BBC One (BBC 1) TV Guide: Listings, Schedule & What’s On BBC One Tonight

BBC One (BBC1) is the UK’s most-watched television channel, running around the clock and streaming live on BBC iPlayer. This guide covers tonight’s line-up and the regular weekly schedule, plus where to find the channel across every platform.

Saturday 24 October 2026 is Strictly night. Strictly Come Dancing runs from 6:30pm to 8:35pm, then Wisdom of the Crowd and the murder mystery Marble Hall Murders fill the evening up to the news at 10:10pm. Match of the Day follows at 10:30pm and the film Cat Person closes the night at 11:40pm. Earlier, MOTD Live covers a Women’s Super League match from 12:30pm. EastEnders is not on tonight, because it does not air at weekends. For the weekly pattern, see when the soaps and big shows are on, and the full evening across every channel is on tonight’s TV guide.

BBC One Schedule: Saturday 24 October 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete BBC One schedule for Saturday 24 October 2026, on Freeview 1.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

Also on TV tonight at 9pm

• ITV1: The Voice UK (from 8.35pm)
• BBC Two: Amy Winehouse at the BBC (from 8.35pm)
• Channel 4: The Equalizer 2
• Channel 5: Alan Carr: My Best Bits & More (from 8.35pm)
• Film4: Shaun of the Dead
• E4: Celebrity Gogglebox
• ITV2: FYI Daily
• ITV3: Midsomer Murders (from 8pm)
• ITV4: Darts: European Championship (from 6pm)
• More4: 24 Hours in A&E

Every channel tonight, side by side · Films on TV tonight · Tomorrow’s TV

What’s on BBC One today: the daytime schedule

Weekday daytime opens with Breakfast at 6am, then Morning Live at 9:30am and Crimewatch Live at 10:45am. Homes Under the Hammer is at 11:30am and Bargain Hunt at 12:15pm, with the news at 1pm.

The afternoon runs Money for Nothing at 2pm, Shift the Thrift at 2:30pm, Escape to the Country at 3pm, The Bidding Room at 3:45pm and Bridge of Lies at 4:30pm. Pointless is at 5:15pm, ahead of the 6pm news.

BBC One tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the BBC One primetime line-up for tonight, Saturday 24 October 2026.

Strictly Come Dancing — BBC One, 6:30pm

The main event, and a long one at just over two hours (series 24, episode 9, billed as week five). Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe present as the couples still in the contest perform another routine each. Our guide to how to watch Strictly Come Dancing covers the live shows and iPlayer.

Wisdom of the Crowd — BBC One, 8:35pm

John Bishop hosts this quiz (series 1, episode 6), in which contestants play for money against what a studio audience collectively knows. It is a 45-minute slot.

Marble Hall Murders — BBC One, 9:20pm

Atticus Pünd’s mystery series continues (series 1, episode 5). This week Susan visits her former boss Charles Clover in prison, and DI Blakeney throws Pünd a lifeline.

Match of the Day — BBC One, 10:30pm

Highlights of the day’s Premier League matches, with Arsenal v Everton and Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur among them. Our Match of the Day guide has the weekly running order. The news is at 10:10pm and the weather at 10:25pm.

Cat Person — BBC One, 11:40pm

The late film is Cat Person, a 2023 thriller-comedy with Emilia Jones and Nicholas Braun. A student’s texting relationship with an older man turns awkward when he proves to be quite different in person.

Popular shows on BBC One

Soaps

EastEnders is the anchor: 7:30pm, Monday to Thursday, running since February 1985 and still among the highest-rated things on British television. Walford is fictional. The Queen Vic is a set at Elstree.

Entertainment and Quizzes

Pointless is the cleverest of the BBC’s teatime quizzes. Find the answers a survey group didn’t think of, score as low as you can: it rewards obscure knowledge over fast fingers, which is why it plays well with people who are terrible at buzzer rounds. Alexander Armstrong has fronted it since 2009.

The Apprentice comes back each autumn for Lord Sugar’s boardroom firings, and Strictly Come Dancing arrives in September and runs to the December final, with the results show on Sundays. Blankety Blank, revived with Bradley Walsh, and Celebrity Bridge of Lies with Ross Kemp fill lighter teatime slots.

Drama

Death in Paradise is the dependable one, a Caribbean murder procedural that runs the same formula every week and has never pretended otherwise. Casualty has held Saturday nights at 8pm since 1986.

