On TV tonight, happy holiday weekend! The celebrations for Her Majesty begin with The Queen's Platinum Jubilee: Trooping the Colour and Platinum Beacons: Lighting up the Jubilee, both on BBC One. There's also a special edition of The One Show, with Dame Mary Berry popping in. Elsewhere, new drama The Midwich Cuckoos begins on Sky Max/NOW and Borgen: Power and Glory returns to Netflix. Finally, there's a moving documentary Making Sense of Cancer with Hannah Fry on BBC Two. Here’s what you shouldn’t miss on TV today.
- Our hand selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include six 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 Queen's Platinum Jubilee: Trooping the Colour, 10am & Platinum Beacons: Lighting up the Jubilee, 8pm, BBC One
The annual military display to honour the Queen’s birthday is always a special occasion, but this year, hosted by Huw Edwards, Kirsty Young and JJ Chalmers, it’s doubly momentous as it also celebrates Her Majesty’s 70-year reign and kicks off the Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend. After the dazzling parade, the Royal Family will watch the RAF fly-past from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Don’t miss Platinum Beacons: Lighting up the Jubilee later at 8pm, which will see more than 1,500 beacons lit across the country and the Commonwealth, with one at Buckingham Palace.
★★★★ CC
The One Show: Jubilee Special, 6.30pm, BBC One
The first of two extended Jubilee programmes, hosted by Alex Jones and Ronan Keating, with up-to-date news on all the events being held over the weekend to celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. The queen of cakes Mary Berry pops in with the winner of the Platinum Pudding Competition, Jemma Melvin, to talk Alex through how to make her lemon Swiss roll and amaretti trifle and hopefully inspire bakers across the country to share a slice of this most regal pud during their Big Jubilee Lunches.
★★★ JL
The Midwich Cuckoos, 9pm, Sky Max/NOW
The man behind BBC One’s espionage hit The Night Manager turns his hand to sci-fi as he brings John Wyndham’s iconic 1957 sci-fi novel to the screen in the coming weeks. David Farr has brought the tale, which sees the women of a rural town fall pregnant by aliens, into the modern age and tonight’s first episode offers a mere taste of the creepiness to come. Keeley Hawes drives the story forward as Dr Zellaby, with the decision to reimagine her character as a woman an excellent way to tell this sinister and uniquely female horror story.
★★★★ SMA
Borgen: Power and Glory, Netflix
After a break of almost nine years, the BAFTA-winning Danish political drama returns. Former Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen) is now the Foreign Minister serving under new PM Signe Kragh, whose glib Instagram-friendly slogans and dubious personal connections leave a sour taste in Birgitte’s mouth. But she soon has more pressing matters at hand when oil is found in Greenland. Having been elected on an anti-fossil fuels platform, Birgitte is vehemently opposed to Greenland’s plans to drill the oil, but the negotiations will require her to tread very carefully.
★★★★ SP
Making Sense of Cancer with Hannah Fry, 9pm, BBC Two
After being diagnosed with cervical cancer, mathematician Hannah Fry decided to document her treatment, from the period just before radical surgery to recovery. She’s now cancer-free and having regular check-ups, but as someone who deals with statistics for a living, Hannah wonders if we should question the calculations used when diagnosing and treating cancer.
★★★★ JP
Best box set to watch on TV tonight
Stranger Things, season 4 (part 1), Netflix
The much-loved series makes the shift from the nostalgic 1980s supernatural smash to full-blown horror as it returns for its much-anticipated fourth series (part one’s eight episodes are available from Friday, May 27; part two from July 1). Three years in the making, the penultimate chapter begins with a now powerless Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) in California with the Byers clan, while her pals back home head to high school in Hawkins. The show’s creators have promised lots of answers, as we delve deeper into the parallel world of the Upside Down, and there’s also a terrifying new monster on the prowl, played by Nightmare on Elm Street’s Robert Englund.
Best film to watch on TV tonight
Yesterday, 10pm, BBC Two
Struggling Suffolk musician Himesh Patel is about to pack it in when a cataclysmic event means he’s the only person on Earth who has heard of The Beatles. So he claims their songs as his own, and is propelled to superstardom… Richard Curtis’ script doesn’t quite come to grips with the notion, but Patel is engaging, as is Lily James as the girl in his life. And you’ll almost certainly be ready to play your favourite Beatles tunes later.
Live Sport
- Test Cricket, England vs New Zealand, 10am, Sky Sports Main Event/NOW
Soaps on TV tonight
- EastEnders (with a very special Royal visit on the cards!) 7.30pm, BBC One
- Emmerdale, 7pm, ITV
- Coronation Street, 7.30pm, ITV
- Hollyoaks, 6.30pm, C4
- Neighbours, 5.05pm, Channel 5
- Home and Away, 6pm & 6.30pm, 5Star
If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…
Don't miss The Queen's Platinum Jubilee: Trooping the Colour on TV today – a truly spectacular event to celebrate a remarkable women.
Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide.
Happy viewing!
