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

Published: 12 September 2026

BBC One 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.

Sunday 13 September 2026 runs a straight primetime strip rather than a one-off event: Antiques Roadshow from Dartington Estate opens at 8pm, Vigil follows at 9pm, and BBC News and Weather into BBC London News carry the ten o’clock slot. Match of the Day closes out the football weekend at 10:30pm, headlined by Manchester United against Manchester City, with the film Just Mercy running from 11:20pm.

BBC One Schedule: Sunday 13 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete BBC One schedule for Sunday 13 September 2026, on Freeview 1.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on BBC One today: the daytime schedule

Sunday’s daytime opens with Breakfast at 6am, then a repeat of the morning’s Match of the Day highlights at 7:05am and Politics London at 8:30am. Laura Kuenssberg’s political round-up takes 9am, and live coverage of the Great North Run fills the rest of the late morning from 10am.

Songs of Praise: The Bible for All has its latest instalment at 2:15pm, sandwiched between news bulletins, and Back to the Future Part II fills the mid-afternoon film slot from 2:50pm. The early-evening news double is followed by live athletics from 5pm, running on into primetime.

BBC One tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the BBC One primetime line-up for tonight, Sunday 13 September 2026.

Antiques Roadshow — BBC One, 8pm

Fiona Bruce presents again from Dartington Estate in Devon for the third outing of series 49, the usual mix of hopeful owners, sharp valuations and the odd family heirloom worth rather less than everyone hoped.

Vigil — BBC One, 9pm

Suranne Jones is back for series three, episode five. The fallout from Jia’s discovery keeps spreading, well past the people who thought they’d already contained it.

BBC News and Weather — BBC One, 10pm

The ten o’clock round-up, followed by the regional forecast.

BBC London News — BBC One, 10:25pm

London’s own bulletin, ahead of the football.

Match of the Day — BBC One, 10:30pm

Sunday’s Premier League highlights, with Manchester United against Manchester City the result worth staying up for.

Just Mercy — BBC One, 11:20pm

Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx lead this true-story death row drama, a heavier way to close the night than the football that comes before it.

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. Blankety Blank, revived with Bradley Walsh, and Celebrity Bridge of Lies with Ross Kemp fill the lighter Saturday 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 Saturday 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 Sunday either; tonight, 13 September, the evening runs Antiques Roadshow, Vigil and Match of the Day instead. 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?

Sunday 13 September 2026 runs a straight primetime strip. Antiques Roadshow opens at 8pm from Dartington Estate, Vigil follows at 9pm, and BBC News and Weather into BBC London News take the ten o’clock slot. Match of the Day closes the football weekend at 10:30pm, headlined by Manchester United against Manchester City, and Just Mercy runs from 11:20pm.

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

Vigil at 9pm is the pick of the night for actual drama, coming straight after Antiques Roadshow’s usual mix of family treasures and quiet disappointment. Match of the Day rounds things off at 10:30pm with Manchester United against Manchester City the game worth staying up for, and Just Mercy is there afterwards for anyone not ready for bed.

Daytime is built around the Great North Run’s live coverage from 10am, with Back to the Future Part II filling the traditional Sunday-afternoon film slot.

Watch

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | BBC One Schedule | Films on TV This Week