TV Tonight: our highlights for Friday, September 16

James, Jeremy and Richard are back on the road.
James, Jeremy and Richard are back on the road. (Image credit: Prime Video)

On TV tonight, Clarkson, Hammond and May hit the road again in The Grand Tour Presents: A Scandi Flick on Prime Video and a new series of crime-drama Professor T begins on ITV. Bob and Paul are in Wales for another Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing on BBC Two. Here's what you shouldn't miss on TV tonight. 

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

The Grand Tour Presents: A Scandi Flick, Prime Video

The trio head to Norway, Finland and Sweden.

The trio head to Norway, Sweden and Finland.  (Image credit: Prime Video)

Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are back on the road for series five, kicking off with a Scandi caper that sees them touring through Norway, Sweden and Finland in their favourite rally cars. After two specials filmed during lockdown, fans will enjoy watching the boys race across spectacular snowscapes and icy tracks, and there are plenty of hair-raising pranks and stunts in store, too – look out for Richard Hammond hurtling down a ski slope in a homemade house and scenes of skiers being towed across a frozen lake at high speeds. But will the trio be a man down when James May dramatically crashes his Mitsubishi Evo in a tunnel?

★★★★★ RM

Professor T, season 2, 9 pm, ITV

Professor T has a new case to solve.

Professor T has a new case to solve. (Image credit: ITV)

Ben Miller returns as the brilliant, idiosyncratic Cambridge University criminologist Jasper Tempest, who consults for former student DS Lisa Donckers (Emma Naomi) and her team – including his erstwhile fiancée, DCI Christina Brand (Juliet Aubrey) – on their complex cases. The second series begins with an investigation into a fire at a student residence that initially appears to be an accident, and the team hope Professor T’s help will not be required – until it turns out the fire was started deliberately. Meanwhile, the Professor, in a bid to tame traumatic childhood memories and behavioural tics, seeks help from psychiatrist Dr Helena (Juliet Stevenson)… 

★★★★ SP

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, season 5, 9 pm (Wales 7 pm), BBC Two

Bob and Paul visit North Wales.

Bob and Paul visit North Wales. (Image credit: BBC)

Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse head to the River Dee in North Wales in the hope of catching a grayling. In idyllic surroundings, the conversation turns to the fact that they’re getting on a bit and no longer enjoy doing things young people do. As they talk about feeling old, they pretend to be vampires with nuts as fangs and Bob even downs a lemonade in one, just to check he doesn’t want to be a whippersnapper again, so they’re not exactly aging gracefully! Bob also races dog Ted, thinking it will be an easy victory, but there’s plenty of life in this particular old dog. 

★★★★ JL

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

Cobra Kai, season 5, Netflix

William Zabka, Ralph Macchio and Yuji Okumoto as Johnny, Daniel and Choze

William Zabka, Ralph Macchio and Yuji Okumoto as Johnny, Daniel and Choze. (Image credit: Netflix)

The spin-off from The Karate Kid has been one of Netflix’s most popular shows since it debuted in 2018. In season five, the action picks up after Terry Silver cheated his way to victory in the All Valley Tournament, forcing the Miyagi-Do dojo to close. With Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) now trying to expand his Cobra Kai dojos, can Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and his former enemy Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto) stop Silver? This season also sees a sidelined Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) on his own mission in Mexico.   

Best film to watch on TV tonight

Marry Me, 8 pm, Sky Cinema Premiere/NOW

Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson star.

Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson star. (Image credit: Sky)

A romcom about Jennifer Lopez getting married? Excellent timing! Leaning not a little into the superstar singer and actor’s real-life persona, this film follows an ultra-famous, thrice-married pop queen about to wed a hot new Latin star. Instead, though she ends up married to regular guy Charlie (Owen Wilson). The leads’ charisma dances over any cracks in logic. 

Live Sport

  • Premier League, Aston Villa vs Southampton, 7 pm (k-o 8 pm), Sky Sports Main Event/NOW

Soaps on TV tonight

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss The Grand Tour Presents: A Scandi Flick on TV tonight — the trio are off on another madcap adventure…

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

Happy viewing!

Joanne Lowles
Freelance writer and editor

Joanne Lowles has been writing about TV since 2002. After graduating from Cardiff University with a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism, she worked for All About Soap magazine covering the ups and downs of life on the cobbles, the square and the Dales. 

Next came nearly 10 years at TV Times magazine as a writer and then deputy features editor. Here she spent many happy days interviewing the biggest names in entertainment and visiting the sets of some of our most popular shows including Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife and Strictly Come Dancing

With a love of nature and wildlife she’s also interviewed the leading experts in this area including David Attenborough, Chris Packham and Steve Backshall. She’s also travelled the world visiting Mongolia, Canada and South Africa to see how the best in the business make the most brilliant natural history documentaries. 

Freelance since 2013, she is now is a digital writer and editor for What to Watch, previews the best on the box for TV Times mag each week and loves being constantly surprised, entertained and informed by the amazing TV that she is lucky enough to watch.