A busy Tuesday with several shows reaching their conclusion. Waterloo Road wraps up series 17 with a double bill, Dark Winds concludes its Navajo detective story, and RuPaul returns with a fresh batch of international queens competing for drag supremacy. If thrillers are more your speed, M Night Shyamalan’s cabin-based nightmare arrives on Film4.
Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best
- RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World – BBC Three, 9pm – International all-stars are back with Loreen judging
- Waterloo Road – BBC One, 9pm – Series 17 finale with two episodes
- Knock at the Cabin – Film4, 9pm – Shyamalan’s tense apocalyptic thriller
- Dark Winds – U&Alibi, 9pm – Navajo detective drama concludes
Early Evening (7pm – 8pm)
EastEnders – BBC One, 7:30pm
The Albert Square residents continue navigating their various dramas. Available on iPlayer from 6am if you prefer to watch before the evening broadcast.
Prime Time (8pm onwards)
Inside the Factory – BBC One, 8pm
Paddy McGuinness gets a tour of Kellogg’s sprawling facility in Wrexham, which churns out an astonishing 120 million boxes of breakfast cereal every year. The automation is impressive – there’s barely anyone on the factory floor despite the scale of production. Paddy has to wade through a chemical foot bath that gives him swimming pool flashbacks.
Meanwhile, Cherry Healey and Ruth Goodman tackle tangentially related subjects: where stainless steel spoons came from, the Milk Marketing Board’s history, and the correct way to load a dishwasher. The soundtrack choices are rather good – Wake Up Boo! and In the Morning are obvious breakfast picks, but the Pretenders’ Brass in Pocket works surprisingly well with the visuals.
Emmerdale – ITV1, 8pm
Soap logic takes a beating tonight. Graham Foster was hit by a car, thrown off a cliff, and struck over the head with a heavy object – all on screen. And yet here he is, six years later, strolling back into the village after his surprise Coronation Street cameo. Kim Tate’s former flame is ready to reconnect with everything he left behind. If you didn’t see the body fall, they might survive – but this really stretches the definition.
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World – BBC Three, 9pm ⭐
Your pick of the evening. After a two-year gap, the international all-stars version storms back for its third series. The guest judge roster looks promising – Will Poulter, Lucy Punch, Anastacia, Rag ‘n’ Bone Man and two-thirds of Bananarama all appear across the run.
Tonight’s opener features double Eurovision winner Loreen alongside RuPaul, Michelle Visage and Graham Norton. The challenge is Ruruvision – a musical competition where each queen represents her home country, complete with Norton providing suitably sarcastic commentary. Keep an eye on UK season four’s Sminty Drop and Thai queen Gawdland, who has a reputation for switching from comedy to deadly serious in the blink of an eye.
Waterloo Road – BBC One, 9pm
Series 17 concludes tonight. A potential merger brings Jack back to guide proceedings, which is awkward news for Darius given that their last meeting ended with fists. But Darius has bigger problems – Nisha’s getting suspicious about his supposed inheritance from a dead aunt. She’s no maths genius, but even she can work out that the sums don’t add up when the aunt never existed. With two episodes wrapping up this run, expect fireworks. The good news for fans: series 18 and 19 are already commissioned.
Killer in the House – ITV1, 9pm
The second programme this week about the Colin Howell case, following Sunday’s BBC Two documentary. In 1991, the church-going Coleraine dentist murdered his wife and his lover’s husband, staging it to look like a suicide pact. Sloppy police work meant he avoided justice for two decades until religious guilt finally pushed him to confess.
What makes this particularly powerful is that Howell’s three children speak for the first time about growing up believing their mother had taken her own life – and the horror of discovering what their father actually did.
Knock at the Cabin – Film4, 9pm
M Night Shyamalan’s 2023 thriller keeps things tight and tense. Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge play a couple who take their daughter to a remote cabin, only to be confronted by four strangers with a terrifying message: the world is ending, and only this family can stop it – but doing so requires an unthinkable sacrifice.
It’s a contained, pressure-cooker film that draws real tension from its simple setup. For Groff, a gay actor who once worried that being out would limit his Hollywood opportunities, starring in a major blockbuster as half of a same-sex couple felt like validation that the industry has genuinely shifted.
