TV Tonight: our highlights for Tuesday, March 8

TV tonight – Drummer Roy, 95, keeps the beat.
Drummer Roy, 95, keeps the beat. (Image credit: BBC)

On TV tonight, there's another inspiring episode of Rock Till We Drop on BBC2, to mark International's Women's Day W has a special Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over: Body Positive Warrior, new comedy series The Witchfinder begins on BBC2 and the brilliant This Is Going to Hurt continues on BBC1. Here’s what you shouldn’t miss on TV tonight.

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

Rock Till We Drop, 9pm, BBC2

TV tonight Steve Salvari on keys

Steve Salvari on keys. (Image credit: BBC)

If you’ve seen a trailer for this and thought a series about ‘ageing rockers’ looks gimmicky, it’s really not. What it is, though, is one of the most inspiring shows currently on TV. In this second episode, first rehearsals are getting under way with the two bands put together by mentors Martin Kemp and Lady Leshurr. Will everything fall into place before their set at the Isle of Wight Festival in just six weeks’ time? The band members are aged between 64 and 95, but their enthusiasm is enviable. ‘Do I feel like I’m too old for this?’ asks keyboard player Steve, 68. ‘You’ve got to be kidding – I’m just getting started!’ 

★★★★★ JP 

Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over: Body Positive Warrior, 10pm, W

TV tonight Stacey’s host Harnaam

Stacey’s host Harnaam. (Image credit: UKTV)

In a special programme to mark International Women’s Day, Stacey meets body positivity campaigner Harnaam Kaur, who has overcome severe childhood bullying to embrace her facial hair. Harnaam, 31, has polycystic ovary syndrome and started waxing at 13, but gave up when her facial hair grew back darker and thicker. She now has a full beard and is challenging the concept of female beauty, appearing at London Fashion Week and launching a cosmetics range. Behind all this, Stacey discovers just how vulnerable Harnaam, who has had death threats, really is. For the first time in the ‘sleeping over’ series, Stacey doesn’t stay in the family home – for fear that online abusers could discover where Harnaam lives. A powerful watch.

★★★★ HD

The Witchfinder, 10pm, BBC2

TV tonight Tim Key and Daisy May Cooper cast a spell

Tim Key and Daisy May Cooper cast a spell. (Image credit: BBC)

Imagine a road movie on horseback set in 1640s East Anglia and you’ll be quite close to this hilarious sitcom from writers Neil and Rob Gibbons (This Time with Alan Partridge). Inept witchfinder Gideon (Tim Key) is investigating an accusation that Thomasine (Daisy May Cooper) has hexed a local pig, but an unexpected turn of events means he can transform a small case into something worthy of a meeting with the Witchfinder General – if he and Thomasine survive the journey. With charismatic leads and laugh-out-loud gags, The Witchfinder will leave you spellbound… 

★★★★★ SP

This Is Going to Hurt, 9pm, BBC1

TV tonight Adam’s engagement party turns sour

Adam’s engagement party turns sour. (Image credit: BBC)

The title of this superb series has never been truer than in this episode, as Adam’s (Ben Whishaw) sanity starts to deteriorate when he realises a colleague has made a complaint about him. Desperate to find out who reported him to the GMC, Adam scrutinises everyone he works with for clues, but the truth comes out at his and Harry’s engagement party – where, heartbreakingly, Adam’s actions destroy the last good thing in his life. Meanwhile, Shruti attempts a new approach of emotionally disconnecting at work, only to realise it’s not appropriate in every situation…

★★★★★ SP

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

Pieces of Her, season 1, Netfix

TV tonight Toni Collette and Bella Heathcote as mother and daughter.

Toni Collette and Bella Heathcote as mother and daughter. (Image credit: Netflix)

Toni Collette stars in this thriller, set in a sleepy Georgia town where a young woman, Andy Oliver (Bella Heathcote), is celebrating her birthday with her mother Laura (Collette). After a gunman opens fire at a shopping-mall diner, Andy is shocked when Laura stops the shooter with some professional combat moves. When a video of the incident goes viral, Laura’s face is plastered all over the media, and secrets emerge about her past. As Andy flees the family home, can she piece together Laura’s real identity and stay one step ahead of some dangerous people who knew Laura in her former life?

Best film to watch on TV tonight

Can You Ever Forgive Me? 9pm, Film4

TV tonight Richard E Grant and Melissa McCarthy star

Richard E Grant and Melissa McCarthy star. (Image credit: Film4)

Melissa McCarthy plays brusque New York-based writer Lee Israel who, after her work falls out of favour in the early 1990s, takes up forgery. She’s good at it, fabricating letters from the likes of Noël Coward, bolstered and cajoled by drinking buddy Jack (Richard E Grant). This true story makes for a terrific character study of an artist angry at being left behind but refusing to accept her part in that, and McCarthy is simply sensational in the role. 

Live Sport

  • Winter Paralympics, from 6am, C4
  • Test Cricket, West Indies v England, 1pm, BT Sport 1

Soaps on TV tonight

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss Rock Till We Drop on TV tonight – an inspiring show proving age is just a number.

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

Happy viewing!

CATEGORIES
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. 

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