TV Guide UK Tonight: Sat 1 Aug 2026 – Geoff Hamilton Night, Calvin Harris & The Staircase

Published: 1 August 2026

Saturday 1 August 2026. BBC Four hands its whole evening over to Geoff Hamilton, dead 30 years this summer, with archive gardening from 8pm. BBC One runs quizzes into a Calvin Harris homecoming gig at 10pm, ITV1 pairs Casino Royale with the next Staircase instalment, Channel 4 unpicks the 1936 Olympics, BBC Two closes with A Star Is Born, and Film4 sends Matt Damon to Mars. No EastEnders, though. It never airs on Saturdays.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• Geoff Hamilton Night ⭐ BBC Four, from 8pm. Thirty years on from his death, an evening of archive Gardeners’ World.
• Calvin Harris: Live from Scotland BBC One, 10pm. Two hours from Hampden Park.
• The Staircase ITV1, 10:55pm. Third episode, and the prosecution goes after the marriage.
• Casino Royale ITV1, 8pm. Craig’s first Bond, up against Streisand on BBC Two.
• Commonwealth Games penultimate day from Glasgow, plus the Women’s Tour de France getting under way.
• EastEnders isn’t on tonight. The soap only airs Monday to Thursday.

Early Evening

The Hit List – BBC One, 5:55pm

Radio host Chloe Burrows and rapper Aitch take on Emmerdale’s Lisa Riley and Dominic Brunt, with Gladiators duo Nitro and Sabre as the third team, playing for charity. BBC iPlayer.

Michael McIntyre’s Big Show – BBC One, 7:25pm

Last of the series. Holly Willoughby, Perrie Edwards, and Busted against McFly. BBC iPlayer.

BBC Proms – BBC Two, 7:55pm

The Spanish National Orchestra made its Proms debut this year, and BBC Two has cut the concert down to the three pieces most people came for: Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with guitarist Rafael Aguirre, two suites from de Falla’s ballet The Three-Cornered Hat, and Boléro to finish. BBC iPlayer.

Over on ITV1, Stephen Mulhern hosts a celebrity Deal or No Deal at 7pm, with Zoe Ball facing the Banker. Channel 5 opens its Sussex travelogue at the same time, following Brighton’s beach lifeguards and a houseboat community at Shoreham.

Prime Time

Geoff Hamilton Night – BBC Four, from 8pm ⭐

BBC Four clears the decks for a proper tribute. Geoff Hamilton died suddenly after a charity bike ride 30 years ago, and would have turned 90 this month. His garden at Barnsdale in Rutland was where Gardeners’ World was filmed for the last decade of his life, and he was pushing organic growing long before anyone else thought it was worth the bother. Monty Don opens at 8pm, then two archive episodes run back to back, one Hamilton presented in 1986 and one a 2016 tribute, before a documentary on Barnsdale’s 38 themed spaces. BBC iPlayer.

Casino Royale – ITV1, 8pm

Daniel Craig’s first Bond, and the one that made the reboot stick. Most of the middle hour is a poker game. The torture scene still makes people shift about on the sofa. Two hours forty once ITV’s ad breaks are in. ITVX.

Hitler’s Games: Berlin – Channel 4, 8pm

Channel 4’s argument is that sportswashing didn’t start with the modern Olympics. It started in 1936, when the torch relay was invented from nothing to imply a line of descent from ancient Greece. Jesse Owens’s four golds get their due. Dictator: the Hitler Interviews follows at 9pm. Channel 4 streaming.

How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge) – BBC One, 9:10pm

Alan walks into the Peak District with a selfie stick and asks whether nature can fix a troubled mind. Episode four of six. BBC iPlayer.

The Sentinels – BBC Four, 9:50pm

Once the Hamilton tribute wraps, BBC Four sends off its steampunk superhero series with a double bill. Irene’s questions about Mirreau’s disappearance put her on the authorities’ radar, and Gabriel and Djibouti’s rescue mission falls apart the moment they cross the border. A second series is already commissioned. BBC iPlayer.

Late Night

Calvin Harris: Live from Scotland – BBC One, 10pm

Two hours from Hampden Park, going out on BBC One, iPlayer, Radio 1 and BBC Sounds at the same time. Fairly low-key company for a man responsible for half the choruses on daytime radio.

A Star Is Born – BBC Two, 10:10pm

The 1976 one, Streisand’s rock rewrite of the rise-and-fall story with Kris Kristofferson on the way down. She took only an executive producer credit, though her fingerprints are all over it, down to a closing credit conceding that her costumes came out of her own wardrobe. Reviews were lukewarm. It made a fortune regardless. BBC iPlayer.

The Staircase – ITV1, 10:55pm

Third episode, and Colin Firth’s Michael Peterson looks less like a grieving widower and more like a man who’s spent years perfecting a story about himself. Toni Collette’s Kathleen is gone by now, but her discovery of his secret life keeps resurfacing as the prosecution’s likeliest motive. ITVX.

Sport

Glasgow gets the penultimate day of the Commonwealth Games, live from 8:30am on TNT Sports 2, with highlights on Channel 5 at 10:30pm. Day three of the Women’s Open is on Sky Sports Golf from noon, at Royal Lytham & St Annes. The Women’s Tour de France starts at 2:30pm on TNT Sports 1 with a 137km loop around Lausanne; Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won it last year and is back to defend. UK’s Strongest Man takes over Channel 5 from 4pm, live from Milton Keynes.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

• BBC iPlayer: The Hit List, Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, BBC Proms, Geoff Hamilton Night, Alan Partridge, The Sentinels, Calvin Harris: Live from Scotland, A Star Is Born
• ITVX: Deal or No Deal, Casino Royale, The Staircase
• Channel 4 streaming: Hitler’s Games: Berlin
• My5: Sussex: Jewel of the South Coast, UK’s Strongest Man

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Saturday 1 August 2026)?

No. EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday and doesn’t broadcast on Saturdays. Catch up via BBC iPlayer, or wait for Monday’s return.

What is Geoff Hamilton Night on BBC Four?

A themed evening from 8pm marking 30 years since the gardener’s death, in what would have been his 90th birthday month. Monty Don introduces two archive Gardeners’ World episodes, then a documentary on his Barnsdale garden.

What time is Calvin Harris: Live from Scotland on?

Calvin Harris’s homecoming concert from Hampden Park airs on BBC One at 10pm, also on iPlayer and BBC Sounds.

What live sport is on TV tonight: Saturday 1 August 2026?

The Commonwealth Games reach their penultimate day in Glasgow. The Women’s Open golf reaches day three at Royal Lytham & St Annes, the Women’s Tour de France begins around Lausanne, and UK’s Strongest Man airs live on Channel 5 from 4pm.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight (Saturday 1 August 2026)?

Geoff Hamilton Night on BBC Four from 8pm is the pick, a heartfelt tribute rather than another archive raid. Calvin Harris’s homecoming gig on BBC One at 10pm is the other big draw.

Final Verdict

BBC Four owns tonight. Geoff Hamilton Night ⭐ is the one to plan around, and The Sentinels finishes off directly after it. Calvin Harris: Live from Scotland gives BBC One a strong close, The Staircase keeps ITV1’s true-crime run going, and there’s Casino Royale and A Star Is Born if you’d rather sit down with a film. No EastEnders, as ever on a Saturday.

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