TV Guide UK Tonight: Fri 25 Sept 2026 – The Graham Norton Show, Dragons’ Den & Gardeners’ World

Updated: 19 September 2026

Friday 25 September 2026. Graham Norton‘s chat show pulls in one of its biggest line-ups of the year at 10.40pm — Tom Cruise, Florence Pugh, Lolly Adefope and John Bishop, with Emeli Sandé on music duties. Earlier on BBC One, Touker Suleyman says goodbye to Dragons’ Den after 11 years, BBC Two has Monty Don tending Gardeners’ World in what’s now confirmed as his final series, and Sydney Sweeney’s horror Immaculate gets a rare terrestrial airing at 10pm. ITV1 shuffles its usual Friday order too, with a celebrity Beat the Chasers special in the 9pm hour and the Bond film Licence to Kill at 10.45pm. EastEnders isn’t on.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• The Graham Norton Show BBC One, 10.40pm. Tom Cruise, Florence Pugh, Lolly Adefope and John Bishop, plus music from Emeli Sandé.
• Dragons’ Den BBC One, 8pm. Touker Suleyman’s final appearance after an 11-year run.
• Gardeners’ World BBC Two, 8pm. Monty Don’s final series continues at Longmeadow.
• Immaculate BBC Two, 10pm. Sydney Sweeney’s Catholic-horror film, certificate 15.
• EastEnders is not on tonight — it returns Monday at 7.30pm.

Early Evening

Sister Boniface Mysteries – BBC One, 2pm

An afternoon repeat with a genuinely nasty setup: a church-choir TV production is filming its finale when the show’s musical director collapses dead at the organ mid-recording, leaving Sister Boniface a studio’s worth of suspects and a broadcast deadline she can’t move. Lorna Watson’s amateur sleuth has had trickier cases, but rarely one staged quite this publicly. Full series on iPlayer.

The Travelling Auctioneers – BBC One, 7.30pm

The regular teatime auction format carries on, dealers picking through house clearances and antiques fairs for anything worth a punt at sale.

Dragons’ Den – BBC One, 8pm

A proper farewell tonight: Touker Suleyman, “Uncle T” to regular viewers, sits in the Den for the last time after 11 years, and the episode leans into a highlights reel of his sharper put-downs and better calls along the way. It’s not just sentiment, though — Peter Jones is unusually generous with his own money tonight, and Gary Neville, who’s clearly had one too many gift cards go to waste, gets pitched a website built by a young coder who spent lockdown solving exactly that problem. Whether Suleyman goes out backing a winner or watching one walk away empty-handed is the real question.

Gardeners’ World – BBC Two, 8pm

There’s a genuinely bittersweet backdrop to this run of Gardeners’ World: Monty Don, 71, is stepping away after 23 years fronting the show, longer than anyone else who’s held the job, and this series is being watched as a slow goodbye to Longmeadow. Tonight’s practical business is ordinary enough — lifting tender plants before the frosts arrive and checking on cuttings that’ll shape next summer’s borders — but knowing it’s one of his final visits changes how you watch even the routine bits. Up in Aberdeen, Beechgrove Garden closes out its own year with a final episode at 7.30pm, on a night that already has one significant TV goodbye in the diary.

Emmerdale – ITV1, 8pm

Carl sets out to do something in his father’s memory, and it matters more to him than he lets on. The bigger thread is Jimmy’s laptop: voice messages turn up on it that were never meant to be found, and the question the episode leaves hanging is whether Nicola gets to hear the truth or someone gets to it first.

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

This series keeps circling one blunt fact: getting onto the property ladder now often means giving up on a conventional house altogether. Tonight George Clarke meets a young Margate couple converting an old double-decker bus into a home for roughly the price of a decent car, and an older Cornish couple building a retirement place where a disused public toilet block once stood, rather than taking up space a first-time buyer might otherwise want. It’s a hopeful, resourceful format, even when the solutions it celebrates are really a symptom of how broken things have got.

Our Great Yorkshire Life – Channel 5, 8pm

Emmerdale’s Charlotte Bellamy returns to Sandsend, the North Sea fishing village she’s clearly fond of, for a beach lunch and a bracing dip. Elsewhere on Channel 5, a farmer’s got his hands full worming one flock and clipping the wool off another, a Dewsbury seamstress puts together a steampunk outfit, and a couple in Emley finish restoring a pub that means a lot to their family.

