BBC Two (BBC 2) TV Guide: Listings, Schedule & What’s On BBC Two Tonight

BBC Two launched in 1964 as the BBC’s second network, and it still takes the programmes that were never built to chase ratings: quizzes that genuinely test you, documentaries assembled out of the archive. Tonight, Thursday 13 August, the channel carries day four of the European Athletics Championships from Birmingham, with the evening session opening on the triple jump and pole vault finals at 7pm. Two new series follow — The Big Deal with Steph McGovern and A House Through Time — before Red Dwarf, Newsnight and the opening part of a true-crime documentary close out the night.

BBC Two Schedule: Thursday 13 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete BBC Two schedule for Thursday 13 August 2026, on Freeview 2.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on BBC Two today — the daytime schedule

Thursday’s run opens with The Bidding Room at 6:30am, where an unusual visitor to the studio includes a skeleton nicknamed Uncle Bert, then Money for Nothing at 7:15am sees JJ strip down a record collection for parts. Gardeners’ World takes the 8am slot, with Frances Tophill spending the day at Damson Farm in Bath alongside Mary Berry, ahead of BBC News at 9am. Antiques Road Trip follows at 10:30am, Margie Cooper and Tim Medhurst driving their green electric fire engine around Gwynedd, before a second property slot in Homes Under the Hammer at 11:15am covers a Glasgow flat, a tricky east London layout and a Derby auction lot with a genie-lamp twist. Bargain Hunt airs at 12:15pm, then the afternoon turns to quizzes: Richard Osman’s House of Games at 1pm, Roman Kemp’s The Finish Line at 1:30pm and Vernon Kay putting guests through their paces on Bristol trivia in Do You Know Your Place? at 2:15pm. The Great Rift: Africa’s Wild Heart opens its run at 2:45pm, looking at the volcanic highlands of East Africa, and Spy in the Ocean closes out that series at 3:35pm. Michael Aspel’s Vintage Antiques Roadshow brings out a towering longcase clock and a French automaton doll at 4:35pm, and Paul Martin presents Flog It! from the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle at 5:15pm, carrying the schedule into early evening.

BBC Two tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the BBC Two primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 13 August 2026.

Richard Osman’s House of Games — BBC Two, 6pm

Robert Webb, Katharine Merry, Danielle Harold and Chris Bisson make up tonight’s panel for the format’s usual mix of general knowledge and daft picture rounds (series 8, episode 89).

Bear Grylls – Wild Reckoning — BBC Two, 6:30pm

A mother and daughter with a strained relationship are put through one of Grylls’ wilderness challenges, the idea being that shared discomfort forces an honest conversation neither has managed at home (series 1, episode 11).

European Athletics Championships: Birmingham 2026 — BBC Two, 7pm (approx.)

Day four’s evening session opens with two finals: the women’s triple jump and the women’s pole vault. Live sport can run over, so treat everything scheduled after this hour as approximate rather than fixed.

The Big Deal with Steph McGovern — BBC Two, 8pm

New series. Seven pairs of art dealers go head to head, each trying to spot undervalued pieces and turn a profit, with £50,000 of British art riding on the outcome (series 1, episode 1).

A House Through Time — BBC Two, 9pm

New series. The format returns to trace one property’s occupants back through the centuries, starting here with a church minister who helped smuggle French prisoners out of Edinburgh Castle (series 6, episode 1).

Red Dwarf — BBC Two, 10pm

Rimmer gets beamed off the mining ship and onto Enlightenment, a holoship crewed by the supposed elite of the space corps — awkward territory for a character who has never been anyone’s idea of elite (series 5, episode 1).

Newsnight, followed by Weather — BBC Two, 10:30pm

Katie Razzall hosts the day’s analysis and interviews, followed by the late weather.

Murder Trial: Death of a Dog Walker — BBC Two, 11:05pm

Part one of two. Brian Low was shot dead; the man in the dock, David Campbell, used to work as a gamekeeper. The film follows the trial from the inside (series 6, episode 1).

Popular shows on BBC Two

Quizzes

This is where BBC Two is hard to beat. University Challenge, Mastermind and Only Connect are properly difficult and never talk down to the viewer. QI is the odd one out: the points barely matter, it’s there for Sandi Toksvig and a panel digging up obscure facts.

