TV Guide UK Tonight: Fri 24 Jul 2026 – Ann Droid, Granite Harbour & Amanda Knox

Published: 15 July 2026

Friday 24 July 2026. BBC One carries the night’s headline act twice over: Granite Harbour opens its third series at 8pm with a body turning up on a new landowner’s estate near Aberdeen, then Ann Droid returns at 9:30pm with Diane Morgan and Sue Johnston’s oddball AI sitcom still finding fresh laughs in an unlikely friendship. ITV1 keeps The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox moving at 9pm, BBC Two pairs Gardeners’ World with a Bergerac double bill, and Channel 5 sends Boris Johnson into a Ukrainian war zone for a feature-length documentary. Add in the opening day of the Commonwealth Games and a brutal mountain stage of the Tour de France, and it’s a properly stacked Friday. One thing that isn’t on: EastEnders doesn’t air on Fridays, so there’s no new episode to catch.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• Ann Droid BBC One, 9:30pm. Diane Morgan and Sue Johnston’s AI sitcom continues.
• Granite Harbour BBC One, 8pm. The Aberdeen crime drama opens series three.
• The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox ITV1, 9pm. The true-crime drama continues with a double bill.
• Bergerac BBC Two, 9pm. The Jersey-set reimagining pairs two episodes.
• Commonwealth Games TNT Sports 2 / Channel 5 highlights. Day one of competition from Glasgow.
• EastEnders isn’t on tonight — the soap only airs Monday to Thursday, so there’s no episode this evening.

Early Evening

The Hairdresser Mysteries – BBC One, 2pm

This afternoon’s cosy 1970s crime drama drags Lily’s salon back into a murder enquiry when local weather presenter Jonty Starr, played by guest star Steven Webb, is found dead not long after upsetting half the town. With gossip flying between shampoo and set, Lily’s chair becomes the best vantage point in the investigation. BBC iPlayer.

Our Lives: Hunting the Giant Bluefin Tuna – BBC One, 7pm

This documentary strand heads to Northern Ireland’s north-east coast to meet a licensed catch-and-release crew chasing bluefin tuna that have returned to local waters after decades away. It’s a story about protecting a comeback species as much as it is about the thrill of hooking one, and the hope of putting a small fishing community on the big-game map. BBC iPlayer.

BBC Proms: The Prog Rock Prom – BBC Four, 7pm

BBC Four hands the evening over to progressive rock, with the BBC Concert Orchestra reworking material associated with Genesis, Yes and Jethro Tull. Elbow’s Guy Garvey lends a hand bringing the arrangements to the stage, in a Prom that leans hard into the genre’s love of scale and excess. BBC iPlayer.

Granite Harbour – BBC One, 8pm

The Aberdeen-set crime drama opens its third run, and it doesn’t waste time: a body turns up on land belonging to new arrival Richard Loughty, played by Alastair Mackenzie, in what amounts to an on-screen Monarch of the Glen reunion alongside Dawn Steele’s DCI Cora MacMillan. Detectives Lindo and Bart, played by Romario Simpson and Hannah Donaldson, are left working out whether the estate’s owner is a witness, a suspect, or both. Full series on BBC iPlayer.

Gardeners’ World – BBC Two, 8pm

Arit Anderson, Jamie Butterworth and Frances Tophill travel to Norfolk for the first-ever RHS Sandringham Flower Show, catching the show gardens mid-build ahead of opening day on royal grounds. It’s a livelier hour than the usual back-garden visits, with the last-minute scramble part of the appeal. BBC iPlayer.

Prime Time

Ann Droid – BBC One, 9:30pm ⭐

Diane Morgan and Sarah Kendall’s near-future sitcom keeps building on its stranger-than-usual premise, with Sue Johnston’s widow Sue still working out how to live alongside Linda, her battered second-hand eldercare robot, played by Morgan herself. Sally Phillips and Ben Miller remain on hand to complicate an already odd household. It’s rare for a comedy this dry to also be this gentle about grief, and that combination is exactly why it’s the pick of the night. Full series on BBC iPlayer.

The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox – ITV1, 9pm & 10:05pm

The eight-part drama continues as prosecutor Giuliano Mignini, played by Francesco Acquaroli, starts building his case against Amanda Knox, played by Grace Van Patten, just as her family arrives in Italy to find a legal process already picking up speed. Tonight’s double bill stays with the machinery of the investigation rather than chasing the more lurid headlines the case produced first time round. ITVX.

Bergerac – BBC Two, 9pm & 9:45pm

This Jersey-set reimagining continues to follow bereaved detective Jim Bergerac, played by Damien Molony, as he wrestles with drink while trying to keep his working life from unravelling. Charlie, the father-in-law figure from the original series, has been recast here as a mother-in-law, played by Zoë Wanamaker, and the swap gives their prickly relationship a genuinely different texture. Full series on BBC iPlayer.

