TV Guide UK Tonight: Fri 3 Jul 2026 – Wimbledon Day 5, Celebrity Gogglebox & World Cup R32

Updated: 3 July 2026

Friday 3 July 2026. Wimbledon Day 5 takes centre stage on BBC One from 7pm as the draw begins to thin and the matches start to count. ITV1 carries a live World Cup Round of 32 tie from Dallas with kick-off around 7pm — so yes, sport fans face an immediate clash. BBC Two goes full garden from 7pm through to Gardeners’ World at 9pm. Celebrity Gogglebox returns with a new episode on Channel 4 at 9pm. And EastEnders is not on tonight.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• ⭐ Wimbledon 2026 – Day 5 BBC One, 7pm. The draw is thinning — proper matches on the show courts.
• Celebrity Gogglebox Channel 4, 9pm. New episode. The sofas are back and usually funnier than whatever they’re watching.
• FIFA World Cup Round of 32 ITV1, 6:15pm (k/o ~7pm). Live knockout football from Dallas — one game, one winner.
• Inside No. 9 BBC Two, 10pm. Series six, episode four. The best half-hour on British television.
• Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie BBC One, 10:40pm. Saunders and Lumley in full flight — a proper late-night film.
• No EastEnders tonight — not broadcast on Fridays. Box set on BBC iPlayer.

Sport

Wimbledon 2026 – BBC One, 7pm ⭐

Day 5 at the All England Club and this is where things start to feel serious. The outer courts clear out, the show courts fill with players who matter, and the first signs emerge of who might actually be here for the full fortnight. It’s the point in the tournament where early upsets have already happened and the draw starts to tell a story. BBC One carries the evening session from 7pm; daytime coverage has been on BBC Two and iPlayer throughout. Free on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

FIFA World Cup 2026: Round of 32 – ITV1, 6:15pm (k/o ~7pm)

ITV1 has tonight’s knockout tie live from Dallas, with coverage from 6:15pm and kick-off due approximately at 7pm UK time. The specific teams were unconfirmed at time of writing, but the format is simple enough: one game, and the loser goes home. Round of 32 at a World Cup tends to produce nervy, tactical football rather than open play — the stakes are too high for generosity. Free on ITV1 and ITVX.

Early Evening

Garden Rescue – BBC Two, 7pm

Series nine, episode ten. BBC Two’s gardening evening opens here with the team taking on an outdoor space due a redesign. A solid, unpretentious half-hour that sets the tone for what follows. Beechgrove Garden comes straight after at 7:30pm (S9E14) — the long-running Scottish gardening series, reliable and practical. BBC iPlayer.

Alexander Armstrong Across America – Channel 5, 7pm (NEW SERIES)

New series, episode one. Armstrong heads to the United States for a journey through parts of the country that most travel programmes skip entirely. The format suits him — he’s warm company and doesn’t oversell what he’s seeing. My5.

Prime Time

Your Garden Made Perfect – BBC Two, 8pm (NEW SERIES)

Series two opens tonight. The show’s approach — using augmented reality to let homeowners see a completed design before any soil is turned — is genuinely useful television, and the gap between expectation and what actually works is where most of the interest lives. BBC iPlayer.

Our Farm Next Door: Amanda – Channel 4, 8pm

Series three, episode three. Amanda Owen back at Ravenseat in the Yorkshire Dales, with this series keeping the focus on her story specifically. It’s at its best in the quieter moments — life on a working hill farm doesn’t need to manufacture drama. Channel 4 streaming.

Channel 5 at 8pm has Stonehenge: The Discovery with Dan Snow — a thorough documentary hour on the ongoing archaeological work at the monument that gives the stone circle more depth than its tourist reputation suggests.

Gardeners’ World – BBC Two, 9pm

Series 2026, episode 16. Adam Frost presents from Greenacre and Carol Klein heads to her Devon garden to show what’s coming into its own in July. This is the kind of programme that works best watched at the pace it intends — an easy, grounding hour at the end of a working week with no pretensions about what it is. BBC iPlayer.

