TV Tonight: Our highlights for Thursday, May 25

Phil Spencer with his dog Luna.
(Image credit: Channel 4)

On TV tonight, Great British Dog Walks kicks off, it's the last in the series for Inside No 9, Alexander Armstrong continues his Sri Lankan tour, and actor Brian Cox speaks to Amol Rajan. 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, 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

Great British Dog Walks, 9 pm, More4

Location, Location, Location’s Phil Spencer is the latest celebrity to get his own walking show, as he and his German Shorthaired Pointer Luna hike the Coast to Coast footpath from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire. Joining Phil on his dog-friendly journey are Paralympian sprinter Libby Clegg and her guide dogs Hatti and Bramble, and JLS star JB Gill and his rescue pup Nala. Phil and Luna kick off their three-part treat-filled adventure tonight with SAS: Who Dares Wins’ Mark ‘Billy’ Billingham and his characterful bulldog Alfie. The trek leads to intriguing chats about Billy’s past, from joining a gang, aged nine, to becoming a bodyguard for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. 

★★★ HD

Amol Rajan Interviews Brian Cox, 7 pm, BBC Two

007’s Road To A Million on Prime Video sees Brian Cox mastermind a James Bond themed reality show.

(Image credit: Prime Video)

As Succession nears its end, its star Brian Cox talks about the inspiration behind his character, media mogul Logan Roy. He also shares his opinion on a certain co-star’s Method approach. As well as recalling his illustrious career on stage and in Hollywood, he explains how growing up in poverty in Dundee means he is committed to highlighting the wealth divide. A guest with formidable presence. 

★★★ NT

Alexander Armstrong in Sri Lanka, 9 pm, Channel 5

Alexander Armstrong in Sri Lanka: the presenter posing with local bread

(Image credit: Channel 5)

Sri Lanka is clearly leaving an impression on Alexander as he continues his three-part adventure on the lush island in the Indian Ocean. In this leg, he catches the train across manicured plantations and takes tea at Sir Thomas Lipton’s colonial home. Later, he heads to the country’s Buddhist heartland, Kandy, known for its Ayurvedic practitioners. 

He also visits a kooky art hotel and Esala Perahera – the Festival of the Tooth. After several hours of relaxing therapies, a visit to the temple that protects the Buddha’s tooth and a drum lesson, our host ends his trip with a balloon ride at sunrise to spot wild elephants. A truly perfect day. 

★★★★ MC

Inside No 9, 10 pm, BBC Two

Inside No 9 Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith

(Image credit: BBC/Richard Ansett)

​​Not many shows can tug at the heartstrings one minute and make our hair stand on end the next, but Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton have turned it into an art form in recent years with Inside No 9. Tonight’s tale, which follows a terminally ill man and his boyfriend on a weekend away, does it to perfection and could go down as one of the pair’s best. 

As the couple dissect their relationship, briefly with the help of guest star Sheila Reid, we’re sent on plenty of wild-goose chases, before the two master storytellers finally reveal their hand. 

★★★★★ SMA

Best box set on TV tonight

Missing: Dead or Alive, Netflix

Missing: Dead or Alive? press shot of police investigating missing person cases

(Image credit: Netflix)

Missing: Dead or Alive is the latest true crime offering from the streaming giant.  Instead of focusing on classic whodunit cases or profiling a murderer, Missing: Dead or Alive follows a Missing Person team as they investigate sudden disappearances. 

Shot as a fly-on-the-wall documentary, the gripping four-parter follows officers from a South Carolina sheriff’s department as they urgently search for individuals who’ve disappeared under troubling circumstances.

Best film on TV tonight

The Color Purple, 9:30 pm, BBC Four

Whoopi in 198s movie The Color Purple.

(Image credit: Warner Bros)

Soon to be seen in the film Inappropriate Behaviour with Robert De Niro, Whoopi Goldberg made her film debut in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. As Celie, the role earned her one of the film’s 11 Oscar nominations, in a great cast including Danny Glover, Laurence Fishburne and Oprah Winfrey, herself nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Earlier, This Cultural Life (9pm) sees Whoopi talk to John Wilson about her career and the influences that made her the actor that she is. 

★★★★ JP

Soaps

Live Sport

  • Premier League: Manchester United v Chelsea (Kick-off 8.00pm), Sky Sports Main Event

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss Great British Dog Walks on TV tonight.

Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide

Happy viewing!

Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.


She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress