TV Guide UK Tonight: Mon 16 Mar 2026 – Inside the Rage Machine, MasterChef: the Professionals & Andor

Monday is busier than it looks. The big one is Inside the Rage Machine on BBC Two at 9pm — Marianna Spring’s investigation into how social media algorithms actually work and what they’ve done to the way people think. MasterChef: the Professionals is on BBC One at the same time with its food waste challenge. Andor is on Sky One for anyone who’s been putting off the acclaimed Star Wars spin-off, and Small Prophets wraps its run with a series finale on BBC Two at 10pm. A proper Monday.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• Inside the Rage Machine – BBC Two, 9pm: Marianna Spring follows the algorithm money. This one will stick with you.
• Andor – Sky One, 9pm: If you haven’t started this yet, tonight. Ignore the Star Wars branding.
• Small Prophets (Series Finale) – BBC Two, 10pm: One of the best BBC Two dramas in years ends tonight.
• MasterChef: the Professionals – BBC One, 9pm: Food waste challenge. Eight chefs, one ingredient each.
• Assisted Dying: What Next? (Panorama) – BBC One, 8pm: Fergus Walsh takes on one of the most charged debates in British politics.

Early Evening (8pm – 9pm)

Assisted Dying: What Next? – Panorama, BBC One, 8pm

Fergus Walsh talks to supporters and opponents of assisted dying, then travels to Western Australia, where voluntary assisted dying is already legal. The debate in the UK has been running for years and the political temperature has risen sharply in the last twelve months. Walsh is a reliable presenter for material like this — he doesn’t grandstand, he just asks good questions and lets people answer. Thirty minutes, but a useful piece of journalism on a question that isn’t going away.

Mastermind & University Challenge – BBC Two, 8pm & 8:30pm

The second Mastermind semi-final with Clive Myrie is followed by the University Challenge second quarter-final hosted by Amol Rajan. If you’ve got a competitive household, these two back-to-back are reliably good value. The semi-final format tends to produce better television than the earlier rounds — the questions get harder and the contestants more interesting under pressure.

Shed and Buried: Classic Helicopter – Quest, 8pm

Henry Cole’s vehicle restoration show takes on something genuinely unusual tonight: a vintage Bell 47 helicopter, the first helicopter ever built in the UK by Westland Aircraft. The 80th anniversary of its maiden flight is the occasion, and Cole’s challenge is to get it airborne again in nine months. He’s had to sell some of his bike and car collection to fund it. A labour of love in the most literal sense — whether it actually flies is another question.

Prime Time (9pm onwards)

⭐ Inside the Rage Machine – BBC Two, 9pm

Marianna Spring has spent years reporting on misinformation and online extremism for the BBC, and this documentary is the clearest distillation of what she’s found. The premise is simple: social media algorithms are designed to give you more of what you already engage with. The consequences are not simple. Echo chambers, radicalisation, a platform economy that runs on outrage — Spring traces how that chain works, from the code to the real-world consequences, and it doesn’t make comfortable viewing.

She travels to the US to meet the people who helped build the platforms and later changed their minds about it. She also gets hold of leaked documents showing how clearly some of these companies understood what their products were doing. Watch it, then argue about it with whoever’s in the room.

MasterChef: the Professionals – BBC One, 9pm

The food waste challenge is one of the sharper formats the show deploys. The eight remaining chefs each have to create a dish using every part of a single ingredient — root-to-stem, nose-to-tail, nothing wasted. It forces creativity in a way the standard invention tests don’t always manage. Four then cook again in a vegetarian round, and Marcus Wareing, Monica Galetti and Matt Tebbutt pick six to continue. The attrition rate is picking up now. No one is safe.

Andor – Sky One, 9pm

If you missed this when it aired on Disney+ in 2022, Sky One showing it is the prompt you’ve been waiting for. Yes, it’s a Star Wars property. Put that to one side. What Andor actually is, underneath the franchise label, is a serious drama about how authoritarian systems work — and how ordinary people start to push back against them before they even fully understand why. Diego Luna plays Cassian Andor, who at this stage is just a petty thief looking for his sister. It takes a few episodes to find its feet, but once it does it’s one of the best things produced for streaming in the last five years. Start tonight.