Ludwig is also on BBC Three at 9pm — David Mitchell’s detective comedy, with the full run already available on BBC iPlayer if you’d rather binge it.

Celebrity Gogglebox – Channel 4, 9pm (NEW EPISODE)

Series eight, episode five. The celebrity pairs are back on the sofa. What makes this format hold up is that the guests tend to be more candid than they probably intend — you get a genuine sense of how people actually sit down and watch television rather than how they’d like to be seen doing it. It’s looser and more unguarded than the original series. Reliable Friday night viewing. Channel 4 streaming.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Celebrity Special – ITV1, 9:35pm

Series 35, episode two. The celebrity version after the World Cup wraps on ITV1. The charity stakes tend to make contestants either more reckless or more cautious than civilians — either way it shifts the dynamic. A fine buffer after an evening of live sport. ITVX.

Channel 5 at 9pm has D-Day: The Unseen Footage — archive material from the 1944 Normandy landings, sobering and worth an hour if the entertainment picks aren’t drawing you.

Late Night

Inside No. 9 – BBC Two, 10pm

Series six, episode four. Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith have not made a lazy episode of this show, and that’s not an exaggeration. Each standalone story is a sealed world — comedy, horror, or something in between, rarely what you think it’ll be, and over before it outstays any welcome. Go in knowing as little as possible. BBC iPlayer.

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie – BBC One, 10:40pm

The 2016 film. Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley return as Edina and Patsy after a disaster at a fashion party sends them fleeing London for the South of France. It knows exactly what its audience wants and has no interest in being anything else — ninety minutes of those two being comprehensively ridiculous together. BBC iPlayer.

Also at 10pm: 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown on Channel 4 (S25E2) and Police Interceptors on Channel 5 (S25E12). BBC Four runs American Music Night with Jackson Browne from 9pm if you’d rather spend the evening with music.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

• BBC iPlayer: Wimbledon Day 5, Garden Rescue, Beechgrove Garden, Your Garden Made Perfect, Gardeners’ World, Ludwig (full series), Inside No. 9, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, Today at Wimbledon, American Music Night
• ITVX: FIFA World Cup Round of 32, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Celebrity Special
• Channel 4 streaming: Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Celebrity Gogglebox, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, TFI Friday Unplugged
• My5: Alexander Armstrong Across America, Stonehenge: The Discovery with Dan Snow, D-Day: The Unseen Footage, Police Interceptors

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Friday 3 July 2026)?

No. EastEnders does not broadcast on Fridays — there is no episode tonight. The next scheduled episode will air the following week. If you want to catch up with recent storylines in the meantime, the full box set is available on BBC iPlayer.

What time does Wimbledon start on BBC One tonight?

BBC One carries the evening session of Wimbledon Day 5 from 7pm. It is the fifth day of the 2026 Championships at the All England Club. Daytime coverage has been running on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer throughout the day.

What time is Celebrity Gogglebox on tonight?

Celebrity Gogglebox is on Channel 4 at 9pm tonight (Friday 3 July 2026). This is series eight, episode five of the celebrity version. Available to stream on Channel 4 streaming after broadcast.

What time is the World Cup on ITV1 tonight?

ITV1 coverage of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 begins at 6:15pm, with kick-off from Dallas due approximately at 7pm UK time. Free on ITV1 and ITVX.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight (Friday 3 July 2026)?

Wimbledon Day 5 on BBC One from 7pm is the headline event. Celebrity Gogglebox on Channel 4 at 9pm is the pick of the new episodes. Inside No. 9 on BBC Two at 10pm is the late-night quality option. Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie on BBC One at 10:40pm makes for a proper Friday night wind-down.

Final Verdict

A lighter Friday for drama, but a strong evening overall. Wimbledon Day 5 on BBC One is the must-watch, with World Cup Round of 32 on ITV1 giving live knockout football at the same time — you’ll need to choose. Celebrity Gogglebox on Channel 4 at 9pm is the entertainment pick of the evening, and Inside No. 9 on BBC Two at 10pm is always worth staying up for. Remember: EastEnders is not on Fridays — the box set is on BBC iPlayer.

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