TV Tonight: our highlights for Saturday, Oct. 2

The Strictly judges get ready to give their scores.
The Strictly judges get ready to give their scores. (Image credit: BBC)

On TV tonight, the celebs take to the dance floor once more as Strictly Come Dancing continues on BBC1, game show Blankety Blank returns also on BBC1 and on C4 there's a hard hitting but fascinating documentary hosted by Tony Robinson called Britain's Forgotten Wars. 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

Strictly Come Dancing 2021, 6.45pm, BBC1

TV tonight Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daley.

Hosts Claudia and Tess get ready to welcome the dancers to the floor.  (Image credit: BBC)

For the cast of 2021, first the good news: they never have to dance on live television in front of millions of viewers and four highly-attentive judges for the very first time ever again. Now, the not-so-good news: this weekend marks the first elimination of the competition, so for one unfortunate celebrity, this will be their last time dancing on live television in front of millions. Tonight’s scores will be added to their week one marks to produce a combined leaderboard, and then it’s up to us, the viewers, to vote to keep our favourites out of tomorrow’s dance-off… 

★★★★★ SP 

Blankety Blank, 9pm, BBC1

TV tonight Bradley Walsh hosts the new series.

Bradley Walsh hosts the new series of the iconic series. (Image credit: BBC)

It’s been 42 years since Blankety Blank first aired on BBC1 and over the years it’s come back, each time proving to be a big hit with viewers and last year’s Christmas special was no exception. Still as fun and entertaining as it ever was, the game show returns for a new six-part series with Bradley Walsh back at the helm as contestants try to fill in the ‘blanks’ of some daft and often innuendo-laden statements. Each week, a panel of six celebrities will try to guess the same answer in a bid to help win prizes for the contestants. The celebrities in this week’s first show include Jimmy Carr, Johnny Vegas and Martine McCutcheon. 

★★★★ MD

Britain's Forgotten Wars with Tony Robinson, 8pm, C4

Tv tonight Tony Robinson presents.

Tony Robinson presents. (Image credit: C4)

The power of eyewitness accounts makes it a difficult but important watch as Tony Robinson revisits the horrors of the Bosnian War. Bosnian civilian Smajo Beso, a young boy when war broke out in 1992, recalls his dad being dragged away, and how the brutality of what he witnessed left him with no faith in humanity. It contains distressing images, but it feels more important than ever that we never forget the horrors of this most uncivil of civil wars. 

★★★★ JL

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

Maid, season 1, Netflix

Tv tonight Margaret Qualley stars.

Margaret Qualley stars as single mum Alex. (Image credit: Netflix)

Groundhog Day’s Andie MacDowell teams up with her actor daughter, Margaret Qualley, for this US drama about a young single mother who cleans houses to make ends meet. Inspired by Stephanie Land’s bestselling memoir, the 10-parter sees Qualley play Alex, who’s trapped in a cycle of poverty and homelessness with her young daughter after leaving her abusive partner. Qualley’s real-life mum, Andie MacDowell, plays Alex’s mum Paula, a free spirited artist who has troubles of her own. 

Best film to watch on TV tonight

Rocketman, 9pm, C4

TV tonight Taron Egerton in a typically understated Elton moment

Taron Egerton in a typically understated Elton moment. (Image credit: C4)

Director Dexter Fletcher throws the kitchen sink and anything else he can find into his big, brash, brazen biopic of Elton John. Done as a series of musical numbers rather than a straightforward telling of how Reg Dwight became Elton John (played manfully by Taron Egerton), it’s perfectly entertaining, helped by a strong cast including Bryce Dallas Howard as his mum and Jamie Bell as his lyricist Bernie Taupin. But you never really get to know the person at the centre of the film. The music’s great, though. And you can see more of it later on from the man himself in The Red Piano (11.20pm), a 2005 TV special of Elton’s Caesars Palace concert residency.

Live Sport

  • Premier League, Manchester United v Everton, 12pm (k-o 12.30pm), BT Sport 1
  • Premier League, Brighton & Hove Albion v Arsenal, 5pm (k-o 5.30pm), Sky Sports Main Event/NOW
  • Fight Night International, Chris Eubank Jr v Sven Elbir, 7.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event/NOW

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss Strictly Come Dancing on TV tonight – perfect Saturday night family viewing. 

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.