Emily Blunt in The English is one of tonight's TV highlights

Emily Blunt in a pink dress and fascinator in The English

Emily Blunt stars in new drama series The English. (Image credit: 2022 The English © Drama Republic/BBC/Amazon Studios)

On TV tonight, Western drama The English arrives on BBC Two, Lost Worlds with Ben Fogle sees the presenter visiting Scotland, and The Secret Genius of Modern Life explores how gadgets work. 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
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What's on TV tonight

Our expert TV journalists have picked the best things on TV tonight...

Best TV shows on TV tonight

The English, 9 pm, BBC2

Emily Blunt is a mother with murder on her mind in this six-part Western revenge quest, which sees the Golden Globe winner make a welcome return to TV. Playing an English aristocrat called Cornelia Locke, she looks a fish out of water in tonight’s opening episode, stepping off a stagecoach in 1890s Wyoming and wielding a bag full of cash.

Determined to track down the man she holds responsible for her son’s death, she meets Pawnee ex-cavalry scout, Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer), who teaches her how to handle a gun and her enemies, including a deliciously evil hotelier (Ciarán Hinds). If you can stomach the violence, you’re in for an epic watch. ★★★★ RF

Sing When You Are Winning, 8 pm, Sky Arts

Sing When You Are Winning cast. (Image credit: Sky Arts)

Timely production Gods of the Game: A Football Opera tells a tale of corruption in the beautiful game ahead of a World Cup tournament. It was staged at Grange Park Opera in early October and is due to be shown on Sky Arts soon.

This is the inside story of the search for the world’s first ‘footy fan chorus’, as a group of supporters are given a crash course in pitch-perfect opera singing by tenor Nicky Spence, who draws parallels between the two disciplines as he mentors them. Proof that all that chanting on the terraces is not for nothing. ★★★ NT

Lost Worlds with Ben Fogle, 9 pm, Channel 5

Ben Fogle posing in Detroit — Ben Fogle in Detroit. (Image credit: Channel 5)

Ben is learning about a part of British history few of us know. He is visiting Scotland’s abandoned islands, joined by those with links to these remote, craggily beautiful places. What they have in common is how the inhabitants were victims of mainland progress, with each family anecdote or archive photo revealing an unsustainable way of life.

On Stroma, he meets William, who still farms the land. Next, owner Will shows how he hopes to restore tiny Swona. Finally, Ben heads to the near-mythical St Kilda with John, whose father left just before the last 36 residents evacuated in 1930. They meet the people conserving its past, and Ben ponders how this once lost world has created a new community. ★★★ NT

The Secret Genius of Modern Life, 8 pm, BBC Two

Hannah Fry wearing a jumper — Hannah Fry presents The Secret Genius of Modern Life. (Image credit: BBC)

The clear and concise Hannah Fry helms a six-part series examining how gadgets work. She begins by looking at the bank card, getting exclusive access to the Visa Data Centre – where our transactions are okayed within 300 milliseconds – using iron filings to demonstrate how an individual’s information is coded and telling the history of the first security passes, a tale of CIA intrigue – and ironing. A reminder of the cleverness of everyday technology we have been taking for granted. ★★★ NT

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

SAS Rogue Heroes, BBC iPlayer

(L-R) Paddy Mayne (JACK O'CONNELL), Jock Lewes (ALFIE ALLEN), David Stirling (CONNOR SWINDELLS) in the SAS Rogue Heroes key art — SAS Rogue Heroes is a bold new drama from Steven Knight. (Image credit: BBC/Kudos/Rory Mulvey)

After his searing gangster saga came to an end after six series, Peaky Blinders creator Stephen Knight started looking for a new project and has found a cracker in this wartime drama about the creation of the Hereford-based Special Air Service – SAS. Another tale packed with mavericks, rule-breakers and antiheroes, this six-parter follows three British soldiers who terrorised Hitler’s forces in the deserts of North Africa, with Alfie Allen, Connor Swindells and Jack O’Connell having a ball in the lead roles. The result is a rollicking tale that feels like a cross between Band of Brothers and Knight’s previous hit series, so buckle up! (Also airing Sundays at 9 pm on BBC One) ★★★★★ SMA

Best film on TV tonight

My Old Lady, 10.40 pm, BBC Four

Maggie Smith in My Old Lady. (Image credit: BBC Films)

Kevin Kline’s hard-up New Yorker inherits a fabulously valuable apartment in Paris, but can’t shift the tenants – a waspish Maggie Smith and her frosty daughter Kristin Scott Thomas. The set-up yields some highly enjoyable battle-of-wits comedy, performed with lip-smacking relish by the three stars. But just when you think the story is going to proceed on a well-worn, cosily romantic track, the characters unpack their emotional baggage to reveal unexpected depths of feeling. ★★★ JB