TV Tonight: our highlights for Saturday, August 14

TV Tonight: Michael Johnson chats to swimmer Ellie Simmonds in the first of a four-part series.
Michael Johnson chats to swimmer Ellie Simmonds in the first of a four-part series. (Image credit: C4)

On TV tonight, legendary US sprinter Michael Johnson chats to some of our greatest Paralympic stars on C4 in Michael Johnson Meets… starting with swimmer Ellie Simmonds. It's the 35th anniversary of Casualty on BBC1 and the final of Living Wild: How to Change Your Life on C4. 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

Michael Johnson Meets…, 4.30pm, C4

TV tonight Swimmer Ellie Simmonds

Paralympic swimmer Ellie Simmonds reveals her extraordinary journey to achieve Olympic gold. (Image credit: C4)

Ellie Simmonds was just 13 when she won two gold medals at Beijing 2008 Paralympics before going on to claim another two titles at London 2012 and one at Rio 2016. Yet reaching the top at such a young age wasn’t without its challenges and in the first episode of this new four-part series, the champion swimmer tells legendary US sprinter Michael Johnson how she almost walked away from the pool after Rio. The second episode follows straight after at 5.05pm, in which Michael talks to Paralympic cyclist Kadeena Cox. 

★★★★ SMA

Casualty, 8.45pm, BBC1

TV tonight Mackenzie "Big Mac" Chalker (CHARLES DALE) and Noel Garcia (TONY MARSHALL)

Big Mac and Noel make a comeback.  (Image credit: BBC)

The series celebrates 35 years tonight with an extended episode full of twists, turns and time travel! Picking up one month after the shocking events of the previous episode, we see Ethan admitted to the ED. He falls into a feverish dream revolving around a past shift, as his unconscious tries to warn him about an alarming new threat. Richard Winsor, Tony Marshall and Charles Dale return as Ethan’s murdered brother Cal, deceased receptionist Noel, and ex-health care assistant Big Mac, plus some exciting new faces are also introduced…  

★★★★★ ER

Living Wild: How to Change Your Life, 8pm, C4

TV tonight Sophie Morgan on the Scottish island of Gometra with Andy, Yvette and daughter Katy.

Sophie Morgan on the Scottish island of Gometra with residents Yvette, Andy and their daughter Katy. (Image credit: C4)

Sophie Morgan continues her travels to meet more people living life on their own terms. First up are a couple from Birmingham who, with no experience of sailing, bought a boat and moved on board. She also visits eco-friendly charcoal burners in Devon, edible-flower farmers in Sussex and a family living completely off-grid on a remote Scottish island. A wild life isn’t usually an accessible one for a wheelchair-user like Sophie, yet nothing has stood in her way. It takes real courage to go where no wheelchair has gone before, something Sophie doesn’t give herself enough credit for but should be really proud of. 

★★★★ JL 

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

Modern Love, Amazon Prime Video

TV tonight Tobias Menzies and Sophie Okonedo

Tobias Menzies and Sophie Okonedo star. (Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)

Prepare your heartstrings to be well and truly tugged as this anthology show about love in its many different guises returns for a second series of eight stand-alone short films. Stars such as Kit Harington, Sophie Okonedo and Tobias Menzies explore a range of relationships in tales full of happiness and heartbreak. The sentimentality is delivered in thick layers, yet the format is a refreshing change of pace from the drawn-out dramas that fill so much of the TV schedule. 

Best film to watch on TV tonight

Green Book, 10pm, BBC2

TV tonight Mahershala Ali as Dr. Donald Shirley in Green Book

Mahershala Ali as musician Dr. Donald Shirley. (Image credit: BBC)

This powerful film, based on a true story, follows Mahershala Ali’s African-American classical pianist Don Shirley as he embarks on a concert tour of America’s deep south. He hires a crass Italian-American driver/bouncer (Viggo Mortensen) to help him navigate the hostile landscape of segregated America in 1962, using the Green Book for black travellers as a guide. What follows is a shocking, touching and amusing journey of friendship and self-discovery with serious themes of racism beneath the culture-clash comedy. 

Live Sport

  • Test Cricket, England v India, 10.30am, Sky Sports Main Event/NOW
  • Premier League, Manchester United v Leeds United, 11.30am (k-o 12.30pm), BT Sport 1
  • ITV Racing, Newbury, 1.25pm, ITV
  • Premier League, Norwich City v Liverpool, 5pm (k-o 5.30pm) Sky Sports Main Event/NOW

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss Michael Johnson Meets… on TV tonight – a brilliant insight into life as a top athlete.

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.