expectant mum Zoe Moran.
Best film to watch on TV tonight
T2 Trainspotting, 1.05am, C4
Danny Boyle’s adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s cult novel Trainspotting was one of the most iconic movies of the 1990s, about a bunch of young Edinburgh junkies rushing towards self-destruction. Pulling off a successful sequel was always going to be a tall order, but Boyle and his reunited stars – Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle – have done it with gusto, tearing into its characters’ nostalgia for the past.
Live Sport
- Test Cricket, England vs New Zealand, 10am, Sky Sports Main Event/NOW
Soaps on TV tonight
- Emmerdale, 7.30pm, ITV
- Coronation Street, 8pm, 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 My Name is Leon on TV tonight — an outstanding cast and great script make this must-see viewing.
Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide.
Happy viewing!
