TV Guide UK Tonight: Mon 21 Sept 2026 – EastEnders, The Split Up & The Wargame

Published: 16 September 2026

Monday 21 September 2026. BBC One has one of its busiest evenings in weeks: EastEnders brings Ash Panesar home at 7.30pm, Panorama investigates grooming gangs at 8pm, and new legal drama The Split Up follows at 9pm. Over on BBC Two, a full Quiz Night leads into David Olusoga’s history of Britain’s slave traders, while ITV1 continues The Blame and Channel 4 launches two new factual series back to back. The night’s most interesting new arrival, though, is on Sky One, where Michael Gove and Nicola Sturgeon play politicians running a fake national crisis in The Wargame.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• The Wargame Sky One, 9pm. New series pairing Michael Gove and Nicola Sturgeon as a stunt-cast government facing a scripted security crisis.
• Finding Britain’s Slave Traders with David Olusoga BBC Two, 9pm. The first of two films tracing the slave trade’s roots inside British institutions.
• EastEnders BBC One, 7.30pm. Ash Panesar returns to Walford after three years, now played by Sakira Vel.
• The Blame ITV1, 9pm. Episode 2, not a series opener — old wounds resurface as Emma and Tom keep digging.
• Quiz Night BBC Two, from 7.30pm. Mastermind, Only Connect and University Challenge, back to back.

Early Evening

Hollyoaks – E4, 7pm

Dodger’s got a decision he can’t dodge any longer, James finally comes clean to Leah about something he’s been sitting on, and there’s an unwelcome visitor aboard the houseboat. Standard E4 pile-up of plot, in other words, but none the worse for it.

EastEnders – BBC One, 7.30pm

Ash Panesar was one of the first of her family to show up on screen back in 2019, and her rocky relationship with mother Suki did a lot of the early heavy lifting for the Panesar storylines. She’s been gone three years, so her sudden reappearance on BBC One tonight lands as a proper event rather than a passing cameo — helped along by the fact she’s now played by Sakira Vel rather than Gurlaine Kaur Garcha, a recasting that’s bound to divide opinion in the first five minutes alone.

Elsewhere in Walford, Priya’s evening comes apart at the seams over something Cindy’s dug up, and Kat clocks that somebody close to her isn’t telling the whole truth. Three separate fires to put out in one half hour, which is roughly the EastEnders house style on a good Monday.

Mastermind – BBC Two, 7.30pm

First of BBC Two’s back-to-back quiz trio tonight. Four new contenders, four specialist subjects, one increasingly uncomfortable black chair.

Only Connect – BBC Two, 8pm

The wall round remains the format’s cruellest idea and its best one. Teams try to spot connections between clues that look like nonsense until, with about four seconds left, they suddenly don’t.

Emmerdale – ITV1, 8pm

Dawn’s funeral is tonight, which the village has been building towards for weeks, and it goes about as badly as a soap funeral can. Someone ends up in a genuinely horrible position before the half hour is out, and Vinny finally says out loud the thing he has been carrying around in tears for episodes. Straight into Coronation Street at 8.30pm.

Grooming Gangs: Why Were We Ignored? – BBC One, 8pm

A Panorama film asking a question that’s been asked before and still hasn’t had a proper answer: why the warning signs around organised child sexual exploitation were missed, downplayed or actively ignored by the institutions meant to catch them. Reporter Ellie Flynn goes back through the record rather than the headlines, which is the only way a film like this earns its hour. No easy villains here, just a long list of missed chances.

Fred’s Ultimate Hotels – Channel 4, 8pm

New series taking viewers behind the reception desk of some of the world’s most expensive hotels, weighing up whether the eye-watering nightly rate actually buys anything you couldn’t get for a fraction of the price somewhere quieter. On Channel 4 at 8pm.

Police Interceptors – Channel 5, 8pm

Fresh runs of officers chasing down speeders, stolen cars and drivers who really should have just pulled over the first time they were asked. On Channel 5 at 8pm.

My Life Is Murder – U&Alibi, 8pm

Alexa Crowe heads to Fiji for what’s supposed to be a proper break in the first half of a two-part season finale. It lasts about as long as her holidays always do before a body turns up and the murder map comes back out. Catch up via NOW.

University Challenge – BBC Two, 8.30pm

Amol Rajan closes out the quiz block with two more universities and the usual scattering of questions nobody in the room, or on the sofa, saw coming.

Coronation Street – ITV1, 8.30pm

Four threads tonight, none of them connected, which is Corrie working as designed: Bernie’s determined cheerfulness is getting on Kit’s nerves, Carl puts himself forward to help Steve out, Glenda runs a pub quiz on Debbie’s behalf, and Maggie makes her disapproval of Susie perfectly clear without quite saying it.

Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley – BBC One, 8.30pm

New six-part series putting the wellness trends clogging up everyone’s social feeds under proper scrutiny. Stacey Dooley teams up with Dr Alex George and Dr Nighat Arif to work through leg-lengthening surgery, IV vitamin drips and diets that sound made up until you realise people are actually doing them. It’s less a takedown than an actual explainer, which is rarer than it should be in this space, and Dooley’s genuinely curious rather than sneering approach carries it.

Prime Time

Finding Britain’s Slave Traders with David Olusoga – BBC Two, 9pm

The first of two films built around a single document: minutes from an 1682 Royal Society gathering, where members signed off on a £200 stake in the Royal African Company, the chartered body that shipped enslaved Africans across the Atlantic. Olusoga uses that ledger, and the names on it, as a way into a much bigger story about how thoroughly the trade was folded into ordinary British commercial and institutional life, well beyond the ports and plantations most accounts focus on. He starts even earlier than that meeting, with an Elizabethan merchant who muscled into a trade the Spanish and Portuguese had assumed was theirs alone. Both episodes are on iPlayer.

The Split Up – BBC One, 9pm

Episode 2 of the legal drama, with the Kishans handling the divorce of a celebrity couple whose pre-nup is proving harder to enforce than anyone involved would like. Aria gets a blunt aside about how it’s usually the people you trust most who end up hurting you — not exactly subtle, but it lands, especially set against Maya and Michael’s own split getting steadily uglier in the background. Full series on iPlayer.

The Blame – ITV1, 9pm

Worth being clear about this one: it’s episode 2, not a fresh start, whatever tonight’s “new” flag on some listings might suggest — The Blame actually launched on Sunday. Emma and Tom are still picking at an old rape and murder case that the system got wrong first time round, and tonight the past starts leaking into the present in a way that’s clearly meant to unsettle rather than simply explain. Full series on ITVX.

Big Brother – ITV2, 9pm

Another night in the ITV2 house, with the usual mix of shifting alliances and at least one comment that’s going to look a lot worse in the group chat than it did in the moment. Followed by Big Brother: The Group Chat at 10pm.

999: What Happened Next – Channel 4, 9pm

New factual series that goes back to real emergency calls and tracks down what actually happened to the people on the other end of them once the sirens faded.

Forever Home – Channel 5, 9pm

Carol’s carefully tidied-away secret comes back with a vengeance when the corpse she thought was safely out of the picture washes up right where these things always seem to. The local police, for once, have an actual murder to investigate, and the show keeps finding a fresh complication just as the last one settles. Concludes tomorrow at 9pm.

The Wargame – Sky One, 9pm ⭐

This is the one to watch tonight, and it’s not really like anything else currently on. A brand new series that stages a national security crisis as scripted reality, with Michael Gove playing prime minister and Nicola Sturgeon as his deputy — a pairing that only makes sense as television, given how far apart the two actually sit politically, and that’s exactly the point.

The invented COBR meetings run through an escalating mess: a hybrid campaign from Russia, RAF personnel targeted, a cyber-attack aimed at the NHS, and a diplomatic row after one of Moscow’s spy vessels sinks and the Kremlin points the finger at the Royal Navy. The wider cast, including Penny Mordaunt and Baroness Warsi as fellow ministers and Anthony Scaramucci standing in for Washington, treats the exercise with more commitment than you’d expect from what is, on paper, a stunt format. It runs nightly to Thursday, and the format earns that commitment — this isn’t panel-show politics, it’s something closer to an actual pressure test with famous faces attached.

Made in Chelsea – E4, 9pm

The usual SW3 entanglements continue, with one particular conversation almost certainly not staying between the two people having it.

Late Night

Geordie Coppers – Channel 4, 10pm

New fly-on-the-wall series following Northumbria Police through the calls that make up an ordinary, and occasionally not so ordinary, shift.

Colin from Accounts – BBC Two, 10pm

Ashley and Gordon are both freshly single and doing their level best to be completely fine about it, which of course means neither of them is. Ashley gets invited to a party and brings along someone she’s been messaging; Gordon’s reaction to finding out is the whole joke. Full series on iPlayer.

Lucy Letby: Scapegoat? – Channel 5, 10pm

A new documentary examining the disputed medical evidence and legal process behind one of the most contested convictions in recent British criminal history, and the campaign that has continued to challenge it. The film sets out the competing arguments rather than picking a side for the viewer, which is the right call given how unresolved the underlying dispute still is. Runs until 11.30pm.

Gogglebox – E4, 10pm

The sofa critics are back for another week of unfiltered commentary on everyone else’s television, which somehow never gets old.

Sport

TNT Sports 1 carries live coverage of the Road World Championships from Montreal today, with the under-23 women’s individual time trial at 1.45pm followed by the men’s equivalent at 4.45pm — a quieter watch than a bunch sprint, but a genuine title on the line for both. Overnight, American sport takes over: the Baltimore Orioles play the Toronto Blue Jays from around 11.35pm on TNT Sports 1, and Sky Sports Main Event picks up the NFL from around 1am as the LA Rams host the New York Giants at SoFi Stadium. Not much else live tonight beyond that — Monday’s a sport-thin night by design, with the schedule leaning almost entirely on drama, soaps and the quiz block instead.

