Saturday night splits between serious and frivolous. Channel 4 premieres one of the most important films of recent years just days before Holocaust Memorial Day. Meanwhile, BBC Two dedicates its evening to Dolly Parton, BBC One delivers more Gladiators chaos, and there’s a documentary about Claudia Winkleman. Something for everyone, then.
Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best
- The Zone of Interest – Channel 4, 9:45pm – Oscar-winning Holocaust drama’s terrestrial debut
- Waiting for the Out – BBC One, 9:25pm – Prison drama at its most devastating
- Dolly Parton Night – BBC Two, from 8:35pm – A celebration of country’s brightest star
- Claudia Winkleman: Behind the Fringe – Channel 5, 9:25pm – The Traitors host gets the documentary treatment
Early Evening (5pm – 8pm)
Gladiators – BBC One, 5:45pm
The third series rolls on with another new event making its debut. Everest involves a tilting 16ft platform – the idea being you try to push your opponent off while avoiding an alarming freefall yourself. It’s the highest drop they’ve ever featured on the show, which probably explains why contestants look genuinely terrified. Tonight sees dairy farmer Gail from Ayrshire taking on Emily, a linguist from south London, while PE teacher Mark from Essex battles gym owner Jason from Newcastle. Bradley and Barney Walsh continue to provide the commentary with varying degrees of professionalism.
Michael McIntyre’s Big Show – BBC One, 6:45pm
KSI is this week’s target for McIntyre’s phone-hijacking antics. The YouTuber-boxer-businessman has an impressive contacts list spanning Idris Elba to Amanda Holden to Logan Paul, and McIntyre gleefully sends inappropriate messages to all of them. The segment works because KSI looks genuinely appalled at what’s happening. Myles Smith provides the musical performance, Sophie Ellis-Bextor turns up alongside Shane Richie and Angela Scanlon for what appears to be some kind of talent show segment, and there’s a moment where the whole operation nearly collapses thanks to an audience member going rogue.
The Masked Singer – ITV1, 7pm
Perrie Edwards from Little Mix joins the panel as a guest detective for tonight’s double unmasking. The format remains unchanged – celebrities in elaborate costumes sing while judges try to work out who’s underneath – but the guessing game remains oddly compelling. Two masks come off tonight, which should thin the herd considerably.
Prime Time (8pm onwards)
The 1% Club – ITV1, 8:30pm
Lee Mack returns with the quiz that tests whether you’re as clever as you think you are. Questions start easy (things 90% of people can answer) and get progressively harder until only 1% of the population could manage them. Tonight’s contestants include the usual mix of confident starters who crash out embarrassingly early and quiet ones who somehow make it to the big money. The prize fund reaches £100,000 for anyone who can answer the final question.
Casualty – BBC One, 8:35pm
The Care Quality Commission has arrived to inspect the emergency department, which is unfortunate timing given everything that’s been happening. Matty’s impulsive decision to file a complaint has set wheels in motion that can’t easily be stopped. Meanwhile, Dylan is in full panic mode – he secretly took a DNA swab from Matty and sent it off for testing, and the results have come back. Gwyneth Strong guest stars as the eagle-eyed CQC inspector who misses nothing.
Dolly Parton Night – BBC Two, from 8:35pm
BBC Two dedicates its evening to the woman in the big hair and the even bigger personality. The evening begins with archive footage from her many BBC appearances over the decades, covering everything from early chat show visits to more recent performances. The centrepiece at 9:35pm is Here I Am, an excellent 2019 documentary that looks beyond the rhinestones and wigs to find the formidable businesswoman and songwriter underneath. Jane Fonda, among others, offers the opinion that underestimating Dolly Parton is a serious mistake. The night ends with her legendary Glastonbury set from 2014, when she charmed an entire festival with Jolene and Islands in the Stream.
Waiting for the Out – BBC One, 9:25pm
The prison drama reaches what might be its most emotionally devastating episode yet. Dan’s compulsive disorder goes beyond checking the gas – it’s the intrusive thoughts he can’t shake that are really destroying him. The shadow of his absent, abusive father looms over everything, and flashback sequences show a family holiday dominated by paternal menace. Gerard Kearns plays the father, and his portrayal is all the more chilling for being restrained rather than theatrical. Meanwhile, prisoner Dris has his release date postponed at the very last minute, sending him spiralling. Francis Lovehall’s performance as Dris processes this crushing news is heartbreaking. The full series is available on iPlayer.
Claudia Winkleman: Behind the Fringe – Channel 5, 9:25pm
Channel 5’s documentary team turns its attention to one of British television’s most successful presenters. Winkleman’s career arc from Film 2001 presenter to the woman who made The Traitors unmissable is genuinely interesting – she’s managed to become a primetime powerhouse while maintaining an image that’s self-deprecating and relatable. Colleagues and collaborators queue up to explain why she works so well on screen, and there’s naturally plenty of footage of that famous fringe in action.
Blackshore – BBC Four, 9:25pm
The Irish crime drama continues to darken as DI Fia Lucey’s investigation expands. The town’s hotel appears to be at the centre of something deeply unpleasant – systematic abuse stretching back years, involving local criminal families and possibly the police themselves. Lisa Dwan remains excellent as the furious maverick detective who can’t stop making enemies. A rogue journalist is stirring things up, and an unexpected suspect emerges. A second episode follows at 10:20pm.