Wildlife and nature

Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch run across the year, all live and all from the BBC Natural History Unit. Springwatch (late May to June) and Autumnwatch (October) are the bigger series; Winterwatch is the shorter companion piece.

Gardening and lifestyle

Gardeners’ World is a Friday evening fixture from early spring to late autumn, based at Monty Don’s Longmeadow garden but ranging across guest gardens around the country.

Comedy

Live at the Apollo, QI and Inside No. 9 are the standouts. Inside No. 9 has the cult following: a self-contained anthology where each episode can be comedy, horror or thriller, written by and starring Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith.

Current affairs

Newsnight and the daytime Politics Live carry BBC Two’s political output. Newsnight was cut back and reformatted in 2024, losing its films and most of its reporting staff, and it still holds the weeknight slot.

How to watch BBC Two

Channel numbers

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

No subscription is needed on any of these. The regional version you get (England/Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland) is determined by your postcode. On HD-capable platforms, 102 is the HD feed and the one most viewers default to.

BBC iPlayer

BBC Two 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. You need a free BBC account to watch. Most programmes stay up for 30 days after transmission, though live sport and some other content have shorter windows.

Freely

On the Freely platform, the joint free streaming service from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 for broadband-connected TVs, BBC Two is on channel 2. Local opt-out versions are available in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Do you need a TV licence?

Yes. Watching BBC Two live, or watching iPlayer content on the day of broadcast, requires a valid TV Licence. As of April 2026, a colour licence costs £180 per year. That fee is the BBC’s funding, which is why none of its channels carry adverts.

BBC Two HD and the nations

BBC Two is not a single uniform national channel. Like BBC One, it has opt-out services in the devolved nations:

• BBC Two Scotland carries Scottish news and regional programming alongside the main network schedule.
• BBC Two Wales (also referred to as BBC Wales) has its own news output and opt-out slots with Welsh-focused content.
• BBC Two Northern Ireland airs regional news and programming alongside the network schedule, and is one of two BBC Two variants available on Freely.

All regional and national variants are accessible via BBC iPlayer. If you’re watching on satellite or cable, the version you receive is tied to your registered postcode. There is no BBC Two +1 channel on any platform.

Frequently asked questions

What time is Springwatch on BBC Two?

Springwatch airs at 8pm, Monday to Thursday, in late May and June. The 2026 series ran from 25 May to 11 June with the live hub at National Trust Crom in Fermanagh. All episodes are on BBC iPlayer.

What time is Newsnight on BBC Two?

Newsnight starts at 10:30pm on weeknights and runs around 30 minutes, though the finish varies with the running order. It’s on iPlayer shortly after broadcast.

What’s on BBC Two tonight?

It’s Thursday 13 August 2026. The European Athletics Championships: Birmingham 2026 takes the 7pm hour, with day four’s evening session opening on the women’s triple jump and pole vault finals. Start times after this are approximate, since live sport can overrun. Two new series follow — The Big Deal with Steph McGovern at 8pm and A House Through Time at 9pm — then Red Dwarf at 10pm, Newsnight at 10:30pm and Murder Trial: Death of a Dog Walker at 11:05pm.

Can I watch BBC Two online for free?

Yes, on BBC iPlayer, with a free BBC account. A TV Licence is still required to watch live or to stream on the day of broadcast.

Do I need a TV Licence to watch BBC Two?

Yes, for live viewing on any platform and for iPlayer on the day of broadcast. As of April 2026, a colour licence is £180 per year.

Is BBC Two worth your Thursday evening?

Thursday’s case rests on the 7pm hour first. Day four of the European Athletics Championships opens its evening session with two finals, the women’s triple jump and the women’s pole vault, and it runs alongside BBC One’s coverage of the 200m final the same night, so treat everything scheduled after 7pm as running to an approximate clock rather than a fixed one.

Two new series then share primetime. The Big Deal with Steph McGovern opens at 8pm with pairs of art dealers chasing a £50,000 prize, and A House Through Time begins its sixth run at 9pm tracing one property back through its earliest residents. Red Dwarf holds 10pm, Newsnight takes its regular 10:30pm slot, and the first part of Murder Trial: Death of a Dog Walker closes the night from 11:05pm.

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