Friday 2 October 2026. The Celebrity Traitors reaches its first Round Table on BBC One at 8pm, with Uncloaked straight after at 9pm — the point in every series where the polite phase ends. Later, BBC Two gives a terrestrial airing to The Substance, which is not a film most people expected to see on BBC Two at 10pm. BBC Four hands the evening to the Pet Shop Boys, and Graham Norton has a very strong sofa. EastEnders isn’t on.

Page Contents

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

See also: Thursday's TV Guide | Wednesday's TV Guide

The Celebrity Traitors BBC One, 8pm. First Round Table, Uncloaked at 9pm.
The Substance BBC Two, 10pm. Demi Moore, certificate 18, and it means it.
Pet Shop Boys at the BBC BBC Four, 9.05pm. Three hours of Tennant and Lowe.
The Graham Norton Show BBC One, 10.40pm. Zeta-Jones, Stallone and Garfield.
EastEnders is not on tonight — it returns Monday at 7.30pm.

Early Evening

The Kid Who Would Be King – Film4, 6.40pm

A schoolboy pulls Excalibur out of a building site and has to assemble an army from his classmates before Morgana arrives. Joe Cornish’s film deserved a far bigger audience. Film4 follows with Nobody at 9pm and The Menu at 10.50pm.

Secrets of the River Mersey – Channel 5, 6pm

The working river and what has become of it, with Angela Rippon’s River Cruises at 7pm and Our Great Yorkshire Life at 8pm on Channel 5.

TOTP: 2000 – BBC Four, 7pm

Two archive editions back to back, taking in Britney Spears, the Bluetones and Oxide & Neutrino, then TOTP: 1979 at 8pm with Blondie and the Buggles, and TOTP: 1988 at 8.35pm. BBC Four is effectively running a warm-up act for its own main event.

It’ll Be Alright on the Night – ITV1, 7.30pm

Outtakes, before the soaps on ITV1.

Heartbeat – ITV3, 6.55pm

ITV3 opens with Aidensfield, then a Doc Martin double from 8pm and Downton Abbey at 10pm.

Prime Time

The Celebrity Traitors – BBC One, 8pm ⭐

Episode two, and the first proper Round Table, which is always the best one of any series. Nobody has worked out how to do this yet. The accusations are clumsy, the defences are worse, and at least one person will say something they cannot take back while trying to look relaxed.

With a celebrity cast it is sharper still, because everyone at the table has spent a career managing how they come across on camera and none of those instincts help here. Looking composed reads as guilty. Looking rattled reads as guilty. Uncloaked follows at 9pm with Ed Gamble going through the wreckage.

International Football: Slovakia v Northern Ireland – BBC Two, 7.30pm

Northern Ireland away in Trnava, kick-off 7.45pm. BBC Two stays with it until 10pm, at which point the channel makes a very abrupt gear change.

Beat the Chasers: Celebrity Special – ITV1, 9pm

Famous faces taking on the full wall of Chasers for a charity pot, which usually goes about as well as it sounds.

Play for Today: Village Idiot – Channel 5, 9pm

A revival of the old strand name for a genuine David and Goliath story. Barbara, played by Phyllis Logan, chains herself to her cottage to stop a high-speed rail scheme demolishing it. Caught in the middle is Peter, the company’s liaison and Barbara’s grandson, which turns a planning dispute into a family one.

It works because the stand-off is not the usual progress-versus-preservation argument. Peter’s return home stirs up things about his own identity and sexuality that the village had quietly agreed not to discuss, and a reunion with an old friend brings them properly to the surface.

Emmerdale – ITV1, 8pm

Grief for the late Dawn Fletcher is still shaping everything. Joe Tate is struggling with his newborn son as a reminder of what the family lost, and Kim Tate — haunted by having given up her own child 27 years ago — has no idea that her resentful daughter is now working at Hotten Police Station and watching Home Farm very closely.

Coronation Street – ITV1, 8.30pm

The Eva Price attack finally resolves. Debbie Webster found her unconscious at the bottom of the cellar stairs; suspicion has been pointing at Debbie’s wayward son Carl, and the police have not been able to connect him to it. Tonight the truth lands, and it breaks one family while another realises things will not go back to how they were.

George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces: First Home – Channel 4, 8pm

Clarke with first-time buyers who have concluded that a conventional house is out of reach and gone looking for something else entirely. Channel 4 follows it with Gogglebox at 9pm.

Have I Got News for You – BBC One, 9.30pm

Richard Ayoade takes the chair for the fifteenth time, which makes him something close to a resident. Gyles Brandreth is on the panel and will, on past form, be wearing the most remarkable knitwear in the building.

