TV Guide UK Tonight: Fri 22 May 2026 – Ponies, Bob Dylan Night & World’s Biggest Curry Restaurant

Published: 15 May 2026

Last night ended in Mongolia after 11,000 kilometres on BBC One. Tonight is a different evening entirely. Sky Atlantic launches Ponies at 9pm — Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson as spy widows in 1970s Moscow, and probably the best new thing this week. BBC Four throws Bob Dylan an 85th birthday party that runs until nearly midnight. And BBC One has a fairly painless Friday: pizza on MasterChef, Have I Got News for You, then Fatboy Slim live from Sunderland.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• Ponies ⭐ — Sky Atlantic, 9pm — Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson as spy widows in 1970s Moscow. New series, available in full on Now
• Bob Dylan Night — BBC Four, from 9pm — 85th birthday tribute with archive concerts and a 2023 live performance
• MasterChef — BBC One, 8pm — Pizza under pressure, ten chefs, four ovens
• Hidden Treasures of the National Trust — BBC Two, 9pm — Ickworth House and the Georgiana connection
• Smoggie Queens — BBC Three, 10pm & 10:30pm — Wizard of Oz night out in Middlesbrough
• Fatboy Slim: Big Weekend — BBC One, 10:40pm — Norman Cook headlines Radio 1’s Sunderland festival

Early Evening

Weathered: after the LA Firestorm – PBS America, 7:20pm

Presenter Maiya May investigates the January 2025 wildfires that killed 31 people and destroyed more than 16,000 homes across Los Angeles. She speaks to underinsured communities still rebuilding and visits a South Carolina research centre where scientists are testing how to make buildings survive this kind of disaster. Catch up via Freeview Play.

Bradley & Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad – ITV1, 7:30pm (not STV)

The Walshes hit Brisbane. “The trots” turns out to be harness racing, though the editing suggests Barney let Bradley wonder for a while. There’s also medieval fantasy roleplay, a 61-year-old pole dancer in Rockhampton, and a driving challenge involving something very large. Bradley’s face throughout is what keeps this show watchable. Catch up via ITVX.

Prime Time

World’s Biggest Curry Restaurant – Channel 4, 8pm

The Royal Nawaab is the world’s largest Pakistani Indian restaurant, housed inside the Stockport Pyramid and serving up to 10,000 diners every week. Owner Mr Mahboob runs the operation — 150 staff, industrial quantities of spice — with the exacting focus of someone who takes South Asian food very seriously. Cameras get behind the scenes in both the kitchen and front of house. Solid Friday night viewing.

MasterChef – BBC One, 8pm

Knockout week ends tonight. Ten chefs, one brief — make the perfect pizza — and only four ovens to share between them. Managing the queue calmly under pressure will count for as much as what ends up on the plate. Catch up on BBC iPlayer.

Ponies – Sky Atlantic, 9pm ⭐

This is the one to watch tonight. Moscow, 1979. The US embassy staff are all CIA operatives — chain-smoked meetings, fierce women in enormous hats. Bea (Emilia Clarke) and Twila (Haley Lu Richardson) arrived as the wives of two such agents. Now they’re the widows, which the agency finds awkward and they find clarifying.

What follows is sharper than it looks. Bea is methodical; Twila is loud, cynical and usually right. Years of being ignored turns out to be good preparation for espionage. The CIA classify them as Persons of No Interest. Clarke and Richardson make a genuinely winning double act, and the Soviet period detail is handled with care. The full series is on Now tonight.

Have I Got News for You – BBC One, 9pm

Alexander Armstrong hosts, with Phil Wang and Judi Love joining the regulars. It’s been an eventful week for topical material. Merton and Hislop have been at this for over thirty years and still seem to be enjoying themselves, which is the main event.

Hidden Treasures of the National Trust – BBC Two, 9pm

This week: Ickworth House in Suffolk, built by a Grand Tour obsessive, holds a portrait of his daughter Bess and her friend Georgiana — Duchess of Devonshire, the 18th-century celebrity whose story became the Keira Knightley film. The portrait needs conservation, as do two extraordinary miniature party dresses. Then Attingham Park near Shrewsbury, where conservator Abi restores gilded Italian royal furniture with gold leaf — quietly the best moment of the episode.

