On TV tonight, needles down as The Great British Sewing Bee returns to BBC One, Inside No 9 continues on BBC Two, documentaries Searching for Michael Jackson's Zoo with Ross Kemp is on ITV and Tan France: Beauty and the Bleach on BBC Two, while season 18 of Grey's Anatomy resumes on Sky Witness/NOW. 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
The Great British Sewing Bee, season 8, 8pm, BBC One
Even if you can’t tell your pinking shears from your piped pockets, there’s a ridiculous amount of enjoyment to be had watching talented home sewers getting their threads in a twist in this heart-warming sewing contest. Sara Pascoe takes on presenting duties in the show’s new home near Leeds, while steely judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young challenge an affable bunch of 12 super-nervous stitchers to make a capsule wardrobe. While most make a fine job of running up a mini skirt with patch pockets, the wrap dress proves trickier, prompting an early exit for one unlucky stitcher.
★★★★ RF
Inside No 9, season 7, 10pm (times vary), BBC Two
One of the most underrated shows on TV, this twisty-turny anthology series flits between hilarious and utterly sinister. Tonight’s tale is definitely on the more disturbing end of the scale, as we meet Mr Curtis (Reece Shearsmith), the new teacher for Class 9 at a village school. The children don’t appreciate his London sense of humour, or his obsession with environmentalism, and won’t stop talking about their old teacher Mr King. But as events in the classroom start to get stranger, Mr Curtis wonders what really happened to his predecessor…
★★★★★ EB
Searching for Michael Jackson's Zoo with Ross Kemp, 9pm, ITV
Global superstar Michael Jackson was often photographed with his ‘best friend’ Bubbles, the pet chimpanzee, and was well known for having a zoo on his Neverland Ranch. But when he died in 2009 his menagerie was closed and the 124 animals, including lions, tigers, zebras and giraffes, were dispersed. Now Ross Kemp is travelling around the US to find out exactly what happened to those animals, and the truth is pretty shocking. Not only was the singer largely indifferent to his animals’ welfare, it turns out that many of his creatures were actually neglected and maltreated.
★★★★ NH
Tan France: Beauty and the Bleach, 9pm, BBC Two
As Queer Eye’s fashion guru, Tan France’s job is to teach people to feel better about themselves. But he has struggled with his own self-image since childhood. In this one-off Tan explores colourism and skin tone discrimination in British society. He talks about when he felt pressure to bleach his skin at the age of nine, and meets black and Asian students who have experienced colourism from within their own communities.
★★★ HD
Grey's Anatomy, season 18, 9pm, Sky Witness/NOW
As series 18 of the medical drama resumes, the doctors deal with the aftermath of the car crash that's left Owen's (Kevin McKidd) life hanging in the balance. Meanwhile Winston tries to transplant the donor heart, Levi is affected by the loss of a patient, and Cormac makes a decision about his future – and also about whether he should reveal Owen's secret. The longest-running primetime medical drama on US TV shows no sign of slowing down.
★★★★ JL
Best box set to watch on TV tonight
Idris Elba's Fight School, season 1, BBC iPlayer
When Idris Elba was a young man growing up in London, he could easily have fallen into a life of crime, but says boxing helped to keep him on the straight and narrow. Now, the Luther star is setting up a fight school to give eight British youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds the chance to transform their lives in a similar way, while he watches from ringside. It’s an opportunity that most of the recruits are determined to grab with both hands, and it’s clear Idris sees something of his younger self in each of them. All five episodes are now available on BBC iPlayer.
Best film to watch on TV tonight
Downton Abbey, 8pm, ITV3
With the new movie Downton Abbey: A New Era released on Friday, here’s a chance to catch up with the first big-screen version of Julian Fellowes’ period drama, which sees upstairs and downstairs in a flutter over an impending visit by King George V and Queen Mary. The plot is really a well-sprung vehicle to get from one slight, swiftly resolved intrigue to the next, with a few episodes of mild jeopardy. Not that fans will mind – like the Downton silverware, this is polished to a gleam.
Live Sport
- Snooker: The World Championship, 7pm, BBC Two
- EFL, Middlesbrough v Cardiff City, 7.30pm (k-o 7.45pm), Sky Sports Main Event/NOW
Soaps on TV tonight
- EastEnders, 7.30pm, BBC One
- Emmerdale, 7.30pm, ITV
- Coronation Street, 8pm, 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 The Great British Sewing Bee on TV tonight – a perfectly stitched together and joyful show.
Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide.
Happy viewing!