The Zone of Interest – Channel 4, 9:45pm ⭐
This is the one to watch tonight. Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar-winning film finally reaches terrestrial television, timed deliberately to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day on Tuesday. The premise is as simple as it is horrifying: we see the domestic life of Rudolf Höss, commandant of Auschwitz, and his family in their comfortable home right next door to the death camp. Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller play the couple who tend their garden, raise their children, and discuss work – work that involves designing gas chambers and processing millions of murdered people.
The genius of the film is what it doesn’t show. The Holocaust is present only in sounds beyond the garden wall – distant screams, gunshots, the rumble of furnaces – and in the constant plume of smoke rising behind the family’s idyllic home. Höss’s wife sorts through clothes stolen from murdered women, trying on lipstick, completely unbothered by where these items came from.
Glazer, who is Jewish, used his Oscar acceptance speech to warn that the film “shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst” and urged viewers to consider the present as well as the past. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s an essential one.
Late Night
Catch Me a Killer – U&Drama, 10pm
Crime drama set in mid-1990s South Africa as the country was emerging from apartheid. Charlotte Hope plays Micki Pistorius, a real-life criminal profiler brought in to hunt the Station Strangler, responsible for murdering 22 young boys. The police force is largely hostile to her psychological theories, but patient interviewing eventually yields a breakthrough. A second episode follows at 11pm.
Burns Night Preview – BBC Four, 11:10pm
Tomorrow is Burns Night, and BBC Four prepares with two documentaries about Scotland’s national poet. First up is Maya Angelou’s 1996 tribute – the American author and civil rights activist was profoundly influenced by Burns’s poetry during her childhood in 1930s Arkansas. At midnight, Andrew O’Hagan’s 2009 profile explores how Burns became “rock-star famous” in his lifetime while dying in poverty.
Sport
Cricket: Sri Lanka v England – TNT Sports 2, 8:45am
Second ODI in a three-match series from Colombo. England looking to level after the first match.
Football: Bournemouth v Liverpool – Sky Sports, 5pm (k/o 5:30pm)
Premier League action from the Vitality Stadium. Liverpool continue their title push against the Cherries.
Tennis: Australian Open – TNT Sports 1/3, 7am onwards
Day eight coverage from Melbourne with fourth round matches.
The Viewing Schedule
| Time | Channel | Programme |
|---|---|---|
| 8:45am | TNT Sports 2 | Cricket: Sri Lanka v England |
| 5:00pm | Sky Sports | Bournemouth v Liverpool |
| 5:45pm | BBC One | Gladiators |
| 6:45pm | BBC One | Michael McIntyre’s Big Show |
| 7:00pm | ITV1 | The Masked Singer |
| 8:30pm | ITV1 | The 1% Club |
| 8:35pm | BBC One | Casualty |
| 8:35pm | BBC Two | Dolly Parton at the BBC |
| 9:25pm | BBC One | Waiting for the Out |
| 9:25pm | BBC Four | Blackshore |
| 9:25pm | Channel 5 | Claudia Winkleman: Behind the Fringe |
| 9:35pm | BBC Two | Dolly Parton: Here I Am |
| 9:45pm | Channel 4 | The Zone of Interest |
| 10:00pm | U&Drama | Catch Me a Killer |
| 11:05pm | BBC Two | Dolly Parton at Glastonbury 2014 |
| 11:10pm | BBC Four | Angelou on Burns |
What’s On Streaming
BBC iPlayer: Waiting for the Out (full series), Gladiators, Casualty, Dolly Parton Night, Blackshore (full series)
Channel 4 streaming: The Zone of Interest
ITVX: The Masked Singer, The 1% Club
My5: Claudia Winkleman: Behind the Fringe
Frequently Asked Questions
What time is The Zone of Interest on TV tonight?
The Zone of Interest is on Channel 4 at 9:45pm tonight (Saturday 24th January 2026), premiering on terrestrial TV ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day.
What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight?
Our top pick is The Zone of Interest on Channel 4 at 9:45pm – Jonathan Glazer’s Oscar-winning film about the domestic life of the Auschwitz commandant. A haunting and essential watch ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day.
Is EastEnders on TV tonight?
No, EastEnders is not on tonight. The soap airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One. You can catch up on recent episodes via BBC iPlayer.
What time is Claudia Winkleman’s documentary on?
Claudia Winkleman: Behind the Fringe is on Channel 5 at 9:25pm tonight.
What channel is Bournemouth v Liverpool on?
Bournemouth v Liverpool is on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League with a 5:30pm kick-off.
Final Verdict
A Saturday of contrasts. The Zone of Interest demands your attention – Glazer’s Oscar-winner is cinema at its most necessary, arriving just before Holocaust Memorial Day. If you need something lighter first, Dolly Parton Night on BBC Two provides warmth and great music, while Waiting for the Out on BBC One delivers more emotional gut-punches. The Claudia Winkleman documentary is entertaining if undemanding, and there’s always Gladiators if you want to see people falling off things. No EastEnders tonight – it’s Monday to Thursday on BBC One.