Hacks – Sky Atlantic, 10:05pm

Penultimate episode of the final season. If you’ve followed Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance this far, you’ll want to see it through — one more to go after tonight.

Late Night

Smoggie Queens – BBC Three, 10pm & 10:30pm

Dickie organises a Wizard of Oz-themed night out for his workmates, which goes about as well as you’d expect. The cattiness and the warmth are still perfectly balanced, and this episode is among the best the series has done. Both eps on BBC iPlayer.

Fatboy Slim: Radio 1’s Big Weekend Sunderland – BBC One, 10:40pm

Norman Cook headlines Radio 1’s Big Weekend at Herrington Country Park in Sunderland — a three-day festival with over a hundred acts. Tonight’s bill also has Ellie Goulding, Zara Larsson and Olivia Dean. Cook has been doing this since the 90s and a Friday-night Right Here, Right Now still works on a field. BBC iPlayer.

And Now for Something Completely Different – BBC Two, 11pm (PG)

The Pythons’ 1971 cinema debut: a selection of Flying Circus sketches reshot without a studio audience to crack America. It didn’t work, and the film is flatter for the absence of laughter. But the material is still exceptional — some of the best sketch comedy ever written — and there’s something strange and compelling about hearing it in silence.

Sport

Formula One: Canadian Grand Prix Practice — Sky Sports Main Event / Sky Sports F1, 5pm. Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montreal — fifth round of the season on Sunday.

Cycling: Giro d’Italia — TNT Sports 1, 11am. Stage 13 — 189km from Alessandria to Verbania. A day for the sprinters.

Golf: CJ Cup Byron Nelson — Sky Sports Golf, 5pm. Day two from TPC Craig Ranch, Texas.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

• Now: Ponies (full series, available now), Hacks (final season)
• BBC iPlayer: MasterChef, Have I Got News for You, Hidden Treasures of the National Trust, Smoggie Queens (full series), Bob Dylan Night, Fatboy Slim Big Weekend, And Now for Something Completely Different
• ITVX: Bradley & Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad
• Channel 4 streaming: World’s Biggest Curry Restaurant
• Freeview Play: Weathered: after the LA Firestorm (PBS America)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight?

No — EastEnders doesn’t air on Fridays. It runs Monday to Thursday on BBC One at 7:30pm, with new episodes back on Monday. If you missed the Grant and Mark Fowler storyline this week, Tuesday to Thursday’s episodes are all on BBC iPlayer now.

What time is Ponies on Sky Atlantic?

Ponies starts at 9pm on Sky Atlantic tonight. It’s a new series, and the full run is available to stream immediately on Now if you’d rather watch it all at once.

What is Bob Dylan Night on BBC Four?

BBC Four marks Dylan’s 85th with an evening starting at 9pm: first a double bill of Sings Dylan — covers by Joan Baez, Bryan Ferry, Eric Clapton and Adele — then Shadow Kingdom, an intimate 2023 live performance at 10:40pm, and closing with the documentary Tangled Up with Dylan at 11:30pm.

What time is MasterChef on tonight?

MasterChef is on BBC One at 8pm tonight. It’s the final night of knockout week — ten chefs, one pizza challenge, four ovens between them. Catch up on BBC iPlayer.

What is Fatboy Slim Big Weekend on BBC One?

Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) headlines the opening night of Radio 1’s Big Weekend from 10:40pm on BBC One. The three-day festival at Herrington Country Park, Sunderland, also features Ellie Goulding, Zara Larsson and Olivia Dean.

Final Verdict

Ponies on Sky Atlantic at 9pm is the easy pick of the night — smart, funny, well cast, and the full series drops on Now alongside the broadcast if you want to keep going. If spy comedies aren’t your thing, BBC Two has Hidden Treasures and a late Python film, and BBC Four’s Dylan strand is worth dipping into for the Shadow Kingdom set alone. Not a bad Friday at all.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight Thursday 21 May 2026 | What’s On TV Tonight Saturday 23 May 2026