Wondering what’s on TV tonight? Sunday evening delivers one of the most stacked nights of the year. The Night Manager concludes with what promises to be a properly tense finale, Mock the Week returns from the dead after three years, and Channel 4 debuts Secret Genius with an unusual pairing of Alan Carr and Susie Dent. For sport, there’s the Australian Open men’s final and a mouth-watering Tottenham versus Manchester City clash. Pick your battles wisely – there’s a lot of 9pm competition.
Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best
- The Night Manager – BBC One, 9pm – Series finale of the spy thriller
- Mock the Week – TLC, 9pm – The panel show returns after three years
- Secret Genius – C4, 9pm – Alan Carr and Susie Dent debut new quiz
- Tottenham v Manchester City – Sky Sports, 4:30pm – Premier League showdown
Early Evening (6pm – 8pm)
Mission to Space with Francis Bourgeois – Channel 4, 6:45pm
Francis Bourgeois built his reputation getting visibly emotional about trains. Now he’s channelling that same unfiltered enthusiasm into space travel, and it’s oddly compelling viewing. Tonight he gets genuinely tearful watching a rocket engine fire up and enjoys a room simulating the lunar surface so much that he sets up camp there. The premise of whether he could become an astronaut is largely beside the point – we all know he’s probably too anxious for that. What makes this work is watching someone with genuine, unironic passion encounter things that genuinely excite them. As one museum owner notes, watching him cycle away: “There’s somebody who’s going to do something with his life.” Available on Channel 4 streaming.
Terry Wogan Archive Night – BBC Four, from 7pm
Ten years since Sir Terry Wogan’s death, BBC Four dedicates the evening to the broadcaster who defined light entertainment for a generation. It’s a mix of archive footage and tributes – the sort of programming that works best when you just let the clips do the talking. Wogan had a talent for making everything seem effortless, which is probably the hardest thing in television to achieve.
The Great Pottery Throw Down – Channel 4, 7:45pm
The potters tackle holiday souvenirs this week, and despite one contestant claiming they “love a bit of tat,” the results are anything but. Several pieces are genuinely charming – one even earns a high five from judge Rich Miller, which in Pottery Throw Down terms is roughly equivalent to Paul Hollywood’s handshake. The second challenge involves candlestick holders, and as always, someone has to leave. Their farewell speech is touching if slightly contradictory – calling your fellow competitors “lovely” and “weird” in consecutive sentences is quite the compliment.
Prime Time (8pm onwards)
Call the Midwife – BBC One, 8pm
The usually private work of the maternity home becomes front-page news when a baby disappears from their bassinette. Sister Catherine finds herself facing a crowd of journalists while the distraught mother frets about her missing newborn. It’s a darker premise than Call the Midwife usually traffics in, though the episode balances this with lighter moments – Rosalind making plans for a romantic weekend now that Cyril’s divorce has come through. The theme of separation runs throughout, including ongoing developments with the Turners and Christopher. Call the Midwife remains one of the few shows that can handle genuinely difficult topics without losing its essential warmth.
Guy Martin: Proper Jobs – U&Dave, 8pm
Guy Martin’s boundless enthusiasm meets Britain’s last working deep mine, and the results are proper informative telly. The mine near Staithes in North Yorkshire doesn’t extract coal – it’s polyhalite, a white crumbly rock used for fertiliser, from a seam running beneath the North Sea. The numbers are staggering: Guy’s lift journey takes him 1,200 metres straight down in pitch darkness, followed by a 40-minute drive through tunnels to reach the seam. In the 45-degree heat, he meets what he describes as “the most glued-together set of lads – proper doers.” It’s sturdy, educational television that leaves you knowing something you didn’t before. All episodes available on U.
The Night Manager – BBC One, 9pm ⭐
The spy thriller reaches its conclusion, and by all accounts this is where things properly click into place. The second series has been good rather than great – entertaining enough but lacking the original’s tension. Richard Roper’s surprise return in episode three felt like it should have raised the stakes, but the confrontations between Roper and Jonathan Pine never quite delivered the expected fireworks.
