On TV tonight, it's all about the layers on Bake Off: The Professionals on C4, with judge Cherish armed with her trusty ruler. There's a new drama, Pistols, on Disney Plus about the rise and fall of punk band the Sex Pistols, Lucy Worsley Investigates on BBC Two explores the Black Death, there's more DIY SOS: The Big Build on BBC One and The Yorkshire Vet continues on Channel 5. Here’s what you shouldn’t miss on TV tonight.
- Our hand selected recommendations for what's on TV Tonight include five 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
Bake Off: The Professionals, 8pm, C4
"Please do not disappoint me or my ruler," hollers Cherish Finden, the fiercest judge on TV, as she sets the first challenge for the five remaining teams. Their mission is to produce a five-layer savoury slice. ‘Why don’t you just say sandwich?’ asks host Stacey Solomon, but these towers of taste are definitely not your ordinary ham and cheese. They must also create 24 identical crepe cakes with at least 12 layers, and the Showpiece challenge is a pièce montée (confectionery tower) inspired by a great sporting moment. It’s a race to the finish as the competitors go for gold and hope their sugar structures don’t fall at the first hurdle.
★★★★ JL
Pistol, Disney Plus
The rise and fall of the Sex Pistols is chronicled in this Danny Boyle-helmed six-part miniseries, based on guitarist Steve Jones’ autobiography Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol. Steve (Romper Stomper’s Toby Wallace) is a rebellious working-class kid with limited prospects who sees his band as his chance of breaking free – and thanks to a chance meeting with impresario Malcolm McLaren (Game of Thrones’ Thomas Brodie-Sangster), he finally gets a shot at the big time. With sharp, authentic performances (the cast played their own instruments live on set), this cheeky, colourful drama perfectly captures the anarchic spirit of punk.
★★★★ SP
The Black Death: Lucy Worsley Investigates, 9pm, BBC Two
The Black Death gets the Lucy treatment as she explores the latest scientific advances and uncovers new historical evidence to reveal why it was the most deadly pandemic in history. In just two years, between 1348 and 1350, the bubonic plague wiped out nearly half of Britain’s population, but it was only in 2011 that DNA analysis from unearthed plague pit skeletons revealed it was actually caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis that had come from central Asia via emerging trade routes. Meanwhile, we learn that the deadly plague wasn’t just spread via rats, as originally thought, but by human fleas and lice, too!
★★★ HD
DIY SOS: The Big Build, 8pm, BBC One
Anyone with a disabled person in their family knows the bureaucratic battles required to get anything done, which is why it’s so important that Nick Knowles and co are able to complete a project they started pre-pandemic. In Northumberland, local good souls rally to help redesign a home for a couple and their 18-year-old daughter who has complex medical and mental health needs. A heartening team effort.
★★★ NT
The Yorkshire Vet, 8pm, Channel 5
There’s no doubt vet Peter Wright is a special kind of chap. With bucketloads of experience, knowledge and care, he’s welcomed wherever he goes, putting worried owners at ease and making this series a comfort for any animal lover. After wrestling with a gigantic bull in need of a pedicure, he treats an old friend called Lexi – a Labrador who doesn’t mind when he pays her a visit to take out some stitches. We’re sure he makes house calls to all of his long-standing patients and it has nothing to do with Lexi living in a pub!
★★★★ JL
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
Triple 9, 11.20pm, Film4
An A-list cast adds class to this gritty heist thriller, with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kate Winslet getting down and dirty in atypical roles. Ejiofor leads a bank-robbing crew made up of corrupt cops and former special-forces soldiers, and a brassy Winslet is the flint-hearted mob boss coercing the gang into attempting a near-impossible heist. It’s Casey Affleck’s guileless young officer and Woody Harrelson’s cynical police veteran who represent the city’s forces of good.
Live Sport
- French Open Tennis, from 10.30am, Eurosport 1
Soaps on TV tonight
- EastEnders, 7.30pm, BBC One
- Emmerdale, 7pm, ITV
- Coronation Street, 7.30pm, ITV
- Hollyoaks, 6.30pm, C4
- Neighbours, 6pm, Channel 5
- Home and Away, 6pm & 6.30pm, 5Star
If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…
Don't miss Bake Off: The Professionals on TV tonight – the fierce judges, good-natured hosts and amazing bakes make this a delicious must see.
Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide.
Happy viewing!
