TV Tonight: our highlights for Monday, July 11

TV tonight – Laila Zaidi joins the cast.
Laila Zaidi joins the cast. (Image credit: C4)

On TV tonight, the school bell rings in a new term at Ackley Bridge on C4, brothers are reunited in Long Lost Family on ITV and meet the best friends making a mint from rubbish in Filthy Business on BBC Three. A new series of 24 Hours in A&E begins on C4 and Jimmy Doherty is in China and Sri Lanka for Food Unwrapped: Jimmy's Asian Adventure. 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

Ackley Bridge, season 5, 10pm & 10.30pm, C4

TV tonight Discover what's in store for Fizza, Johnny and Kayla as season 5 begins.

Discover what's in store for Fizza, Johnny and Kayla as season 5 begins.   (Image credit: C4)

Ackley Bridge opens its doors for a new term, with episodes showing in double bills each night until Friday. There’s trouble in store – of course – and that’s just the teachers! Head teacher Martin (Rob James-Collier) is reeling when new English teacher Asma (Laila Zaidi) is arrested on school grounds, while student counsellor Kaneez (Sunetra Sarker) is tasked with teaching sex education… what could go wrong?! With the right mix of high drama, good humour and its ability to tackle tough storylines - this series explores the dark side of social media - Ackley Bridge certainly has its place on TV. We hope there’s more to come. 

★★★ VW 

Long Lost Family, 9pm, ITV

TV tonight Murray and Ricky as youngsters.

Murray and Ricky as youngsters. (Image credit: ITV)

After starting life in care, Murray and his big brother Ricky were adopted together. But three years later, Ricky was taken back to a children’s home and Murray never saw him again. That was 40 years ago, and Murray, now 49, has never given up on looking for his beloved big bro. The team find Ricky in Canada and he can’t wait to be reunited with his sibling and explain why he left all those years ago. Mark, 87, also grew up in care, thinking he was never wanted or loved. But a card found 14 years ago from his birth mum changed all that, and he now needs answers to what really happened and whether he has more family out there to find. 

★★★★ JL

Filthy Business, 8pm, BBC Three

TV tonight Cam and Oli get recycling

Cam and Oli get recycling. (Image credit: BBC)

During the pandemic, best friends Oli and Cam started a waste-disposal business in the West Midlands in order to earn some extra cash. To their astonishment, the business was a huge success. However, they have now hit their first roadblock, losing a £50,000 job, and must work tirelessly to keep their business afloat. We follow the boys as they tackle everything from emptying bins at 5am to dealing with fly-tipping and cleaning out an animal enclosure at the zoo. Their chemistry and banter really has us hoping that they’ll succeed. 

★★★★ NH

24 Hours in A&E, 9pm, C4

TV tonight Ming gets to grips with his workload

Ming gets to grips with his workload. (Image credit: C4)

We return to St George’s Hospital, south London, for another series of the fly-on-the-wall documentary that celebrates the best of people in the worst situations. We meet junior doctor Ming as he finds his feet in the busy department, helping to treat William, a 19-year-old with a collapsed lung. Also needing expert care is 32-year-old Mery, who is rushed in after falling down the stairs and is terrified of losing her baby. Finally, in minors, Jessica has come a cropper on the netball court and needs patching up. 

★★★★ JL

Food Unwrapped: Jimmy's Asian Adventure, 8pm, C4

TV tonight Jimmy explores turmeric’s many uses.

Jimmy explores turmeric’s many uses.    (Image credit: C4)

A round-up of Jimmy Doherty’s culinary trips across Asia explores Brits’ love of the continent’s aromatic flavours. First, he is in China to work out the difference between light and dark soy sauce, before heading to India to find out about turmeric and why it pops up in unexpected places – such as a wedding! He also heads to Sri Lanka, learning about the versatility of the coconut and why we have gone bananas for it.

★★★ NT

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

The Baby, Sky Box Sets/NOW

TV tonight Natasha finds herself landed with a baby.

Natasha finds herself landed with a baby. (Image credit: Sky)

When is motherhood not a joy? When your baby is a murdering monster! In this clever comedy-horror The Duchess’s Michelle de Swarte stars as proudly non-maternal Natasha. The gobby chef rents a creepy cabin near a cliff from mysterious chain-smoking Mrs Eaves (Amira Ghazalla), only to find herself landed with a baby – literally – when one plummets into her arms (it’s a boy!). But this isn’t any baby; this is The Baby, an unnatural born killer who’s chosen Natasha as his new mum. And any attempts to offload the problem child results in murder and mayhem. A welcome new addition to the genre. 

Best film to watch on TV tonight

Gone Baby Gone, 11pm, AMC

In a stunning, superbly acted adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel, director Ben Affleck casts his brother Casey and Michelle Monaghan as rookie Boston private detectives brought in to locate a missing four-year-old girl, the daughter of a junkie (Amy Ryan). This mesmerising thriller is full of unexpected twists all the way to its extraordinary, unexpected conclusion. 

Live Sport

  • Women's Euro 2022, Austria vs Northern Ireland, 4.30pm (k-o 5pm), BBC One
  • Women's Euro 2022, England vs Norway, 7.35pm (k-o 8pm), BBC One

Soaps on TV tonight

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss Ackley Bridge on TV tonight — disocover what lies in store for the pupils and teachers in season 5. 

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

Happy viewing!

CATEGORIES
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. 

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