Pet Shop Boys at the BBC – BBC Four, 9.05pm

The start of a full Pet Shop Boys evening: archive performances and collaborations with, among others, David Bowie, Liza Minnelli and Dusty Springfield. Reel Stories follows at 10.30pm with Dermot O’Leary going through the tapes with Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, and at 11.20pm their Radio 2 in the Park headline set from Moor Park in Preston.

Nobody – Film4, 9pm

Bob Odenkirk, a home invasion, and a very large amount of consequence.

Late Night

The Substance – BBC Two, 10pm

A properly unexpected booking. Coralie Fargeat’s 2024 satire follows a fading television star who takes an experimental anti-ageing treatment and generates a younger version of herself, at a price. It is gruesome, extremely funny in places, and ended up nominated for best film, director, screenplay and actress — the last of those being Demi Moore’s first acting nomination in a forty-year career.

It won one Academy Award, for make-up and hair, which is the right one: Fargeat insisted on practical effects rather than digital, so Moore sat for seven hours to be turned into the creature the crew nicknamed Gollum, and the production went through something like 30,000 gallons of fake blood. Certificate 18, and that is not a formality.

The Graham Norton Show – BBC One, 10.40pm

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sylvester Stallone and Andrew Garfield on the sofa, which is a strong Friday booking by any measure.

Live from the Lycett Arms – Channel 4, 10pm

Joe Lycett presiding over comedy, chat and a reliable amount of chaos.

The Last Samurai – ITV1, 10.45pm

Tom Cruise as an American officer who ends up fighting for the side he was hired to destroy. Two and a half hours.

The Menu – Film4, 10.50pm

Ralph Fiennes’ chef, an island restaurant and a tasting menu that goes somewhere very dark.

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK – BBC One, 11.30pm

After Graham Norton.

Sport

One live match on Freeview: Slovakia against Northern Ireland in Trnava, on BBC Two from 7.30pm with kick-off at 7.45pm. It completes a week in which all four home nations have played on free-to-air — England in Prague on Tuesday, Scotland in Switzerland the same night, Wales in Cardiff on Thursday and Northern Ireland tonight.

Elsewhere, Bath host Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership and the Bahrain Grand Prix holds second practice, but both are on subscription. The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship continues across the Scottish courses.

What’s On Streaming

BBC iPlayer — The Celebrity Traitors, Uncloaked, The Substance (limited window), Pet Shop Boys at the BBC, Have I Got News for You.

ITVX — Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Beat the Chasers.

Channel 4 — Gogglebox, George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces, Live from the Lycett Arms.

5 — Play for Today: Village Idiot, Our Great Yorkshire Life.

Tonight by Channel

A channel-by-channel breakdown of Friday 2 October 2026, so you can jump straight to the one you actually watch.

BBC One

7pm — The One Show
7.30pm — Would I Lie to You?
8pm — The Celebrity Traitors
9pm — The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked
9.30pm — Have I Got News for You
10.40pm — The Graham Norton Show
11.30pm — RuPaul’s Drag Race UK

BBC Two

6pm — House of Games
6.30pm — Strictly: It Takes Two
7.30pm — International Football: Slovakia v Northern Ireland
10pm — The Substance

ITV1

7.30pm — It’ll Be Alright on the Night
8pm — Emmerdale
8.30pm — Coronation Street
9pm — Beat the Chasers: Celebrity Special
10.45pm — The Last Samurai

Channel 4

8pm — George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces: First Home
9pm — Gogglebox
10pm — Live from the Lycett Arms
11.05pm — American Pie 2

Channel 5

6pm — Secrets of the River Mersey
7pm — Angela Rippon’s River Cruises
8pm — Our Great Yorkshire Life
9pm — Play for Today: Village Idiot
10pm — Piers Morgan: Uncensored

BBC Four

7pm — TOTP: 2000
8pm — TOTP: 1979
8.35pm — TOTP: 1988
9.05pm — Pet Shop Boys at the BBC
10.30pm — Pet Shop Boys: Reel Stories

