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

Published: 22 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.

Wednesday 23 September 2026 keeps EastEnders in its usual place but rebuilds everything else around it. The Repair Shop’s Beyond the Barn spin-off takes the 8pm hour, then BBC One marks two decades of Not Going Out with a behind-the-scenes documentary at 9pm, followed straight after by a new episode of the sitcom itself. There’s no film to close the night this time: Sam Smith’s concert from the London Coliseum takes that slot from 10:40pm instead.

BBC One Schedule: Wednesday 23 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete BBC One schedule for Wednesday 23 September 2026, on Freeview 1.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on BBC One today: the daytime schedule

Wednesday’s daytime opens with Breakfast at 6am, then Morning Live takes the mid-morning slot at 9:30am. Rip Off Britain and Homes Under the Hammer carry the guide towards midday, with Bargain Hunt and the lunchtime news either side of 1pm.

Clean It, Fix It and Amanda & Alan’s Greek Job fill the early afternoon, Escape to the Country and Garden Rescue run through mid-afternoon, and Antiques Road Trip and a new episode of Pointless carry the schedule into early evening.

BBC One tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the BBC One primetime line-up for tonight, Wednesday 23 September 2026.

BBC News — BBC One, 6pm

The evening bulletin opens with the day’s headlines and the national forecast.

BBC London News — BBC One, 6:30pm

Regional news and weather for the capital follows straight after.

Party Political Broadcast by the Liberal Democrats Party — BBC One, 6:55pm

A five-minute scheduled broadcast by the Liberal Democrats sits between the news and The One Show. It’s a standard scheduling slot, not a programme in its own right.

The One Show — BBC One, 7pm

Alex Jones and guests run through the day’s talking points ahead of EastEnders.

EastEnders — BBC One, 7:30pm

Nothing goes to plan for Lauren, Cindy falls out with someone new on the Square, and Harvey’s birthday party ends in an argument (series 2026, episode 152).

The Repair Shop: Beyond the Barn — BBC One, 8pm

The barn’s specialists take on a trophy, a scrapbook and a ruby ring, restoring each one to its owner.

20 Years of Not Going Out — BBC One, 9pm

A one-off documentary marks two decades of Lee Mack’s sitcom, following the cast and crew from an early writers’ meeting through rehearsals to the studio floor. Lee talks through the show’s history in his own words, with the usual mix of detail and jokes.

Not Going Out — BBC One, 9:30pm

The anniversary special leads straight into a new episode, with Lee and Lucy throwing a 20th birthday party that runs into trouble over a missing vinyl record (series 15, episode 1). Both the documentary and the new series land on BBC iPlayer from tonight too.

BBC News and Weather — BBC One, 10pm

The ten o’clock bulletin rounds up the day’s headlines, with weather to follow.

BBC London News — BBC One, 10:30pm

A short regional update closes out the news block.

Sam Smith: Live at the London Coliseum — BBC One, 10:40pm

No film tonight. Instead the night ends on an intimate concert recording from the London Coliseum.

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 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?

Wednesday 23 September 2026 keeps EastEnders at 7:30pm but rebuilds the rest of the evening around it: The Repair Shop: Beyond the Barn takes the 8pm hour, then a documentary marking 20 years of Not Going Out leads into a new series episode at 9:30pm. There’s no film tonight — Sam Smith’s concert from the London Coliseum closes the night from 10:40pm instead.

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

Not Going Out is the one to build the evening around: a documentary charting 20 years of Lee Mack’s sitcom leads at 9pm into a new series episode at 9:30pm, sitting behind EastEnders and The Repair Shop: Beyond the Barn. There’s no film to close the night this time — Sam Smith’s concert from the London Coliseum takes that slot from 10:40pm instead.

Daytime runs a normal weekday shape: Morning Live, Rip Off Britain and Homes Under the Hammer through the late morning, then Bargain Hunt, Escape to the Country and Garden Rescue carrying the afternoon into early evening.

Watch

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