Tonight changes that. The action sequences finally sync up with the emotional core, and everything hinges on the weapons drop in Colombia that Pine has been working to stop. At the centre is Teddy, Roper’s son, who seems to be siding with Pine while still desperately seeking his father’s approval – a man who keeps his affection in the same place he keeps his arms cache. Tom Hiddleston remains excellent as the undercover agent, and Hugh Laurie gives Roper exactly the right amount of charm and menace. This is the episode that earns the 9pm slot.
Confessions of a Killer – BBC Two, 9pm
The conclusion to this genuinely disturbing documentary about Northern Ireland dentist Colin Howell. Last week established how Howell murdered both his wife and his lover’s husband in 1991, staging their deaths to look like a suicide pact. Tonight follows the eighteen years between the murders and Howell’s confession, including his decision to tell his second wife – who stayed with him and had five children with him. The confession tapes, broadcast here for the first time, feature Howell explaining his twisted reasoning in his own words. It’s the sort of true crime that stays with you, exploring how evil can hide behind respectability for decades.
Secret Genius – Channel 4, 9pm
Channel 4’s new quiz show pairs Alan Carr with Countdown’s Susie Dent in an attempt to find ordinary Britons with genius-level IQs. The premise is that thousands of people across the UK have exceptional intelligence without realising it – hidden geniuses in hairdressers, factories, and supermarkets. Twelve contestants tackle puzzles at “Genius HQ,” and what comes through most clearly is that even the smartest people can be undone by panic and self-doubt. There’s a warm, encouraging atmosphere rather than the competitive edge of some quiz shows. Mensa have backed this, so the tests are presumably legitimate. More tomorrow.
Mock the Week – TLC, 9pm
The panel show rises from the grave three years after the BBC cancelled it. Now on the relaunched free-to-air channel TLC, Dara Ó Briain returns as host for a new hour-long format. Whether Mock the Week can recapture its cultural foothold is uncertain – YouTube and TikTok have somewhat taken over as the proving ground for young comedians. But the line-up is strong: Rhys James, Angela Barnes, Hugh Dennis, Russell Howard, Sara Pascoe, and Katherine Ryan among others are confirmed for the series.
The topical element was always somewhat of a red herring anyway; the real appeal was watching stand-ups show off their joke-writing abilities, often barely connected to current affairs. As Dara himself puts it: “It’s a show that thrives on silly jokes from smart people and any actual insight is purely accidental.”
After the Flood – ITV1, 9pm
The corrupt Sergeant Mackie has apparently decided that the best way to keep his secrets is to escalate dramatically. Tonight he goes to brutal lengths to keep the truth buried, believing that inviting Jo to receive a bravery commendation will keep her sweet. What he hasn’t accounted for is Pat making contact with one of the former foster children who were exploited. It all builds to a confrontation that sets up tomorrow’s series finale at 9pm. Nicholas Gleaves has made Mackie genuinely hateable – a bent copper in the Dot Cottan tradition. Full series on ITVX.
The Beckham Feud: Truth and Lies – Channel 5, 9pm
Channel 5 digs into the allegations Brooklyn Peltz Beckham has reportedly made against his parents. Whether this is genuine investigative documentary or tabloid speculation dressed up as television remains to be seen, but the Beckham family drama has provided enough headlines to suggest there’s material here.
Late Night
Saltburn – BBC Two, 10pm
Emerald Fennell’s 2023 film that turned Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi into household names finally gets a BBC Two outing. Keoghan plays Oliver Quick, an awkward Oxford student who becomes fixated on his wealthy, charismatic classmate Felix Catton (Elordi). A summer invitation to Felix’s family estate – the titular Saltburn – leads somewhere considerably darker than expected.
