Saturday night brings drama that matters. Casualty tackles a sexual assault storyline with real sensitivity, Waiting for the Out reaches a devastating turning point, and Blackshore wraps up its Irish crime mystery. If you need something lighter, there’s a cocaine-fuelled bear on Channel 4 and Frank Skinner failing to recognise his own optician on BBC One.
Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best
- Casualty – BBC One, 8:30pm – Powerful, sensitively handled episode about reporting sexual assault
- Waiting for the Out – BBC One, 9:20pm – The prison drama reaches its most emotionally raw moment
- Blackshore – BBC Four, 9:20pm – Double bill finale of the gripping Irish crime thriller
- Boxing: Adam Azim v Lemos – BBC Two, 7:30pm – Rare live boxing on terrestrial TV
Early Evening (5pm – 8pm)
Gladiators – BBC One, 5:45pm
The third series delivers one of those moments that makes you do a double take. Elliot, a gardener from Devon, bears such an uncanny resemblance to the bearded Gladiator Hammer that their Duel match-up looks like someone fighting their own reflection. Elliot goes up against Tyler, a teacher from Wigan whose background in rugby comes in handy during the more physical challenges. The women’s competition features Ellie, a vet from Edinburgh, and Millie, a firefighter from Cleethorpes, battling it out in what turns into a properly tense Eliminator. Apollo continues to terrify everyone with her speed, Athena suffers a rare defeat, and Legend does what Legend always does – bends the rules and then grabs Bradley Walsh’s microphone to remind everyone how brilliant he thinks he is. The Walsh father-son commentary team provides the chaos coverage.
Michael McIntyre’s Big Show – BBC One, 6:45pm
The Remember Me? segment continues to produce cringe-worthy gold. This week, Frank Skinner struggles to place the face of someone he met just seven days earlier. The identity of the mystery person makes his failure even more embarrassing – she’s his own optician, someone who was literally staring directly into his eyes the previous week. The show redeems itself with a genuinely touching moment when Skinner has an unexpected reunion with someone from his past. The Unexpected Star of the Show segment features Danny, a hairdresser with a passion for wine, who arrives believing he’s been invited to sample a terrible new vintage from Rob Rinder’s imaginary vineyard (the “Rineyard”, naturally). Danny has actually been booked to perform the closing musical number, which presumably comes as quite a shock.
The Masked Singer – ITV1, 7pm
Six masked performers remain, each determined to keep their identity hidden for another week. Joel Dommett presides over proceedings as the panel makes increasingly wild guesses about who might be lurking beneath the elaborate costumes. The format hasn’t changed – celebrities in ridiculous outfits belt out songs while judges try to identify them – but there’s something oddly compelling about watching grown adults in giant novelty heads attempting to sing.
The Weakest Link – BBC One, 7:45pm
Romesh Ranganathan takes over hosting duties for this celebrity edition. Johnny Vegas and Sarah Greene are among the contestants facing his particular brand of withering put-downs. The quiz format remains unchanged – answer questions, vote off the weakest player, try not to be eliminated yourself – but Ranganathan brings his own sardonic energy to the proceedings.
Prime Time (8pm onwards)
Casualty – BBC One, 8:30pm ⭐
This is the one to watch tonight. The long-running medical drama takes on one of its most important storylines as Siobhan, played by Melanie Hill, reports the attack she suffered last week. The production team worked closely with The Bridge sexual assault referral centre in Bristol and Cambridge Rape Crisis to ensure the portrayal was accurate and respectful.
The episode doesn’t sensationalise. Instead, it walks viewers through the process that anyone in Siobhan’s position might face – disclosure, examination, interview – presenting it clearly and without drama. Hill visited The Bridge herself as research, and described the experience as invaluable. The result is television that genuinely serves a purpose: showing viewers exactly what happens when someone reports an assault, demystifying a process that might otherwise seem overwhelming. The scenes at the Sexual Assault Referral Centre are handled with compassion rather than melodrama.
