TV Tonight: our highlights for Tuesday, Dec. 14

Final countdown: Marcus, Gregg and Monica seek perfection.
Final countdown: Marcus, Gregg and Monica seek perfection. (Image credit: BBC)

On TV tonight, it's Finals Week for the remaining six chefs in MasterChef: The Professionals on BBC1, join the busy team preparing for a festive spectacular in Christmas Magic at Kew Gardens on Channel 5 and Monica and Giles visit Croatia for another Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby on BBC2. Here’s what you shouldn’t miss on TV tonight.

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

MasterChef: The Professionals, 9pm, BBC1

TV tonight Will Marcus be impressed?

Will Marcus be impressed by Finals Week? (Image credit: BBC)

The heat is on in the MasterChef kitchen as Finals Week starts with the remaining six chefs cooking a dish dedicated to someone special. They have one hour and 45 minutes to impress with their creativity and skill as after this round two are sent packing. The four left standing then face the Chef’s Table, where they each cook a course for eight of the country’s best chefs. The pressure starts to boil over as the chefs with a seat at the table have 11 Michelin stars between them so expectations are sky high. On Wednesday one more chef is sent home before Thursday’s grand final, where the remaining trio must cook their best three courses ever. 

★★★★ JL 

Christmas Magic at Kew Gardens, 9pm, Channel 5

TV tonight The botanic garden becomes a wonderland

The botanic garden becomes a wonderland. (Image credit: Channel 5)

South-west London’s very own winter wonderland gets spectacularly lit up at Christmas for families to gather and enjoy nature from the twinkle of dusk until darkness. Home to Britain’s tallest living Christmas tree, the team at Kew get busy hanging the tree lights, illuminating colourful water features and laying a magical trail. Plus, there’s work to be done in the vegetable garden where heritage carrots and Jerusalem artichokes are ripe for the picking ready for the staff’s festive meal. Plus, learn about the horticultural importance of Frankincense and facts about holly from Kew’s scientists. 

★★★ MC

Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby, 8pm, BBC2

TV tonight Giles and Monica are in Croatia

Giles and Monica are in Croatia. (Image credit: BBC)

Monica Galetti and Giles Coren need their cleaning buckets for their trip to the Grand Park Hotel Rovinj in Croatia, to polish the largest single window in Europe. With spectacular views of the Adriatic Sea, the ultra-modern glass-fronted hotel has been at the forefront of the nation’s tourism drive after the fall of communism and staff are proud of the way it’s ploughed cash back into the region. It’s a beautiful region, too, as Monica and Giles discover when they go truffle-hunting with dogs in the Istrian landscape. 

★★★★ SMA

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

Welcome to Earth, season 1, Disney+

TV tonight Will Smith stars.

Will Smith embarks on a spectacular journey. (Image credit: Disney+)

“We think we know our planet but there is still a secret world to be discovered if you go to the right place with the right guide,” says Hollywood superstar Will Smith as he embarks on a global tour of some of the most exciting and breath-taking places on our planet. From towering volcanoes, to deep underwater, caves and savannahs, Will and an elite group of modern day explorers go where very few people will ever step foot. Will admits he’s never climbed a mountain or swam in a lake and it’s about time he pushed himself to explore and understand our planet like never before. 

Best film to watch on TV today

Holiday Affair, 2.15pm, BBC2

It might take a bit of getting used to perennial tough guy Robert Mitchum in this Christmas romance from 1949, but once you accept that he’s actually a department-store toy salesman and isn’t going to draw a gun on anyone, it’s a charming bit of matinee escapism. He falls for Janet Leigh after they meet while she’s Christmas shopping, and he tries to help out with a gift for her son. Her dependable but dull fiance is the fly in the ointment… You can see how much of a departure from Mitchum’s usual roles this is in Talking Pictures at 3.40pm.

Live Sport

  • Premier League, Brentford v Manchester United, 6.30pm (k-o 7.30pm), BT Sport 1

Soaps on TV tonight

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss MasterChef: The Professionals on TV tonight – the food is exceptional as the remaining chefs battle to be crowned champ.

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.