TV tonight: Our highlights for Tuesday 5th January

The Cheetah Family and Me TV Tonight
(Image credit: BBC/Hello Halo TV/Graham MacFarlane)

Cheetah Family and Me is just one of the gems tonight...

The first episode of forensic drama, Traces, starts tonight, starring Line of Duty favourite Martin Compston, while Bradley Walsh and his son, Barney, embark on a new adventure in Breaking Dad.  Here's what else you shouldn’t miss on TV tonight. 

  • Our hand-selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include three TV shows, a film 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

Holby City, 7.50pm (times vary), BBC1

Holby City Sacha TV Tonight

Sacha is forced to make a tough decision in tonight's Holby City (Picture: BBC) (Image credit: BBC)

It’s New Year’s Eve but it doesn’t look like 2021 will be much brighter for the staff at Holby. Sacha Levy is forced to consider his future when daughter Beka says he needs more time to grieve for Essie and should end his relationship with Jodie. Will he listen? Meanwhile, still battling with his addiction, Kian’s thrown when he discovers he’s nearly out of pills. But he gets lucky when he intercepts a drug-cupboard robbery! ★★★★ VW

South Africa with Gregg Wallace, ITV, 7.30pm

Gregg Wallace is the latest celebrity to bag his very own travelogue series, as he swaps the MasterChef kitchen for a six-part tour of South Africa, exploring its wildlife, culture and, of course, cuisine. He begins his journey on safari in the Amakhala Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape, where he sleeps under canvas for the first time in his life and tries out poike, a unique South African stew cooked over a campfire. There’s also an emotional moment when Gregg gets up very close and personal with a wild leopard. ★★★ HD

Cheetah Family & Me, 9pm, BBC2 

The Cheetah Family and Me TV Tonight

Get up close to cheetahs with wildlife film-maker Gordon Buchanan (Picture: BBC/Hello Halo TV/Wim Vorster) (Image credit: BBC/Hello Halo TV/Wim Vorster)

There are lots of documentaries about endangered wildlife. But this visually stunning two-parter is slightly different. Gordon Buchanan spends several weeks tracking a cheetah mum and her four cubs through the Kalahari Desert – on foot. In recent years wild cheetah numbers have plummeted to just 7,000, so Gordon aims to immerse himself in the cheetah’s daily life to experience the threat to their survival first hand. In tonight’s opener Gordon gains the cheetah’s trust, sees her first kill and witnesses one of the cubs being killed by a leopard. Continues tomorrow. ★★★★ HD

Best box set to watch on TV tonight

The Cry, BBC iPlayer, series one

The Cry TV Tonight

Jenna Coleman and Ewen Leslie star in The Cry. (Picture: Synchronicity Films Ltd/Lachlan Moore/Matt Burlem) (Image credit: Synchronicity Films Ltd/Lachlan Moore/Matt Burlem)

This four-part BBC thriller, starring Victoria favourite Jenna Coleman, is a drama not to be missed. When Joanna and Alistair travel to Australia with their baby son, Noah, they are bracing themselves to fight for custody of Alistair's daughter. But soon their lives start to unravel when they face an unthinkable tragedy. However, not everything is as it seems, and soon Joanna is about to discover that the truth is far worse than she could have ever imagined.

Best film to watch on TV tonight

Get Carter, ITV4, 10.25pm

One of the greatest British gangster movies, this relentlessly bleak thriller stars Michael Caine as a London tough guy who arrives in Newcastle to find out how his brother died. ★★★★★

Live sport

  • Tottenham Hotspur v Brentford,  7.45pm, Sky Sports

Soaps on TV tonight

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight… 

Don't miss Cheetah Family & Me on BBC2 - this visually stunning two-parter concludes tomorrow.

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

Happy viewing!

Claire Crick
Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch

Claire is Assistant Managing Editor at What To Watch and has been a journalist for over 15 years, writing about everything from soaps and TV to beauty, entertainment, and even the Royal Family. After starting her career at a soap magazine, she ended up staying for 13 years, and over that time she’s pulled pints in the Rovers Return, sung karaoke in the Emmerdale village hall, taken a stroll around Albert Square, and visited Summer Bay Surf Club in sunny Australia. 


After learning some tricks of the trade at websites Digital Spy, Entertainment Daily, and Woman & Home, Claire landed a role at What’s On TV and whattowatch.com writing about all things TV and film, with a particular love for Aussie soaps, Strictly Come Dancing and Bake Off


She’s interviewed everyone from June Brown — AKA Dot Cotton — to Michelle Keegan, swapped cooking tips with baking legend Mary Berry backstage at the NTAs, and danced the night away with soap stars at countless awards bashes. There’s not a lot she doesn’t know about soaps and TV and can be very handy when a soapy question comes up in a pub quiz! 


As well as all things soap-related, Claire also loves running, spa breaks, days out with her kids, and getting lost in a good book.