Coronation Street – ITV1, 8.30pm

Debbie comes across Eva unconscious and then — in a beat that will have viewers shouting at the screen — fails to raise the alarm. Ronnie gets a tipsy Lucy back to her door, and George makes a point of telling Christina she has his backing. Three storylines at very different temperatures inside half an hour.

Prime Time

Would I Lie to You? The Best Bits – BBC One, 9pm

Worth knowing before you settle in: this is The Best Bits, a compilation rounding off series 18 rather than a new episode. Rob Brydon, Lee Mack and David Mitchell revisit the run’s better moments, so it is a repeat by another name — enjoyable enough, but nothing here is new. Mrs Brown’s Boys follows at 9.30pm.

Michael Portillo’s 200 Years of the Railways – BBC Two, 9pm

The concluding part closes out two centuries of British rail, running from the Victorian boom years through to the very different, much shrunk network we’re left with today.

Beat the Chasers: Celebrity Special – ITV1, 9pm

A celebrity line-up takes on the Chasers in the quiz’s higher-stakes format, choosing how many to face at once and watching the prize money swing wildly depending on how bold — or reckless — that call turns out to be. It takes the 9pm hour, with the Bond film Licence to Kill following at 10.45pm.

Gogglebox – Channel 4, 9pm

Britain’s sofa critics are back to say, at length, everything the rest of us were only thinking about this week’s television.

Play for Today: Wild – Channel 5, 9pm

Channel 5 opens the second series of its Play for Today revival with three old friends — played by Daniel Mays, Joel Fry and Amit Shah — heading back up to the Highlands for the wild camping weekend they turn into every year. The landscape turns out to be the easy part; what really gets lost is how comfortable each of them still is with who they’ve become since the last one. Lewis Wren’s script has real things to say about male friendship and drifting identity in middle age, even if you can see most of its beats coming from some distance off.

Sting Night – BBC Four, from 9.05pm

BBC Four clears its evening for Sting, tracing a career that runs from The Police’s late-70s arrival right up to his Radio 2 in the Park set two years ago. A documentary interview with Dermot O’Leary sits in the middle of the run, giving the archive footage some proper context rather than just letting it play out cold.

Mrs Brown’s Boys – BBC One, 9.30pm

The sitcom keeps its regular Friday half-hour, straight after Would I Lie to You?

Late Night

Immaculate – BBC Two, 10pm

Sydney Sweeney first read for this Catholic-set horror back in 2014, aged just 17, years before she eventually got the film made herself as a producer. She plays an American nun whose new convent home turns out to be hiding something considerably darker than quiet contemplation. It’s a slow build that pays off with a genuinely nasty final stretch, terrestrial television’s late slot for once justified by what’s actually on. Certificate 15.

Downton Abbey – ITV3, 10pm

A repeat run for the Crawley family saga, comfort viewing for anyone after something gentler before bed.

Piers Morgan: Uncensored – Channel 5, 10pm

The regular interview and debate slot continues.

The Graham Norton Show – BBC One, 10.40pm ⭐

This is the one to watch tonight, and it’s not close. Graham Norton’s chat show has felt untouchable for years, and tonight’s line-up does nothing to change that: Tom Cruise, Florence Pugh, Lolly Adefope and John Bishop take the red sofa, and Emeli Sandé handles the music. It comes at a moment when the BBC’s other big chat-show experiment — Claudia Winkleman’s attempt to build one of her own — has already wrapped up after a single run, leaving Norton as pretty much the only game left in this particular format. That’s not really a surprise. Twenty-odd years in, he still knows exactly how to get four strangers talking to each other rather than just performing at the camera, and a cast this starry gives him plenty to work with. Cruise on a chat-show sofa is still a genuine event in itself, whatever film he’s presumably here to plug.

Licence to Kill – ITV1, 10.45pm

Timothy Dalton’s second and final outing as Bond, and the one where the series briefly stopped pretending 007 was having fun. Bond walks away from MI6 to chase a drug lord who has maimed his friend Felix Leiter, and Dalton plays it with a coldness the Roger Moore years never went near. Carey Lowell is the pilot who ends up alongside him. It was out of step with what audiences wanted in 1989 and has aged rather well since. Certificate 15.

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

BBC One’s later showing of the current series, for anyone who missed it earlier in the schedule.