Gone – ITV1, 9pm

The psychological thriller continues with fresh intelligence emerging for Annie and the team, while Michael’s relationship with Alana starts to show the strain. Gone has built steadily across its run and the mid-series episodes are where the character dynamics tend to pay off. If you’ve been following, this one delivers.

Small Prophets (Series Finale) – BBC Two, 10pm

Michael Sleep’s dreams are getting more detailed, and time is running out for him and Kacey. The series finale of one of the most quietly original dramas BBC Two has aired in several years. The folk score by Cinder Well, the animation by Ainslie Henderson and Will Anderson, the Gremlins-flavoured mystery — it all lands in a finale that apparently ends with three words worth waiting the whole series for. Mark Braxton in the Radio Times says: “Small is beautiful.” He’s not wrong. This is one to watch before anyone spoils it for you.

Rooster – Sky One, 10pm

Jilted academic Katie (Charly Clive) is clinging to her job at Ludlow College after burning down her cheating husband’s house — accidentally, though the distinction may be lost on the insurance company. Her overbearing novelist father Greg (Steve Carell) arrives on campus with a job offer that might keep her employed, or might make everything considerably worse. Light comedy that settles for warm rather than sharp, but Clive and Carell have a watchable dynamic and the campus setting does most of the work.

Tracey Emin Night – BBC Four, from 10pm

A few weeks after a new exhibition opened at the Tate Modern, BBC Four is running two programmes about Tracey Emin. First up is an Imagine profile from 2018, filmed over twelve months with the late Alan Yentob, following Emin as she returns to Margate and converts a derelict printworks into a studio. At 11:20pm, Emin/Munch: Between the Clock and the Bed explores the connections between her work and that of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. If you have any interest in either artist, the double bill is worth the late night.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

BBC iPlayer: Inside the Rage Machine, MasterChef: the Professionals, Small Prophets (full series), Panorama and Trying are all available. Small Prophets’ entire run is on iPlayer if tonight’s finale makes you want to go back to the beginning.

Now TV: Andor and Rooster are both available via Now TV with a Sky Entertainment pass.

ITVX: Gone is on ITVX after broadcast. Free to register.

Freeview Play: Shed and Buried: Classic Helicopter is on Quest via Freeview Play catch-up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight, Monday 16 March 2026?

EastEnders typically airs on BBC One on Monday evenings. Check BBC iPlayer or your TV guide for the exact time tonight.

What time is MasterChef the Professionals on tonight?

MasterChef: the Professionals is on BBC One at 9pm tonight, Monday 16 March 2026. Available to catch up on via BBC iPlayer.

What time is Inside the Rage Machine on BBC Two?

Inside the Rage Machine is on BBC Two at 9pm tonight, Monday 16 March 2026. Catch up via BBC iPlayer.

What time is Andor on Sky One tonight?

Andor is on Sky One at 9pm tonight, Monday 16 March 2026. Available on Now TV.

What’s on BBC One tonight, Monday 16 March?

BBC One tonight has Panorama on assisted dying at 8pm, MasterChef: the Professionals at 9pm, and Trying at around 10:40pm.

Final Verdict

Inside the Rage Machine is the one that’ll linger. Marianna Spring has been reporting on this for years and the documentary makes the mechanics of online outrage feel concrete rather than abstract — worth watching and worth the conversation it will start. If you want something lighter, MasterChef hits its stride when the food waste challenge comes around. And Small Prophets fans: clear the schedule at 10pm and put the phone away.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight – Sunday 15 March 2026 | TV Guide UK – Monday Night TV

Clint Edgar

Clint is a writer and self-proclaimed professional binge-watcher who treats the "Skip Intro" button with the suspicion it deserves. When he isn't dissecting plot holes or getting emotionally invested in fictional characters, you can find him scrolling through streaming queues or arguing about why The Office is a masterpiece. Clint lives in London with a dangerously comfortable couch and a remote control that he guards with his life.