Tonight by Channel

A channel-by-channel breakdown of Monday 21 September 2026, so you can jump straight to the one you actually watch.

BBC One

• 7.30pm — EastEnders
• 8pm — Grooming Gangs: Why Were We Ignored?
• 8.30pm — Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley
• 9pm — The Split Up

BBC Two

• 7.30pm — Mastermind
• 8pm — Only Connect
• 8.30pm — University Challenge
• 9pm — Finding Britain’s Slave Traders with David Olusoga
• 10pm — Colin from Accounts

ITV1

• 8pm — Emmerdale
• 8.30pm — Coronation Street
• 9pm — The Blame

Channel 4

• 8pm — Fred’s Ultimate Hotels
• 9pm — 999: What Happened Next
• 10pm — Geordie Coppers

Channel 5

• 8pm — Police Interceptors
• 9pm — Forever Home
• 10pm — Lucy Letby: Scapegoat?

E4

• 7pm — Hollyoaks
• 9pm — Made in Chelsea
• 10pm — Gogglebox

TNT Sports 1

• 1.45pm — Cycling: Road World Championships
• 4.45pm — Cycling: Road World Championships
• 11.35pm — Baseball: Baltimore Orioles v Toronto Blue Jays

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

• BBC iPlayer: EastEnders, Grooming Gangs: Why Were We Ignored?, Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley, The Split Up, Mastermind, Only Connect, University Challenge, Finding Britain’s Slave Traders with David Olusoga, Colin from Accounts
• ITVX: The Blame, Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Big Brother, Big Brother: The Group Chat
• Channel 4 streaming: Fred’s Ultimate Hotels, 999: What Happened Next, Geordie Coppers, Made in Chelsea, Gogglebox
• My5: Police Interceptors, Forever Home, Lucy Letby: Scapegoat?
• NOW: The Wargame, My Life Is Murder

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Monday 21 September 2026)?

Yes. EastEnders is on BBC One at 7.30pm tonight. Ash Panesar makes a surprise return to Albert Square after three years away — now played by Sakira Vel rather than Gurlaine Kaur Garcha — while Priya’s night takes a sharp turn for the worse and Kat has cause for concern.

What time is The Wargame on tonight?

The Wargame is on Sky One at 9pm tonight, the first episode of a new series that runs nightly until Thursday. It’s a scripted-reality simulation of a national security crisis, with Michael Gove playing prime minister and Nicola Sturgeon as his deputy.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight (Monday 21 September 2026)?

Our pick is The Wargame on Sky One at 9pm, but it’s a genuinely strong night across the board: Finding Britain’s Slave Traders with David Olusoga opens on BBC Two at the same time, and EastEnders brings back a long-absent face at 7.30pm.

What live sport is on TV tonight (Monday 21 September 2026)?

TNT Sports 1 has live Road World Championships time trials from Montreal at 1.45pm and 4.45pm, covering the under-23 women’s and men’s individual races. Overnight, the Baltimore Orioles play the Toronto Blue Jays from around 11.35pm, and the LA Rams face the New York Giants in the NFL from around 1am.

What’s on BBC One tonight?

BBC One’s evening runs EastEnders at 7.30pm, the Panorama film Grooming Gangs: Why Were We Ignored? at 8pm, new series Clickbait Clinic with Stacey Dooley at 8.30pm, and new legal drama The Split Up at 9pm.

Is The Blame a new episode tonight, or the start of a new series?

It’s episode 2. The Blame launched on ITV1 on Sunday 20 September, so tonight’s 9pm instalment continues Emma and Tom’s investigation rather than opening the story from scratch.

Who plays Ash in EastEnders now?

Sakira Vel has taken over the role of Ash Panesar from Gurlaine Kaur Garcha, as the character returns to Walford tonight after three years away.

What’s on ITV2 tonight?

ITV2 has a new episode of Big Brother at 9pm, followed by Big Brother: The Group Chat at 10pm, picking apart the housemates’ week.

What time does Lucy Letby: Scapegoat? finish on Channel 5?

Lucy Letby: Scapegoat? is on Channel 5 at 10pm and runs for an hour and a half, finishing at 11.30pm, when Motorway Cops takes over.

Final Verdict

The Wargame is the one worth rearranging your evening for — Gove and Sturgeon playing government under invented pressure is a properly odd, properly good idea for a format. Finding Britain’s Slave Traders with David Olusoga is the more serious watch of the night and deserves the full hour rather than half-attention. EastEnders fans get a genuine event with Ash’s return, and it’s worth remembering The Blame and The Split Up are both on episode 2, not premieres, so don’t expect either to explain itself from scratch. A quiet night for live sport, but a busy one for drama.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight Monday | What’s On TV Tonight Sun 20 Sept 2026 | What’s On TV Tonight Tuesday