The film divided audiences: some found it darkly hilarious and brilliantly twisted, others thought it was style over substance. Either way, certain scenes – involving bathwater, a grave, and a naked dance to Murder on the Dancefloor – became impossible to avoid online. Fennell, the only British woman nominated for a best director Oscar (for Promising Young Woman), has Wuthering Heights with Margot Robbie and Elordi due in cinemas on 13th February. This is a good warm-up.
Sport
Tennis: Australian Open Men’s Final – TNT Sports, 7:30am
The men’s singles final from Melbourne Park. Jannik Sinner is the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz is attempting to become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam, and Novak Djokovic is chasing a record-extending 25th major title. UK viewers will need to be up early – 8:30am GMT start.
Football: WSL Manchester City v Chelsea – BBC One, 2:30pm
Top-of-the-table clash in the Women’s Super League. Just six points separate leaders Man City and Chelsea in second, making this potentially title-defining. Live on BBC One from the Etihad Stadium.
Football: Premier League – Sky Sports, from 2pm
A packed afternoon kicks off with Aston Villa v Brentford and Manchester United v Fulham both at 2pm. The main event is Tottenham v Manchester City at 4:30pm – Spurs currently sit 14th while City are second. Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event have coverage.
The Viewing Schedule
| Time | Channel | Programme |
|---|---|---|
| 7:30am | TNT Sports 1 | Tennis: Australian Open Men’s Final |
| 2:00pm | Sky Sports | Aston Villa v Brentford |
| 2:00pm | Sky Sports Main Event | Manchester United v Fulham |
| 2:30pm | BBC One | WSL: Manchester City v Chelsea |
| 4:30pm | Sky Sports | Tottenham v Manchester City |
| 6:30pm | Channel 5 | Britain’s Worst Weather Disasters |
| 6:45pm | Channel 4 | Mission to Space with Francis Bourgeois |
| 7:00pm | BBC Four | Terry Wogan Archive Night |
| 7:45pm | Channel 4 | The Great Pottery Throw Down |
| 8:00pm | BBC One | Call the Midwife |
| 8:00pm | U&Dave | Guy Martin: Proper Jobs |
| 9:00pm | BBC One | The Night Manager |
| 9:00pm | BBC Two | Confessions of a Killer |
| 9:00pm | Channel 4 | Secret Genius |
| 9:00pm | TLC | Mock the Week |
| 9:00pm | ITV1 | After the Flood |
| 9:00pm | Channel 5 | The Beckham Feud: Truth and Lies |
| 10:00pm | BBC Two | Saltburn |
What’s On Streaming
BBC iPlayer: The Night Manager, Call the Midwife, Confessions of a Killer, Saltburn
ITVX: After the Flood (full series)
Channel 4 streaming: Mission to Space with Francis Bourgeois, The Great Pottery Throw Down, Secret Genius
U: Guy Martin: Proper Jobs (all episodes)
Frequently Asked Questions
What time is The Night Manager on tonight?
The Night Manager series finale is on BBC One at 9pm tonight (Sunday 1st February 2026).
What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight?
Our top pick is The Night Manager finale on BBC One at 9pm – the spy thriller reaches its explosive conclusion as Jonathan Pine confronts Richard Roper.
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 Mock the Week on?
Mock the Week returns at 9pm on TLC tonight with Dara Ó Briain hosting a new hour-long format.
What channel is Tottenham v Man City on?
Tottenham v Manchester City kicks off at 4:30pm on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event.
Final Verdict
A properly packed Sunday with multiple 9pm clashes competing for your attention. The Night Manager finale is the must-watch – the spy thriller reportedly delivers on its promise in the final hour. If you’ve been following Confessions of a Killer, the conclusion is essential viewing. Mock the Week’s revival on TLC is worth sampling if you missed the panel show, and Secret Genius offers something lighter if quiz shows are your thing. Football fans are spoiled with Spurs v Man City at 4:30pm and the WSL title race clash earlier on BBC One. No EastEnders tonight – that’s Monday to Thursday on BBC One.