Sport

Friday’s sport is spread across four codes. Northern Ireland travel to Georgia in the Nations League, kicking off at 5pm on BBC Two after a build-up from 4.30 — a genuinely winnable group game live on free-to-air, which doesn’t happen often these days. Rugby league’s Super League play-offs continue with a semi-final at 7.30pm on Sky Sports Main Event, while rugby union has a full Premiership Friday: Northampton host Newcastle and Harlequins host Bath, both kicking off at 7.45pm, split across TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports 5. Golf fans get day two of the French Open live from Guyancourt on Sky Sports Golf from 12.30pm.

Tonight by Channel

A channel-by-channel breakdown of Friday 25 September 2026, so you can jump straight to the one you actually watch.

BBC One

• 2pm — Sister Boniface Mysteries
• 7.30pm — The Travelling Auctioneers
• 8pm — Dragons’ Den
• 9pm — Would I Lie to You? The Best Bits
• 9.30pm — Mrs Brown’s Boys
• 10.40pm — The Graham Norton Show
• 11.30pm — RuPaul’s Drag Race UK

BBC Two

• 5pm — Football: Nations League, Georgia v Northern Ireland
• 8pm — Gardeners’ World
• 9pm — Michael Portillo’s 200 Years of the Railways
• 10pm — Immaculate

ITV1

• 8pm — Emmerdale
• 8.30pm — Coronation Street
• 9pm — Beat the Chasers: Celebrity Special
• 10.45pm — Licence to Kill

Channel 4

• 8pm — George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces: First Homes
• 9pm — Gogglebox

Channel 5

• 8pm — Our Great Yorkshire Life
• 9pm — Play for Today: Wild
• 10pm — Piers Morgan: Uncensored

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

• BBC iPlayer: Dragons’ Den, Gardeners’ World, The Graham Norton Show, Immaculate, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, Sting Night
• ITVX: Licence to Kill, Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Beat the Chasers: Celebrity Special
• Channel 4 streaming: Gogglebox, George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces: First Homes, Live from the Lycett Arms
• My5: Play for Today: Wild, Our Great Yorkshire Life, Piers Morgan: Uncensored

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Friday 25 September 2026)?

No. EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One at 7.30pm, so Friday is one of its regular nights off. It returns Monday 28 September at 7.30pm.

Who is on The Graham Norton Show tonight?

Graham Norton is joined by Tom Cruise, Florence Pugh, Lolly Adefope and John Bishop on BBC One at 10.40pm, with music from Emeli Sandé.

What time is Dragons’ Den on tonight?

Dragons’ Den is on BBC One at 8pm, and it marks Touker Suleyman’s exit from the Den after an 11-year run.

Is this Monty Don’s last series of Gardeners’ World?

Yes. Monty Don, 71, is stepping down after 23 years fronting Gardeners’ World, the longest run of any presenter in the show’s history. Tonight’s episode is on BBC Two at 8pm.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight (Friday 25 September 2026)?

The Graham Norton Show on BBC One at 10.40pm is the standout, with Tom Cruise and Florence Pugh among the guests. Earlier, Dragons’ Den’s farewell to Touker Suleyman and Gardeners’ World’s Monty Don are both worth catching at 8pm.

What live sport is on TV tonight (Friday 25 September 2026)?

Northern Ireland play Georgia in the Nations League, kicking off at 5pm on BBC Two. There’s also a Super League play-off semi-final at 7.30pm on Sky Sports Main Event, Premiership rugby between Northampton and Newcastle and between Harlequins and Bath both kicking off at 7.45pm on TNT Sports, and day two of the French Open golf from 12.30pm on Sky Sports Golf.

What’s on BBC Two tonight?

BBC Two has Monty Don’s Gardeners’ World at 8pm, Michael Portillo’s 200 Years of the Railways at 9pm, and horror film Immaculate at 10pm.

What film is on TV tonight?

Immaculate is on BBC Two at 10pm, Sydney Sweeney’s Catholic-set horror film about a nun whose new convent hides something sinister. Certificate 15.

What film is on ITV1 tonight?

Licence to Kill is on ITV1 at 10.45pm. Timothy Dalton’s second and last film as James Bond, made in 1989 and co-starring Carey Lowell. Certificate 15.

Final Verdict

The Graham Norton Show has this one won before it starts — a line-up like Tom Cruise, Florence Pugh and Emeli Sandé doesn’t come along every week, and it’s the clear reason to stay up past 10.40pm. Dragons’ Den‘s send-off for Touker Suleyman deserves your attention earlier in the evening, and Gardeners’ World is quietly becoming appointment viewing while Monty Don’s still in charge of it. If horror’s more your speed, Immaculate on BBC Two at 10pm won’t disappoint. EastEnders returns Monday at 7.30pm.

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