TV tonight: our highlights for Sunday 16th May

(Image credit: Theodora Films Limited & Moonage Pictures Limited/Robert Viglasky)

The Pursuit of Love is just one of the gems on today…

There's another wedding to enjoy in The Pursuit of Love, watch out for a couple of familiar faces in Call the Midwife, and Matt Lucas celebrates 50 Years of the Mr Men. Here’s what you shouldn’t be missing 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 
  • 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 Pursuit of Love, 9pm, BBC1

Fanny Logan (Emily Beecham) The Pursuit of Love

Emily Beecham as Fanny Logan (Pic Credit: BBC Studios/Steve Schofield) (Image credit: BBC Studios/Steve Schofield)

Well, sensible Fanny (Emily Beecham) is plotting a steady – and perhaps a wee bit staid! – romantic course as she ties the knot with her doting Oxford don Alfred, but the more impetuous Linda (Lily James) is, unsurprisingly, finding marriage to pompous Tony a crashing bore. Heading out onto the party scene with the fabulous Lord Merlin soon gives Linda a new zest for life, but the arrival of handsome communist Christian Talbot could take her in a very different direction… With a real element of poignancy and ruefulness creeping in beneath its sparkling, satirical surface, this splendid period drama remains a total delight. 

★★★★ CC

Call the Midwife, 8pm, BBC1

Doris Owen (Julia Hanworth) has big plans for her daughter Jeanette (Molly Jenkins). (Pic Credit: Nealstreet Productions)

Doris Owen (Julia Hanworth) has big plans for her daughter Jeanette (Molly Jenkins). (Pic Credit: Nealstreet Productions) (Image credit: BBC / Nealstreat Productions)

It could be said that tonight’s Call the Midwife is something of a Coronation Street special, as two of its guest stars found fame on the popular ITV soap. First up, Paula Lane - aka Weatherfield’s Kylie Platt - plays expectant mum Vera, whose pregnancy is progressing well but Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) is concerned about the behavioural development of Vera’s four-year-old daughter, Elaine. Could she have a serious medical condition? Elsewhere, Julia Haworth - who played the cobbles’ Claire Peacock - pops up as Doris, a mother who has major plans for her teenage daughter Jeanette… and they don’t involve her becoming a mum! Call the Midwife always attracts stellar guest stars and these two ‘deliver’ the goods. Superb!

★★★★ VW

50 Years of the Mr Men, 6pm, C4

Matt Lucas celebrates with some of his favourite Mr Men and Little Miss.

Matt Lucas celebrates with some of his favourite Mr Men and Little Miss.

A third of all Brits own one, they've sold over 250 million copies worldwide and been published in 17 languages; it's no doubt the Mr Men and Little Miss books, created by Roger Hargreaves in 1971, are a publishing phenomenon and one of Britain's most successful and enduring global brands. As they celebrate their 50th birthday, comedian and Mr Men fan Matt Lucas presents this fascinating and nostalgic hour-long documentary charting the evolution of the colourful characters including Mr Bump, Mr Tickle and Little Miss Bossy and chats to super-fans, collectors and collaborators. 

★★★★ TL

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

The Nest, seasons one to five, BBC iPlayer/BritBox

Martin Compson, Sophie Rundle and Mirren Mack in The Nest

Martin Compston as Dan, Sophie Rundle as Emily and Mirren Mack as Kaya (Pic Credit Studio Lambert - Photographer: Mark Mainz) (Image credit: BBC / Studio Lambert / Mark Mainz)

Line of Duty's Martin Compston (using his natural Scottish accent) and Sophie Rundle play a wealthy couple unable to conceive, who ask an 18-year-old stranger to carry a baby for them. But can they trust her? A twisty, smartly scripted Glasgow-set thriller.

Best film to watch on TV tonight

The Adventures of Tintin, 2.15pm, C4

Tintin and his trusty dog Snowy embark on another adventure

Tintin and his trusty dog Snowy embark on another adventure

Armed with the latest in motion-capture technology, Steven Spielberg’s stunning animated rollercoaster of a yarn is a blast, re-creating the world of Hergé’s boy detective Tintin and his faithful pooch Snowy with extraordinary attention to detail. It blends and mashes together the comic-strip stories from the 1940s and weaves them into a highly kinetic, frenzied slice of entertainment. Leading a fine cast, Jaimie Bell plays Tintin (in both voice and motion capture), assisted as ever by hoary old seadog Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis), on a perilous search for hidden treasure. A joy from start to finish. 

★★★★★ NP

Live sport

  • Renault Super Sunday: Crystal Palace v Aston Villa 11.30am (k-o 12pm) Sky Sports Main Event/Sky Sports Premier League/NOW
  • Renault Super Sunday: Tottenham Hotspur v Wolverhampton Wanderers 2pm (k-o 2.05pm) Sky Sport Main Event/Sky Sports Premier League/NOW
  • Renault Super Sunday: West Bromwich Albion v Liverpool 4pm (k-o 4.30pm)
  • Sky Sport Main Event/Sky Sports Premier League/NOW
  • Premier League: Everton v Sheffield United 6.30pm (k-o 7pm), BT Sport 1
  • Women's Champions League Final: Chelsea v Barcelona 7.30pm (k-o 8pm), BT Sport 2

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight… 

Don't miss The Pursuit of Love on TV tonight – a lavish and beautiful drama with a great cast.

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.