TV Guide UK Tonight: Fri 29 May 2026 – Hacks Series Finale, Ponies & Smoggie Queens Final

Published: 21 May 2026

Friday 29 May 2026. The big story tonight is Hacks going out forever — Sky Atlantic, 10:05pm, last episode of the fifth and final season. One of the best comedies made this decade, and it deserves a proper sendoff. Earlier in the evening, Ponies continues doing everything right on Sky Atlantic at 9pm, and BBC Three closes out Smoggie Queens with a series finale that’ll make you smile. Busy Friday.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• Hacks ⭐ — Sky Atlantic, 10:05pm — LAST EVER EPISODE. Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, five series and not a dull moment
• Ponies — Sky Atlantic, 9pm — Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson sharpen each other as spies in 1977 Moscow
• Smoggie Queens — BBC Three, 10pm (series finale) — Mr Teesside Beauty Pageant, £20,000, Benton vs Dolan
• Gardeners’ World — BBC Two, 8pm — Monty finally calls it on the tomatoes
• Hidden Treasures of the National Trust — BBC Two, 9pm — Wales, Northumberland, puffins, a 1588 Bible

Sport

Tennis: French Open Day 6 – TNT Sports 1 & 4, 9:30am

Day six at Roland-Garros in Paris. Third-round matches on the clay should be producing the first big upsets of the fortnight. TNT Sports 1 and 4 from 9:30am. Subscription required.

Cycling: Giro d’Italia Stage 19 – TNT Sports 3, 11am

Stage 19 takes the peloton on a punishing 151km mountain route from Feltre to Alleghe. At this stage of the race the general classification is essentially decided on days like this one. TNT Sports 3 from 11am. Subscription required.

Cricket: Men’s T20 – Worcestershire Rapids v Warwickshire Bears – Sky Sports Main Event, 5:25pm

The Central Group T20 heads to New Road in Worcester, one of the genuinely beautiful grounds in county cricket. Also on Sky Sports Cricket from 7pm. Subscription required.

Early Evening

Under the Vines – BBC One, 2pm & 2:45pm

A gentle afternoon option if you fancy a sit-down. The New Zealand vineyard drama returns for a new series — Aussie Daisy (Rebecca Gibney) and uptight Brit Louis (Charles Edwards) inherited the struggling Oakley vineyard and are, predictably, starting to fall for each other and for the place. The will-they-won’t-they of series one ended on a cliffhanger; a new suitor for Daisy and Louis’s ex-wife are both on hand to keep things complicated. Cheerful, unhurried viewing. Full series on BBC iPlayer.

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

The Walshes are closing in on Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, getting there via the Outback — which is, as the show takes some time to establish, genuinely enormous. Barney has clearly learned to arrange activities that won’t end in A&E, so tonight it’s a cattle muster and then a pub quiz. Bradley is clueless at the quiz until the question comes up about who hosts The Chase. Even he can get that one. The funniest moment involves Barney reading out the categories for the Naked Olympics, specifically the nude three-legged race. Thankfully neither Walsh signs up. Catch up via ITVX.

EastEnders – BBC One, 7:30pm

Tonight’s episode airs at 7:30pm on BBC One. Catch up via BBC iPlayer.

MasterChef – BBC One, 8pm

The semi-finals wrap up tonight as the last remaining contestants fight their way through to Finals Week. Anna Haugh and Grace Dent are joined by guest pastry chef Philip Khoury. Whoever goes home tonight probably won’t see it coming. BBC iPlayer.

Hunting Britain’s Fugitives – Channel 4, 8pm

Dispatches reporter Matt Shea goes after criminals who’ve decided that evading justice at home isn’t enough and have taken their chances abroad. The interesting question is always whether the people he finds are genuinely remorseful or just annoyed at being found. Channel 4 streaming after broadcast.

Gardeners’ World – BBC Two, 8pm

The tomato question that’s been hanging over the nation’s greenhouses since April has apparently been answered: Monty Don is only calling it now, in late May, because those mid-May nights were still properly cold. Carol Klein, in her Devon garden, has a piece on what’s actually happening inside a seed — the kind of explainer that changes how you look at a tray of compost. Rekha Mistry rounds things off with advice on making pots on a patio work harder. BBC iPlayer. (7:30pm on BBC Two in most regions: Beechgrove Garden.)

Coronation Street – ITV1, 8:30pm

The night of Theo’s murder gets revisited again via flashback, which means Todd Grimshaw’s position is getting worse rather than better. He’s accused of arranging the death to collect on life insurance, and the evidence is not going his way. A buried secret surfaces tonight — someone’s movements that evening, what they actually saw, and why they chose to lie about it. The street is very good at this kind of slow-building pressure. ITVX.

Prime Time

Ponies – Sky Atlantic, 9pm

Moscow, 1977. Bea (Emilia Clarke) and Twila (Haley Lu Richardson) are still very much the CIA’s least-trusted assets, and tonight they’re busy trying to acquire each other’s most useful qualities. Bea — calm, Russian-speaking, well-educated — commits her first burglary. Twila — street-smart, completely fearless, speaks no Russian whatsoever — works on charming a potential asset.

The show has been building these two characters carefully, and the pairing gets more rewarding with each episode. As the actual spy work gets more serious around them, you realise the comedy and the tension are doing the same job from different directions. The full series is on Now if you want to press on.

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

Katherine Ryan hosts this week, with Jo Coburn and John Tothill joining Ian Hislop and Paul Merton. Ryan has a natural feel for the show’s rhythms and won’t let Merton or Hislop get comfortable, which is exactly what you want. BBC iPlayer.