Boris Johnson: Into the Kill Zone – Channel 5, 9pm

This feature-length documentary follows Boris Johnson reporting from close to the front line in south-eastern Ukraine, swapping the usual diplomatic distance for a first-hand look at a country still under sustained attack. Whatever your view of the presenter, the access he’s been given is hard to argue with. Catch up on My5.

The Sommerdahl Murders – More4, 9pm

This Danish crime drama tightens its focus tonight around the stabbing of a woman who ran a Muay Thai gym, while a quieter subplot following Josefine’s time in prison continues in the background. Subtitled, unhurried and built on procedure rather than shock, it’s the calmer alternative if the rest of the schedule feels too heavy. More4 streaming.

Station Eleven – Sky Atlantic, 9pm & 10pm

This post-pandemic drama runs a double bill tonight, following Mackenzie Davis’s Kirsten through a world remade by a devastating flu outbreak years earlier. It’s a slower, more hopeful take on the apocalypse than most, built around memory and travelling theatre troupes rather than survival horror, and it rewards sticking with it. Catch up on Now.

Late Night

Austin – BBC One, 10:40pm & 11:10pm

Two episodes run back to back, with autistic actor Michael Theo’s Austin dealing with publisher Julian, played by Ben Miller, trying to talk his way into adapting Austin’s work. Ingrid, played by Sally Phillips, and publicist Greta, played by Claire Lovering, both get pulled into the fallout. Warm and sharply observed, as ever. Viewers in Northern Ireland see both episodes later, at 11:30pm and midnight. BBC iPlayer.

Fleabag – BBC Three, 10:30pm

Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s confessional comedy gets a late-night outing, with its unnamed lead narrating her own chaos straight to camera in a way that still feels startlingly direct years on. A sharp nightcap if the rest of tonight’s drama has been heavy going. BBC iPlayer.

Sport

Friday brings the opening day of proper competition at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with swimming, boxing and artistic gymnastics all under way. Live coverage runs on TNT Sports 2 from 8:30am and again from 6pm, but Freeview viewers without a subscription can catch highlights on Channel 5 at 10:30pm. The Tour de France reaches its brutal Stage 19 from Gap to Alpe d’Huez, a short but savage mountain stage finishing on the famous 21 hairpin bends, live on TNT Sports 1 from 12:30pm with highlights on Channel 5 at 7pm. Golf fans get day two of the Women’s Scottish Open from Irvine in Ayrshire, live on Sky Sports Golf from 9:30am.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

• BBC iPlayer: The Hairdresser Mysteries, Our Lives: Hunting the Giant Bluefin Tuna, BBC Proms: The Prog Rock Prom, Granite Harbour, Gardeners’ World, Ann Droid, Bergerac, Austin, Fleabag
• ITVX: The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox
• My5: Boris Johnson: Into the Kill Zone, Commonwealth Games highlights
• Channel 4 streaming: The Sommerdahl Murders
• Now: Station Eleven

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Friday 24 July 2026)?

No. EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One at around 7:30pm and doesn’t broadcast on Fridays, so there’s no new episode tonight. Catch up on the week’s episodes via BBC iPlayer, or wait for Monday’s return.

What time is Ann Droid on BBC One tonight?

Ann Droid airs on BBC One at 9:30pm tonight. The AI sitcom starring Diane Morgan and Sue Johnston is available afterwards on BBC iPlayer alongside the rest of the series.

Is Granite Harbour back for series three tonight?

Yes. Granite Harbour returns to BBC One at 8pm tonight with its third series, in which DCI Cora MacMillan, played by Dawn Steele, investigates a body found on the land of a new local landowner. The full series is on BBC iPlayer.

What live sport is on TV tonight: Friday 24 July 2026?

The Commonwealth Games get under way in Glasgow, with swimming, boxing and artistic gymnastics live on TNT Sports 2 and highlights on Channel 5 at 10:30pm. The Tour de France also tackles its mountainous Stage 19 from Gap to Alpe d’Huez, live on TNT Sports 1 with highlights on Channel 5 at 7pm.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight (Friday 24 July 2026)?

Ann Droid on BBC One at 9:30pm is the pick of the night, with Diane Morgan and Sue Johnston’s odd, tender AI sitcom continuing to punch above its weight. Granite Harbour’s series three opener at 8pm is the night’s other big draw for BBC One.

Final Verdict

Friday 24 July belongs to BBC One twice over. Granite Harbour opens its third series at 8pm with real momentum, and Ann Droid ⭐ follows at 9:30pm as the unmissable pick of the evening, still the most quietly inventive sitcom the channel has on right now. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox on ITV1 and the Bergerac double bill on BBC Two both give BBC One a genuine run for its money at 9pm, and sport fans have the opening day of the Commonwealth Games and a savage Tour de France mountain stage to fill the gaps. One thing tonight isn’t offering: EastEnders sits out Fridays, so don’t go looking for it on BBC One.

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