TV Tonight: our highlights for Monday, September 6

By Joanne Lowles
published

Silent Witness is just one of the gems on TV tonight.

Dr Nikki Alexander and Jack Hodgson investigate.
Dr Nikki Alexander and Jack Hodgson investigate. (Image credit: BBC)

On TV tonight, the still brilliant crime drama Silent Witness returns to BBC1, Fred Sirieix is back with a new bunch of folk hoping to find love in First Dates on C4 and BBC2's Fever Pitch: The Rise of the Premier League looks at how football wasn't always such a money-driven sport. 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

Silent Witness, 9pm, BBC1

TV tonight Dr Nikki Alexander (EMILIA FOX)

Nikki investigates a prison death.  (Image credit: BBC)

The end of the last run of the forensics series saw the team lose two members. So for now it’s just Jack (David Caves) and Nikki (Emilia Fox) who turn out when the team is  called to help investigate a prison death. Nikki recognises the deceased’s cellmate as Scott Weston, the killer from the campus shooting spree in 2010 episode Shadows (worth seeking out on iPlayer). Comedy star Kevin Eldon shows off his straight acting skills as DI Mason, and Harry Potter actor Evanna Lynch appears as Scott’s girlfriend. Continues tomorrow. 

★★★ IM

First Dates, 10pm, C4

TV tonight Fred Sirieix welcomes more first dates

Fred Sirieix welcomes more first dates. (Image credit: C4)

There are countless dating shows on TV these days, but very few are as genuine and uncynical as this one. The new series is just as lovely as ever and tonight we meet Praem, 29, who arrives at the restaurant for the first date of his life. He’s looking for a ‘fellow geek’ and hopes Aisha could be the one. Then there’s flashy entrepreneur Brad, who rocks up in an Aston Martin. But money can’t buy you love, and he’s hoping to meet someone who can look past his impressive bank balance. 

★★★★ EB

Fever Pitch: The Rise of the Premier League, 9pm, BBC2

While we’re used to seeing football dominate headlines, often associated with multi-million-pound transfers, it hasn’t always been a glamorous, money-driven sport. This series looks at the beginnings of the Premier League in 1992, and how Sky, struggling in its early days, seized the chance to make a huge amount of  money with the TV rights. Within the league, there was all the drama broadcasters could wish for as Manchester United, desperate to win their first league title since 1967, lost their bid for striker Alan Shearer and instead signed a young Frenchman with serious swagger and a habit of wearing his collar up… 

★★★★  JP

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

Money Heist, season 5, Netflix

TV Tonight How will things end for Tokyo (Ursula Corbero) and co?

How will things end for Tokyo (Ursula Corbero) and co? (Image credit: Netflix)

This immaculate Spanish crime drama has been one of the most heart-stopping thrillers of recent years (not to mention one of Netflix’s biggest hits worldwide). Now, sadly, it’s drawing to a close with the first five of 10 swansong episodes (the rest will air in December). Former detective-turned-gangster Lisbon is now holed up with the rest of the crew in the Bank of Spain as they try to work out how to get the stolen gold out with the army drawing ever nearer... Meanwhile, things aren’t looking good for the heist’s mastermind, The Professor, as sacked cop Sierra has finally tracked him down. But will he play ball? 

★★★★ CC

Best film to watch on TV tonight

The Lady Vanishes, BBC iPlayer

This 1938 Alfred Hitchcock mystery doesn’t have the impressive set-pieces or atmospheric Bernard Herrmann scores of his later Hollywood films such as North by Northwest but it’s still among many Hitchcock fans’ favourites. A young woman (Margaret Lockwood) returning by train from a European trip befriends an elderly governess who then mysteriously disappears – and, more mysteriously, other train passengers claim she never existed… Catch it while it’s still on iPlayer. 

Live Sport

  • Test Cricket, England v India, 10.15am, Sky Sports Main Event/NOW

Soaps on TV tonight

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss Silent Witness on TV tonight – an intriguing case for Dr Nikki and the team to investigate.

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

Happy viewing!

Joanne Lowles
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.