Olly Murs Steps into the Unknown for Soccer Aid – ITV1, 9pm

On 11 May, Olly Murs set off from Old Trafford in Manchester and ran, rowed and rode 400km south to the London Stadium, raising money for Soccer Aid for Unicef’s 20th anniversary. The twist: he found out each day’s challenge that morning. No preparation for brutal climbs or open-water stretches, and a knee injury making things worse throughout. This is the documentary covering the full journey, ahead of Sunday’s charity match. ITVX.

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

Ty Mawr Wybrnant, a remote farmhouse near Betws-y-Coed in North Wales, doesn’t look like much from the outside. In 1588, though, William Morgan worked inside it on the first complete translation of the Bible into Welsh — an act of cultural preservation that’s hard to overstate. The NT’s programming officer Fflur Owen talks about the building’s habit of sharing its history with people who slow down enough to listen. A fragile copy of the Bible needs careful attention. So does the fabric of the house itself.

Then the programme crosses to Inner Farne, the small Northumberland island where St Cuthbert lived as a hermit in the seventh century. The island’s chapel stained glass needs removing and cleaning, and the puffin colony — which basically owns the place during breeding season — has its habitat looked after. Good TV. BBC iPlayer.

Jazz Night – BBC Four, from 9:05pm

BBC Four doing what BBC Four used to do better than anyone. The evening opens with Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, a documentary on the genius and the complicated life behind it — Davis as innovator, as difficult human being, as someone who changed what jazz could be multiple times in one career. At 11pm, Alan Yentob Remembers… Ella Fitzgerald: the late BBC arts presenter recounting how in 1974 he produced a television special with Ella performing live at Ronnie Scott’s, then showing the concert in full. Closes at 11:45pm with Cleo Laine at the BBC. A good night for insomniacs. All on BBC iPlayer.

Smoggie Queens – BBC Three, 10pm & 10:30pm (Series 2 finale)

It’s the Mr Teesside Beauty Pageant in Middlesbrough, and there’s £20,000 up for grabs. Someone’s apparently trying to fix the result, which gives the finale an unusual amount of plot alongside its usual quota of warmth. Dickie (creator Phil Dunning) ends up booked for a drag performance after the original Cliff Richard impersonator had to pull out, and has invited talent agents in the hope this is finally his moment. Mam (Mark Benton) comes face to face with a ghost from the past in the form of Monica Dolan, and their scenes together are the episode’s highlight — two proper actors in full flight, with a sweetly uplifting ending that the series has earned. Both episodes on BBC iPlayer.

Hacks ⭐ – Sky Atlantic, 10:05pm (SERIES FINALE — LAST EVER EPISODE)

This is it. Five series, one of the best comedies on television, and tonight Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder take their final bow as Deborah Vance and Ava Daniels.

Deborah is the acid-tongued Las Vegas legend who built a career from scratch and then nearly torched it. Ava is the young writer who landed in Deborah’s orbit through incompetence and stayed because she turned out to be exactly what Deborah needed — and vice versa. The relationship has been mother/daughter, rivals, creative partners, best friends, and occasionally something resembling a difficult marriage. It has never been boring.

The central question of this final season has been whether they can actually secure Deborah’s legacy — get her remembered as a comedy great rather than a punchline — before they finally manage to destroy everything. Hacks has never let its sharpness slip, not once across five seasons, which is almost unheard of. Watch it. Available on Now.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

• Now: Hacks (final season, full series), Ponies (full series)
• BBC iPlayer: EastEnders, MasterChef, Have I Got News for You, Gardeners’ World, Hidden Treasures of the National Trust, Smoggie Queens (full series), Jazz Night, Under the Vines
• ITVX: Bradley & Barney Walsh: Breaking Dad, Coronation Street, Olly Murs Steps into the Unknown for Soccer Aid
• Channel 4 streaming: Hunting Britain’s Fugitives
• TNT Sports / discovery+: French Open, Giro d’Italia (subscription required)
• Sky Sports: Cricket T20 Worcestershire v Warwickshire (subscription required)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Friday 29 May 2026)?

Yes — EastEnders is on BBC One at 7:30pm tonight (Friday 29 May 2026). Catch up via BBC iPlayer.

What time is the Hacks series finale on tonight?

Hacks airs its last ever episode on Sky Atlantic at 10:05pm tonight (Friday 29 May 2026). It’s the finale of the fifth and final season — Jean Smart as Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder as Ava Daniels in their last outing together. Available on Now for those who want to stream it.

What time is Ponies on Sky Atlantic tonight?

Ponies is on Sky Atlantic at 9pm tonight. Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson as embassy secretaries turned reluctant CIA operatives in Moscow, 1977. The full series is also available to stream immediately on Now.

What time is Smoggie Queens on BBC Three tonight?

Smoggie Queens airs its series finale as a double bill on BBC Three from 10pm tonight (Friday 29 May 2026). It’s the Mr Teesside Beauty Pageant episode, with Mark Benton and Monica Dolan in a properly memorable showdown. Full series on BBC iPlayer.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight (Friday 29 May 2026)?

Hacks on Sky Atlantic at 10:05pm is the must-watch — the last ever episode of one of the best comedies of the decade. Ponies on Sky Atlantic at 9pm has been excellent all series and tonight is no different. Smoggie Queens closes on BBC Three from 10pm with a series finale that earns its warmth. For something more relaxed, Gardeners’ World on BBC Two at 8pm followed by Hidden Treasures of the National Trust at 9pm makes a fine alternative double bill.

Final Verdict

Hacks is the only answer tonight. Sky Atlantic, 10:05pm, last ever episode of Jean Smart’s career-defining performance. If you haven’t watched any of it, fix that via Now before Friday evening. The rest of the night is solid — Ponies at 9pm is building into something genuinely special, and Smoggie Queens on BBC Three from 10pm closes a series that’s been one of the warmest things on British television. Good Friday.

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