The 1% Club – ITV1, 8:30pm
One contestant tonight has an unusual motivation for appearing on Lee Mack’s quiz. Most people want to prove their intelligence or win the cash. This particular player just wants a selfie with the host and freely admits they’re not really bothered about the money. Whether this declaration affects their performance remains to be seen – there’s arguably more pressure when a photo opportunity is at stake than mere thousands of pounds. The format continues unchanged: questions start easy (answerable by 90% of people) and progress to brain-twisters only 1% of the population can solve. The tension builds as players drop out one by one.
Waiting for the Out – BBC One, 9:20pm
The prison drama has been building towards something, and this might be it. Dan, the philosophy teacher played brilliantly by Josh Finan, uses the fable of the scorpion and the frog to teach his class – the scorpion stings the frog carrying it across the river because it’s simply in its nature. But the lesson is really for himself. Dan’s obsessive compulsive tendencies extend beyond checking appliances. He’s haunted by the fear that he’s destined to follow his father into crime, that self-destruction is simply in his nature.
Flashback sequences show Dan’s last day with his father, played by Gerard Kearns in a performance that’s menacing precisely because it’s so understated. The present-day Dan seems to be reaching breaking point. The full series remains available on iPlayer for anyone who needs to catch up.
Blackshore – BBC Four, 9:20pm, 10:10pm
The Irish crime thriller reaches its conclusion with a closing double bill. Detective Fia Lucey, portrayed with steely determination by Lisa Dwan, appeared to have cracked the case last week, but there are plenty of revelations still to come. A potential suspect emerges against whom evidence proves frustratingly elusive. The investigation continues to interweave with Fia’s own troubled history in a way that feels organic rather than forced. Dwan has been outstanding throughout, making Fia both abrasive and sympathetic. The atmospheric small-town Irish setting has added considerably to the menace.
Cocaine Bear – Channel 4, 9:30pm
Elizabeth Banks directs this deliberately ridiculous 2023 film based on a true incident from 1985, when a bear in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest in Georgia encountered a dumped stash of cocaine and things went predictably badly. The film imagines the aftermath – a large black bear, now extremely wired, encountering various criminals, hikers, tourists and police officers in the woods. The cast includes Keri Russell, the late Ray Liotta, and Margo Martindale, all of whom seem to understand exactly what kind of film they’re in. Banks commits fully to the absurdity, prioritising deliberately over-the-top violence and a gleefully heightened tone over any attempt at realism. It runs just over ninety minutes and doesn’t outstay its welcome.
Late Night
Catch Me a Killer – U&Drama, 10pm, 11pm
The South African crime drama concludes its run with a double bill. Charlotte Hope plays Micki Pistorius, a real-life criminal profiler brought in during the mid-1990s to help catch serial killers. The police aren’t particularly receptive to her psychological theories, but her methods eventually bear fruit. The setting – South Africa emerging from apartheid – adds historical weight to the procedural elements.
Phil Collins Eras: In Conversation – BBC Two, 11pm
This is the television version of a Radio 2 interview marking Phil Collins’s 75th birthday, which fell on 30th January. Collins sits down with Zoe Ball for a remarkably candid conversation about his health struggles – kidney failure, multiple knee operations, lung problems – and his extraordinary career spanning Genesis and a hugely successful solo period. Collins now requires 24-hour medical care but remains reflective rather than self-pitying. He recalls his reluctant transition from drummer to frontman, name-drops Robert Plant, Michael Jackson and Princess Diana, and even hints at the possibility of making more music. Two years of sobriety and improved health have put him in a contemplative mood about a life that, as he puts it, he wouldn’t have missed for the world.
Afire – BBC Four, 11pm
German director Christian Petzold’s 2023 drama won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at Berlin. Two friends arrive at a Baltic Sea holiday house to find a stranger already staying there – Paula Beer, in her third collaboration with Petzold, plays the mysterious guest. She’s simultaneously welcoming and unknowable, and her presence disrupts everything. Meanwhile, forest fires are approaching the coast. Petzold specialises in films that seem deceptively quiet while something more volatile churns beneath the surface. Beer is magnetic as always. Their fourth film together, Miroirs No. 3, arrives in cinemas in April.