Film4

6.40pm — The Kid Who Would Be King
9pm — Nobody
10.50pm — The Menu

ITV3

6.55pm — Heartbeat
8pm — Doc Martin
10pm — Downton Abbey

The Viewing Schedule

Time	Channel	Programme
6pm	BBC Two	House of Games
6pm	Channel 5	Secrets of the River Mersey
6pm	Channel 4	A New Life in the Sun: Where Are They Now?
6.30pm	BBC Two	Strictly: It Takes Two
6.40pm	Film4	The Kid Who Would Be King
6.55pm	ITV3	Heartbeat
7pm	BBC One	The One Show
7pm	BBC Two	Newsnight
7pm	Channel 5	Angela Rippon’s River Cruises
7pm	BBC Four	TOTP: 2000
7.30pm	BBC One	Would I Lie to You?
7.30pm	BBC Two	International Football: Slovakia v Northern Ireland (k/o 7.45pm)
7.30pm	ITV1	It’ll Be Alright on the Night
8pm	BBC One	The Celebrity Traitors
8pm	ITV1	Emmerdale
8pm	Channel 4	George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces: First Home
8pm	Channel 5	Our Great Yorkshire Life
8pm	BBC Four	TOTP: 1979
8pm	ITV3	Doc Martin
8.30pm	ITV1	Coronation Street
8.35pm	BBC Four	TOTP: 1988
9pm	BBC One	The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked
9pm	ITV1	Beat the Chasers: Celebrity Special
9pm	Channel 4	Gogglebox
9pm	Channel 5	Play for Today: Village Idiot
9pm	Film4	Nobody
9pm	ITV3	Doc Martin
9.05pm	BBC Four	Pet Shop Boys at the BBC
9.30pm	BBC One	Have I Got News for You
10pm	BBC Two	The Substance
10pm	Channel 4	Live from the Lycett Arms
10pm	Channel 5	Piers Morgan: Uncensored
10pm	ITV3	Downton Abbey
10.30pm	BBC Four	Pet Shop Boys: Reel Stories
10.40pm	BBC One	The Graham Norton Show
10.45pm	ITV1	The Last Samurai
10.50pm	Film4	The Menu
11.05pm	Channel 4	American Pie 2
11pm	ITV3	DCI Banks
11.20pm	BBC Four	Pet Shop Boys: Radio 2 in the Park
11.30pm	BBC One	RuPaul’s Drag Race UK

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Friday 2 October 2026)?

No. EastEnders does not air on Fridays. The soap runs Monday to Thursday at 7.30pm on BBC One, so the next episode is Monday 5 October. Thursday’s was the last of the week.

What time is The Celebrity Traitors on tonight?

The Celebrity Traitors is on BBC One at 8pm, with The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked following at 9pm. It is the second episode, and the first Round Table.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight (Friday 2 October 2026)?

The Celebrity Traitors on BBC One at 8pm, for the first Round Table. If you want a film instead, BBC Two shows The Substance at 10pm, which is a genuinely rare terrestrial airing.

What is The Substance on BBC Two?

Coralie Fargeat’s 2024 body-horror satire about an anti-ageing treatment, starring Demi Moore in her first Oscar-nominated role in a 40-year career. It is on BBC Two at 10pm and is certificate 18 for good reason.

Who is on The Graham Norton Show tonight?

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sylvester Stallone and Andrew Garfield. It is on BBC One at 10.40pm.

What happens in Coronation Street tonight?

Coronation Street is on ITV1 at 8.30pm, and the identity of Eva Price’s attacker is finally revealed after weeks of suspicion falling on Debbie Webster’s son Carl. Emmerdale precedes it at 8pm.

Is Northern Ireland playing tonight?

Yes. Northern Ireland are away to Slovakia in Trnava, live on BBC Two from 7.30pm with kick-off at 7.45pm.

What film is on TV tonight?

BBC Two has The Substance at 10pm. Film4 shows The Kid Who Would Be King at 6.40pm, Nobody at 9pm and The Menu at 10.50pm, ITV1 has The Last Samurai at 10.45pm and Channel 4 closes with American Pie 2 at 11.05pm.

What is BBC Four’s Pet Shop Boys night?

A full evening beginning at 9.05pm with Pet Shop Boys at the BBC, then Reel Stories with Dermot O’Leary at 10.30pm and their Radio 2 in the Park headline set from Preston at 11.20pm. Top of the Pops repeats run from 7pm.

What live sport is on TV tonight: Friday 2 October 2026?

Slovakia v Northern Ireland in the Nations League, on BBC Two from 7.30pm. Bath against Exeter in Premiership rugby and Bahrain Grand Prix practice are both on subscription channels.

Final Verdict

Two hours of Traitors on BBC One, and the first Round Table is the reason to be there — it is the episode where the series decides what it is going to be.

The genuinely surprising booking is The Substance on BBC Two at 10pm. It is not a film you expect terrestrial television to show, and if you have avoided it because of what you have heard, the reputation is earned but so are the four Oscar nominations. And if none of that appeals, BBC Four’s Pet Shop Boys evening runs from 9.05pm to well past midnight without asking anything of you at all.

Written by

TV Radar Team

TV Radar Team is the byline on TV Radar's automatically generated TV guides — covering BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 and beyond. Each evening's schedule is built from the published listings (titles, start times, run lengths and episode numbers) and checked against our listings data before publication, so you can decide in two minutes what to record and what to skip. These guides are generated automatically rather than written by hand; a human editor spot-checks them, but not every page is read before it goes live. Based in London, updated every day.