TV tonight: our highlights for Thursday 26th March

(Image credit: Dave King)

The Pet Talent Agency is just one of the gems on today...

Doctors celebrates its 20th anniversary with a special episode, and The Pet Talent Agency opens its doors on C4. Here’s what you shouldn’t miss on TV tonight.

Our hand-selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include TV shows, a film 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

Doctors, 1.45pm, BBC1

There’s something rather joyous about this special 20th anniversary episode. It’s filmed a bit like 24 Hours in A&E and is brimming with drama but, as in the C4 hit show, it’s the human spirit that takes centre stage, as our everyday heroes try to make a difference. Listen out for a cover of Elbow’s One Day Like This, with vocals from Adrian Lewis-Morgan, aka Jimmi Clay.

Rating: ★★★★★ AS

The Pet Talent Agency: Barking Mad, 10pm, C4

Karen Chamberlain once earned a six-figure income working in recruitment but the animal lover is now trying to turn our furry friends into stars. But, at her Dover-based pet talent agency Barking Mad, business is not going as well as Karen and her long-suffering husband Pete hoped. We’re getting definite vibes of C4’s hilarious and much-missed series The Hotel and its perennially buoyant hotelier Mark Jenkins, as ever-enthusiastic Karen also does all she can to attempt to reverse her agency’s fortunes, with her staff, including super-confident Head of Talent and singer Amrick, who thinks he can be as big as Madonna!

Rating: ★★★★ CC

How to Beat… Pain, 8pm, C4

A staggering 43% of Brits suffer from persistent pain, so we’d try anything if we thought it would help alleviate our symptoms. But cold water swimming? Kate Quilton, migraine sufferer Mike and a group of regular wild water swimmers take the plunge to see if there’s any truth in the theory that freezing water is the answer. Slightly less drastic treatments being tested include yoga and t’ai chi, plus we meet a woman in Scotland who feels no pain due to a genetic mutation.

Rating: ★★★ LP

Born to be Different, 9pm, C4

It’s always emotional catching up with the five remarkable Born to Be Different children, who all have unique disabilities. C4 has been following their extraordinary lives since 2003 and we last saw them in 2016. But as cameras return to film them as they reach adulthood, there’s pain and anguish.

Rating: ★★★★ HD

Best box set to watch

World Without End, My5

Tom Weston Jones as Merthin — Tom Weston-Jones stars as Merthin

The plague is raging in medieval England in this eight-part drama about intrigue and murder. First shown in 2012, it stars Tom Weston-Jones, Charlotte Riley and Rupert Evans.

Best film to watch on TV tonight

Big Game, 10.50pm, Film4/All 4

In the snowy wilds of Finland, a 13-year-old boy proves the unlikely saviour of Samuel L Jackson’s US president in this engaging tale. Onni Tommila’s youngster is camping in the mountains when the president’s escape pod, ejected from Air Force One during an attack, crashes to Earth. With terrorists on the duo’s trail, the ensuing action is reliably ridiculous, but the stars make an amusing double act.