TV Tonight: our highlights for Thursday, July 21

TV tonight – Noel comes to Fury’s rescue.
Noel comes to Fury’s rescue. (Image credit: C4)

On TV tonight, cute kitten Fury and dogs Trigger and Raven all check in to see the vet as The Supervet: Noel Fitzpatrick returns for series 17 on C4. There's love in the air as First Dates also returns to C4, while comedy Meet the Richardsons is back on Dave. New drama starring Renée Zellweger, The Thing About Pam, begins on Paramount Plus as The Undeclared War comes to a close on C4. Here’s what you shouldn’t miss on TV tonight.

  • Our hand selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include five 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

The Supervet: Noel Fitzpatrick, season 17, 8pm, C4

TV tonight Noel with Trigger.

Noel with police dog Trigger. (Image credit: C4)

Adorable kitten Fury is among the pets being treated by Professor Noel Fitzpatrick when the supervet opens the doors to his Surrey practice for a 17th series. Fury has got into a tussle with his boisterous sister, Stormy, and suffered a fractured leg, much to the worry of his owners, who are given strict instructions on how to care for him post-op. The other four-legged patients in tonight’s opener are two-year-old Met police dog Trigger, who has something wrong with his spine, and young Shepadoodle Raven, who needs a double hip replacement. Prepare to be wowed as the supervet gets to work and later plays the part of ‘bad guy’ to see if police dog Trigger is fully back in the police-dog groove! 

★★★★ TL

First Dates, 10pm, C4

TV tonight When Fleur met Louis…

When Fleur met Louis… (Image credit: C4)

Maître d’ Fred Sirieix welcomes a new batch of singletons to the restaurant of romance, starting with glamorous Fleur from Essex. A traditional girl, she’s after a classic Essex boy with perfect hair and sparkling white teeth. And her date Louis ticks many of those boxes, with a beauty regime longer than most first dates last, although he also works as a high-end escort, which takes the shine off those teeth a little! Also hoping to leave with more than just the bill is Ian, a gas fitter by day and art gallery manager by night, religious Gracey, who takes dating very seriously, and, finally, Nicky, who wants a partner to love her and her young children.

★★★ JL

Meet the Richardsons, 10pm, Dave

TV tonight Jon and Lucy at Whitby Harbour

Jon and Lucy at Whitby Harbour. (Image credit: DAVE/UKTV)

It’s a Richardsons’ road trip as Jon and Lucy head for Whitby in the first of two ‘holiday specials’ of their mockumentary. The couple’s enthusiasm for making a travel show wanes when they discover that Joanna Lumley and Griff Rhys Jones have already covered the best destinations in their travelogues. Since Whitby, with its Dracula connection, is a Goth hotspot, Jon and Lucy dress up and take a trip down the ‘Screaming Tunnel’, discovering at every turn that Lumley has been there, done that. However, Jon perks up when he recreates one of his favourite TV shows, Fred Trueman’s 1970s pub games contest, The Indoor League

★★★★ IM

The Thing About Pam, Paramount Plus

TV tonight Renée Zellweger transforms into a killer

Renée Zellweger transforms into a killer. (Image credit: Paramount Plus)

Renée Zellweger portrays a real-life killer in this six-part US crime drama landing today, based on the 2011 murder of Betsy Faria. The last person to see Betsy alive was her friend Pam Hupp (Zellweger), and her testimony led to Betsy’s husband, Russ, being convicted of the crime. This brutal killing set off a chain of events that would expose a diabolical scheme cooked up by cunning Pam… Zellweger is barely recognisable, wearing drastic facial prosthetics and a padded body suit, but don’t let that distract from what is a mesmerising performance. 

★★★★ VW

The Undeclared War, 9pm, C4

TV tonight Saara protects her source.

Saara protects her source. (Image credit: C4)

Saara (Hannah Khalique-Brown) is determined to act on her old university friend Vadim’s warning of another virus hidden in the malware code that’s yet to activate. But her promise to protect his identity means she can’t prove to Danny that the intel is valid. Meanwhile, in a downright chilling bit of media commentary, we’re introduced to Angie (Trigger Point’s Kerry Godliman), the London editor of a Russian-funded news organisation, who is taking ‘fake news’ to a whole new level… 

★★★★ SP

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

Superman & Lois, season 2, BBC iPlayer

TV tonight Elizabeth Tulloch and Tyler Hoechlin return for season 2.

Elizabeth Tulloch and Tyler Hoechlin return for season 2. (Image credit: BBC)

The first series of this action-packed drama ended with the Kent family trying to get their heads around John’s daughter Natalie (Tayler Buck) arriving from another dimension and thinking Lois (Elizabeth Tulloch) is her mum. She isn't, sadly, in this dimension anyway, but it adds an interesting dynamic between the two characters as season 2 drops in full on iPlayer. As always, what we love best about this series is how it combines real-life family drama with huge action sequences and end of the world jeopardy – and there’s plenty of both in this new season. As teenage twins Jonathan and Jordan have girl trouble, Lois is struggling to reconcile some dark feelings from her past and Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) is flying around the globe stopping disasters in their tracks, whilst also trying to be a good dad and husband. There’s also a new threat introduced in the shape of  Lieutenant Anderson (Ian Bohen), who reveals his not-so-cunning plan to make more Supermen, which is just never going to end well! 

Best film to watch on TV tonight

Unforgiven, 9pm, TCM

Clint Eastwood picked up the Oscars for Best Film and Best Director for this sombre Western, a masterful meditation on friendship and death. Eastwood is perfectly cast as Bill Munny, an outlaw-turned-farmer who accepts the bounty raised by a group of prostitutes to get revenge on the man who mutilated one of their number.

Live Sport

  • Women's Euro 2022, the second quarter final, Germany vs Austria, 7.30pm (k-o 8pm), BBC One
  • Women's International T20 Cricket, England vs South Africa, 6.30pm, Sky Sports Main Event/NOW

Soaps on TV tonight

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss The Supervet: Noel Fitzpatrick on TV tonight — Noel brings his extensive expertise to a new batch of poorly pets.

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.