Sport
Tennis: Australian Open Women’s Final – TNT Sports 1, 8am
World number one Aryna Sabalenka faces Elena Rybakina in a rematch of the 2023 final at Melbourne Park. Sabalenka is attempting to win her fourth consecutive Australian Open title, joining Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Martina Hingis as the only women to achieve that feat. Rybakina beat Sabalenka at the WTA Finals in December, so this should be compelling.
Football: Chelsea v West Ham – Sky Sports, 5pm (k/o 5:30pm)
Premier League action from Stamford Bridge. Chelsea sit fifth with 37 points while West Ham hover nervously in 18th with 20 points, making this rather more significant for the visitors.
Boxing: Adam Azim v Gustavo Lemos – BBC Two, 7:30pm
A rare opportunity to see live boxing on terrestrial television. British prospect Adam Azim (14-0, 11 KOs) faces dangerous Argentine Gustavo Lemos (30-2, 20 KOs) in a light-welterweight contest at the Copper Box Arena in London. Azim is considered one of the most exciting talents in British boxing, while Lemos has only lost to current world champions. The scheduling ahead of Ramadan is deliberate – this could be Azim’s last major fight for some time.
Football: Liverpool v Newcastle – TNT Sports 1, 7pm (k/o 8pm)
Premier League clash from Anfield as Liverpool continue their title challenge against Newcastle.
The Viewing Schedule
| Time | Channel | Programme |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00am | TNT Sports 1 | Tennis: Australian Open Women’s Final |
| 5:00pm | Sky Sports | Chelsea v West Ham |
| 5:45pm | BBC One | Gladiators |
| 6:45pm | BBC One | Michael McIntyre’s Big Show |
| 7:00pm | ITV1 | The Masked Singer |
| 7:30pm | BBC Two | Boxing: Adam Azim v Lemos |
| 7:45pm | BBC One | The Weakest Link |
| 8:00pm | TNT Sports 1 | Liverpool v Newcastle |
| 8:30pm | BBC One | Casualty |
| 8:30pm | ITV1 | The 1% Club |
| 9:20pm | BBC One | Waiting for the Out |
| 9:20pm | BBC Four | Blackshore |
| 9:30pm | Channel 4 | Cocaine Bear |
| 10:00pm | U&Drama | Catch Me a Killer |
| 10:10pm | BBC Four | Blackshore |
| 11:00pm | BBC Two | Phil Collins Eras: In Conversation |
| 11:00pm | BBC Four | Afire |
What’s On Streaming
BBC iPlayer: Casualty, Waiting for the Out (full series), Gladiators, Blackshore (full series), Phil Collins Eras
Channel 4 streaming: Cocaine Bear
ITVX: The Masked Singer, The 1% Club
U: Catch Me a Killer (box set)
Frequently Asked Questions
What time is Casualty on TV tonight?
Casualty is on BBC One at 8:30pm tonight (Saturday 31st January 2026), featuring a powerful storyline about Siobhan reporting a sexual assault.
What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight?
Our top pick is Casualty on BBC One at 8:30pm – a sensitively handled episode that demystifies the Sexual Assault Referral Centre process. For drama fans, Waiting for the Out at 9:20pm delivers another emotionally devastating instalment.
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 the boxing on BBC Two tonight?
Adam Azim vs Gustavo Lemos starts at 7:30pm on BBC Two, live from the Copper Box Arena. It’s a rare chance to see live boxing on terrestrial TV.
What channel is Liverpool v Newcastle on?
Liverpool v Newcastle is on TNT Sports 1 with coverage from 7pm and an 8pm kick-off at Anfield.
Final Verdict
A Saturday that demands your attention. Casualty handles an important subject with the care it deserves – Melanie Hill’s performance and the realistic portrayal of the reporting process make it essential viewing. Waiting for the Out continues to be one of the most emotionally raw dramas on television, and Blackshore wraps up with a satisfying finale. If you need lighter fare, Cocaine Bear provides knowingly daft entertainment, and there’s live boxing on BBC Two for those who enjoy watching people hit each other. No EastEnders tonight – it’s Monday to Thursday on BBC One.