Newer drama tends to arrive as a limited series of three to six episodes at 9pm, rotating through the year rather than occupying a permanent slot.

Sport

BBC One carries Match of the Day on weekend nights, still the UK’s most-watched football highlights programme, plus major international tournaments, Wimbledon shared with BBC Two, the FA Cup and Sports Personality of the Year each December.

Factual and News

Panorama, on air since 1953, is the current affairs strand. Countryfile takes Sunday evenings, usually with a Natural History Unit documentary and Antiques Roadshow after it.

How to watch BBC One live and on demand

Channel Numbers

Here’s where to find BBC One depending on your platform:

BBC One is free-to-air on all of these platforms, with no subscription required. The regional version you receive is determined by your postcode.

BBC iPlayer

BBC One streams live and free on BBC iPlayer at bbc.co.uk/iplayer, and via the iPlayer app on smart TVs, iOS, Android, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and most streaming sticks.

Most BBC One programmes stay on iPlayer for 30 days after transmission. EastEnders sometimes sticks around longer.

Freely

BBC One is available on the Freely platform, the free streaming service set up jointly by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 for broadband-connected televisions. If you have a Freely-enabled smart TV, BBC One is on channel 1.

Do You Need a TV Licence?

Yes. Watching BBC One live requires a valid TV Licence, whether that’s via aerial, satellite, cable or an online stream, and so does watching iPlayer content on the day of broadcast. As of April 2026 a colour licence costs £180 a year.

BBC One regional variations and the nations

BBC One is not a single national feed. It splits into regional and national opt-outs that swap network programmes for local ones.

In England, that mostly means the 6:30pm news: BBC North West Tonight, BBC London, Look North and the rest, made in regional centres around the country, with further opt-out windows during the day.

The devolved nations get more than that. BBC One Scotland, BBC One Wales and BBC One Northern Ireland share most of the network schedule but run their own news and commissions, with Wales Today and BBC Newsline as the respective evening bulletins.

Every regional and national variant is on BBC iPlayer. On satellite or cable, the version you get is tied to your registered postcode.

BBC One HD is available on all the main platforms and is the default for most viewers with an HD set. There’s no separate BBC One +1 channel.

Frequently Asked Questions

What channel number is BBC One on Freeview?

BBC One is on channel 1 on Freeview. If you have a Freeview HD receiver or an HD-ready TV with a built-in tuner, BBC One HD is on channel 101. Both carry your regional version of the channel.

What channel is BBC One on Sky?

BBC One is on channel 101 on Sky. This applies to Sky Q, Sky Stream and Sky Glass. The regional opt-out you receive depends on the postcode registered to your Sky account.

What channel is BBC One on Virgin Media?

BBC One is on channel 101 on Virgin Media.

What channel is BBC One on Freesat?

BBC One is on channel 101 on Freesat. The regional version is determined by the postcode entered during your box’s initial setup.

What time is EastEnders on BBC One?

EastEnders airs on BBC One at 7:30pm, Monday to Thursday, and has done since the Friday episode was axed in 2022. There’s no episode on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. During Wimbledon fortnight the weekday episodes sometimes shift over to BBC Two if the tennis runs long into the evening. Every episode lands on BBC iPlayer from 6am on the day of broadcast.

What’s on BBC One tonight?

Saturday 24 October 2026 has Strictly Come Dancing at 6:30pm, Wisdom of the Crowd at 8:35pm and Marble Hall Murders at 9:20pm. The news is at 10:10pm, Match of the Day at 10:30pm and the film Cat Person at 11:40pm. EastEnders is not on tonight.

Does BBC One have adverts?

No. BBC One carries no commercial advertising on any platform, and nor does any other BBC channel. The BBC is funded entirely by the TV Licence fee.

Can I watch BBC One online without a TV aerial?

Yes. BBC One streams live on BBC iPlayer and on Freely for broadband-connected TVs, so no aerial or satellite dish is needed. You do need a broadband connection, a free BBC account and a valid TV Licence. The iPlayer app runs on smart TVs, phones, tablets, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and most major streaming devices.

Verdict

Strictly Come Dancing is the night’s big draw and takes up most of the early evening. Wisdom of the Crowd and Marble Hall Murders fill the gap to the news, and Match of the Day rounds off the football. For the rest of the week, see when the soaps and big shows are on.

Daytime is Morning Live, Homes Under the Hammer, Bargain Hunt, Escape to the Country and Pointless.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | BBC One Schedule | Freeview Films Tonight