The Good Ship Murder – Channel 5, 9pm
Two-thirds of Birds of a Feather board the cruise ship, with Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph playing a pair of widows on holiday. Neither is straying far from their Tracey and Dorien personas, to be honest. The actual mystery involves Piers getting suspicious about a restaurant critic whose interests extend beyond reviewing the food.
24 Hours in Police Custody – Channel 4, 9pm
Tonight’s investigation focuses on Carson Grimes, one of the country’s most notorious serial child abusers. Not light viewing, but the documentary approach gives an unflinching look at how police build cases against predators.
QI XL – BBC Two, 9pm
Sandi Toksvig hosts the extended cut with Alan Davies joined by Michael Odewale, Cally Beaton and Gyles Brandreth. The usual blend of obscure facts and creative wrong answers.
Dark Winds – U&Alibi, 9pm
The Navajo detective series concludes with two parallel hunts reaching their climax. Leaphorn and Chee know who their killer is – the opening scene underlines just how urgent catching him is – but pursuing him through a railway station and onto a moving train is dangerous work. Meanwhile, Manuelito wakes up chained to a steering wheel, face to face with a killer who likes to bury his victims alive in their vehicles.
Late Night
Things You Should Have Done – BBC Three, 10:15pm
A triple bill closes out the second series of Lucia Keskin’s acquired-taste comedy. Chi attempts to get a GCSE, which leads to falling out with cousin Lucas. Along the way there’s a spot-on Gogglebox parody and attempts to find a life partner. Will grief counsellor Ruth’s dubious guidance have helped at all?
Sport
Cricket: Sri Lanka v England ODI at 8:45am on TNT Sports 1 – third and final match from Colombo. Tennis: Australian Open at 7am and 12:30am on TNT Sports. Snooker: German Masters from 9am on TNT Sports 2. Football: Doncaster v Leyton Orient at 7:30pm on Sky Sports (kick-off 8pm).
The Viewing Schedule
| Time | Channel | Programme |
|---|---|---|
| 7:30pm | BBC One | EastEnders |
| 8:00pm | BBC One | Inside the Factory |
| 8:00pm | ITV1 | Emmerdale |
| 8:00pm | U&Drama | Harry Wild |
| 9:00pm | BBC Three | RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World |
| 9:00pm | BBC One | Waterloo Road |
| 9:00pm | BBC Two | QI XL |
| 9:00pm | Channel 4 | 24 Hours in Police Custody |
| 9:00pm | Channel 5 | The Good Ship Murder |
| 9:00pm | ITV1 | Killer in the House |
| 9:00pm | U&Alibi | Dark Winds |
| 9:00pm | More4 | Saving Country Houses |
| 9:00pm | Film4 | Knock at the Cabin |
| 10:15pm | BBC Three | Things You Should Have Done |
What’s On Streaming
BBC iPlayer: RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World (full series), Waterloo Road (full series), Inside the Factory, EastEnders, QI XL, Things You Should Have Done
ITVX: Emmerdale, Killer in the House
Channel 4 streaming: 24 Hours in Police Custody (full series)
Channel 5 streaming: The Good Ship Murder
Now: Dark Winds (full series)
Frequently Asked Questions
What time is RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World on TV tonight?
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World is on BBC Three at 9pm tonight (Tuesday 27th January 2026). Series three kicks off with a Eurovision-themed challenge and Loreen as guest judge.
What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight?
Our top pick is RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World on BBC Three at 9pm – the international all-stars competition returns after two years with a strong lineup of queens and guest judges.
Is EastEnders on TV tonight?
Yes, EastEnders is on BBC One at 7:30pm tonight (Tuesday 27th January 2026). Episodes are also available on BBC iPlayer from 6am.
What time is the Waterloo Road finale?
The Waterloo Road series 17 finale is on BBC One at 9pm tonight, with a second episode at 10:40pm.
What’s on Film4 tonight?
Film4 is showing Knock at the Cabin at 9pm – M Night Shyamalan’s 2023 apocalyptic thriller starring Jonathan Groff and Ben Aldridge as a couple facing an impossible choice.
Final Verdict
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World takes tonight’s crown – the Eurovision-themed opener with Loreen judging is inspired. If you prefer drama, Waterloo Road wraps up series 17 with all the melodrama you’d expect. And thriller fans should catch Knock at the Cabin on Film4 – Shyamalan at his most effectively contained.
