TV Tonight: our highlights for Monday, May 16

TV tonight – Joe trains his focus on good mental health.
Joe trains his focus on good mental health. (Image credit: BBC)

On TV tonight, the nation's PE teacher has overcome huge battles in his personal life to get to where he is today, follow his remarkable story in  Joe Wicks: Facing My Childhood on BBC One. Also, the much anticipated drama The Time Traveller's Wife begins on Sky Atlantic/NOW, a new series of Beat the Chasers starts on ITV, new food series Best of Britain by the Sea kicks off on More4 and The Chris & Rosie Ramsey Show begins on BBC Two. Jeremy Spake continues to champion aviation in Airport: Back to the Skies on BBC One and there's a profile of the new Twitter owner on C4, Elon Musk: Superhero or Supervillain? 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

Joe Wicks: Facing My Childhood, 9pm, BBC One

TV tonight Joe Wicks

Joe opens up about his childhood.  (Image credit: BBC)

National hero Joe Wicks, whose PE with Joe YouTube videos got the world doing star jumps during lockdown, opens up about his family’s mental health issues in this poignant documentary. The NHS estimates that more than 3.7 million UK children are living with a parent who has mental health problems, and Joe knows first-hand how tough that can be. ‘My dad had depression and became a heroin addict, and my mum had OCD, anxiety and an eating disorder,’ says Joe, who talks honestly about the impact it had on his childhood, and explores how we can help families going through similar struggles. 

★★★★★ TL

The Time Traveler's Wife, 9pm, Sky Atlantic/NOW

TV tonight Time after time: Henry and Claire

Time after time: Henry and Claire. (Image credit: Sky)

Sci-fi and romance don’t often make good bedfellows, but this poignant drama based on Audrey Niffenegger’s best-selling novel could be the exception that proves the rule. Downton Abbey alumni Rose Leslie and Theo James (remember the dishy Mr Pamuk? Lady Mary certainly does!) star in the tale of Henry, a man who keeps being transported through time, and Claire, his poor spouse left behind to pick up the pieces of their relationship. Adapted for the screen by former Doctor Who boss Steven Moffat, it’s an engaging tale, as long as you don’t mind whizzing backwards and forwards through the decades. 

★★★★ SMA

Chris & Rosie Ramsey Show, 9pm, BBC Two

TV tonight Chris and Rosie tell it how it is

Chris and Rosie tell it how it is. (Image credit: BBC)

Winners of the National Comedy Award for Best Podcast, spouses Chris and Rosie transfer Sh***ed. Married. Annoyed. to TV. The format follows that of the No 1 podcast: easy-flowing banter between the pair and some audience interaction. Plus, they are joined by a celeb couple for a good old honest chat about relationships and parenting, centring on their trademark question, ‘What’s your beef?’ – basically, what annoys you about your partner. For those who like silly comedy based on relatable experiences. 

★★★ NT

Beat the Chasers, 9pm, ITV

TV tonight The Supernerd joins the quizzers

The Supernerd joins the quizzers. (Image credit: ITV)

Contestants, be afraid, be very afraid… there’s a new Chaser between you and the cash! Already a household name Down Under on The Chase Australia, Issa Schultz – known as The Supernerd – is sitting in for Anne Hegarty, who was struck down with Covid ahead of filming. With his quirky style and trademark bow ties, Issa fits right in alongside regulars Shaun Wallace, Paul Sinha, Darragh Ennis, Mark Labbett and Jenny Ryan, in the spin-off show that sees players compete with all five Chasers to win a cash prize. Continues until Friday. 

★★★★ VW 

Best of Britain by the Sea, 9pm, More4

TV tonight Grace and Ainsley hit the beach

Grace and Ainsley hit the beach. (Image credit: More4)

Food critic Grace Dent and chef Ainsley Harriott embark on a foodie adventure around popular seaside destinations in the UK. They start in beautiful Carmarthenshire, staying in a self-catering cottage to cook the best local produce for each other, and in a hotel to sample what local chefs are preparing for their guests. With bucketloads of enthusiasm for food from all types of establishment, both high-end and budget-friendly, this is a fun-filled and tasty-looking travelogue. Just try not to hum, ‘Oh I do like to be beside the seaside…’ afterwards. 

★★★ JL

Airport: Back in the Skies, 8.30pm, BBC One (Tues, NI)

TV tonight Jeremy is happy to be back in hi-vis

Jeremy is happy to be back in hi-vis. (Image credit: BBC)

Jeremy Spake continues his one-man mission to revive the aviation industry. There is still a long way to go as Jeremy visits Heathrow’s closed Terminal 4. "It literally looks like an apocalypse has happened," he says in disbelief. But even a terminated terminal can’t dent his optimism about the airport’s recovery as he helps 308 passengers board the first flight to America in more than 600 days. 

★★★ JL

Elon Musk: Superhero or Supervillain? 9pm, C4

TV tonight Elon Musk

Who is Elon Musk? (Image credit: C4)

A profile of the business leader, the world’s richest person, who owns Tesla and Twitter and has his sights on space. Featuring contributions from those who know the billionaire. 

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

The Lincoln Lawyer, season 1, Netflix

TV tonight Mickey (with Jazz Raycole as Izzy) outside his ‘office.’

Mickey (with Jazz Raycole as Izzy) outside his ‘office.’ (Image credit: Netflix)

The Undoing and Big Little Lies’ creator David E Kelley is behind this drama series starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as attorney Mickey Haller, who runs his Los Angeles law practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car. It’s based on the novel The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly (slightly confusingly, the 2011 movie The Lincoln Lawyer starring Matthew McConaughey as Haller was adapted from Connelly’s novel of the same name). The series also stars Scream’s Neve Campbell as Mickey’s first ex-wife, Maggie, who’s the Deputy District Attorney, and Ugly Betty’s Becki Newton as Lorna, Mickey’s second ex-wife, who works as his office manager. 

Best film to watch on TV today

Deadpool 2, 9pm, Film4

TV tonight Cyborg assassin: Let’s get this bad boy done

Josh Brolin stars as a cyborg assassin. (Image credit: Film4)

Ryan Reynolds’ wisecracking Marvel Comics superhero Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool, is back for his second solo adventure and it is every bit as outrageous and irreverent as before, poking gleeful fun at the superhero movie genre. This time around he has to contend with Josh Brolin’s time-travelling cyborg, Cable, assembling a rag-tag band of would-be daredevils, including Zazie Beetz’s blithely sassy Domino, to help him.

Live Sport

  • Premier League, Newcastle United vs Arsenal, 7pm (k-o 8pm), Sky Sports Main Event/NOW

Soaps on TV tonight

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss Joe Wicks: Facing My Childhood on TV tonight – a powerful film about the challenges the fitness guru has faced.

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.