TV Guide UK Tonight: Sun 24 May 2026 – Dear England, Obituary & Premier League Final Day

Published: 20 May 2026

Sunday 24 May. Dear England arrives on BBC One at 9pm: James Graham’s Olivier-winning stage play, adapted for television with Joseph Fiennes as Gareth Southgate. The TV event of the month. Before it, Premier League Final Day from 3pm with title, relegation and European places all still alive. Late on, Obituary launches on ITV1, a new Irish comedy about an obituary writer who starts making her own work.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• Dear England ⭐, BBC One 9pm. Joseph Fiennes, Gareth Southgate, James Graham. The stage play that won the Olivier Award, now made for television.
• Death Valley, BBC One 8:15pm. Timothy Spall moping, Roisin Conaty guest starring, suspicious death in a fishing village.
• Obituary, ITV1 10:45pm. Siobhán Cullen as an obituary writer who starts killing people. One of the best new comedies of the year.
• Premier League Final Day, Sky Sports 3pm. Ten simultaneous matches. Everything still to be decided.
• Later… with Jools Holland, BBC Two 10pm. James Blake, Joe Bonamassa, Mandy, Indiana.

Sport

Premier League Final Day – Sky Sports Main Event, 3pm (k/o 4pm)

Every match on the last day of the 2025/26 Premier League season, all kicking off simultaneously at 4pm. Title still live. So is the relegation fight. So are the European places. Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League. Subscription.

Tennis: French Open – TNT Sports 1 & 4, 9:30am

Day one at Roland Garros. Coverage from 9:30am. Subscription.

Formula One: Canadian Grand Prix – Sky Sports F1, 7:30pm (start 9pm)

Montreal. Fifth round of the season. Sky Sports F1 from 7:30pm, Sky Sports Main Event from 8pm. Race at 9pm. Subscription.

Cycling: Giro d’Italia Stage 15 – TNT Sports 3, noon

Flat, 157km, Voghera to Milan. Stage 15. TNT Sports 3. Subscription.

Early Evening

Britain’s Best Service Station – Channel 5, 7pm

JB Gill of JLS counts down the UK’s top five service stations. South Mimms is his personal favourite, on the grounds that he reckons he can get in, use the facilities and leave with a vanilla latte in three minutes forty. There’s also a Cornish stop selling wetsuits, artisan pasties and haircuts in one visit. Catch up via 5 streaming.

Murdoch Mysteries – U&Alibi, 7pm

Series 19. A man in a field claims alien abduction. The plots have had to get increasingly outlandish to sustain nineteen runs. Catch up via Now.

Expedition with Steve Backshall – BBC Two, 7:15pm

Steve joins geologists exploring a volcanic underworld beneath the Saudi Arabian desert. Full series on BBC iPlayer.

Prime Time

Death Valley – BBC One, 8:15pm

John (Timothy Spall) has split from Yvonne (Melanie Walters) and has been carrying his returned possessions round in an Ikea carrier bag. DI Janie Mallowan (Gwyneth Keyworth) suspects the heartbreak is mostly for show. She’s proved right when pub owner Karen (Roisin Conaty, guest starring) gives him a look and he immediately cheers up. There’s a suspicious death in a fishing village too, if you need a plot. Spall also believes owning a moored narrowboat qualifies him to trade seafaring wisdom with an actual trawlerman. It does not. Full series on BBC iPlayer.

The 1% Club Kids Special – ITV1, 8pm

One hundred kids aged 9 to 15, one final question only 1% of the country can answer, and a family holiday to Walt Disney World at stake. Lee Mack hosts, starting out as a cool supply teacher and ending up closer to a children’s entertainer at a chaotic birthday party. One-off. Catch up via ITVX.

Hudson and Rex – U&Alibi, 8pm

An obnoxious businessman is found speared to death on his yacht. Three obvious suspects. The complication: he converted his entire fortune to crypto with a 64-digit access code that nobody has. Catch up via Now.

Dear England ⭐ – BBC One, 9pm

This is the one tonight. James Graham’s stage play won the Olivier Award, and when the BBC came calling he deliberately chose not to just film it. He rethought it for television, going for something more interior, more naturalistic, closer to what the people involved might actually have felt in private moments rather than on a stage.

It begins in late 2016. Sam Allardyce’s England tenure has ended after 67 days. Southgate (Joseph Fiennes) takes over as caretaker, inheriting a squad still conditioned by the Iceland defeat to treat any public vulnerability as weakness. His entire project is dismantling that. Fiennes is uncanny in the role. It isn’t an impression so much as a reading of the person. Jason Watkins plays FA chairman Greg Dyke with full panto commitment, which is probably accurate. Episodes 1 and 2 are on BBC iPlayer from tonight if you want to keep going.

Vengeance: Murder on the Heath – Channel 4, 9pm

Part one of two. February 2011, Brighton. Gagandip Singh, a 21-year-old Sikh TV entrepreneur, was invited to the flat of Mundill Mahil, someone who had a grievance against him. The friends Mahil brought along were meant to teach Singh a lesson. It became a murder case. Part two is tomorrow on Channel 4. Both episodes are on Channel 4 streaming now.

Being Stanley Baxter – BBC Four, 9pm

Profile of the Glasgow-born comedian and impressionist who died last December aged 99. A career spanning decades; a gift for character that nobody else quite matched. BBC iPlayer.

Late Night

Later… with Jools Holland – BBC Two, 10pm

Mostly solo artists this week. James Blake, Ashley McBryde, Joe Bonamassa (who talks to Jools about BB King, which is guitar tutorial inception), and Jocelyn Brown. New artist Sekou also appears. The one to watch is Mandy, Indiana performing “Cursive” — this could be the performance people talk about from this series. BBC iPlayer.

The Assembly – ITV1, 10pm

Rylan Clark faces the panel of neurodivergent and learning-disabled interviewers. Rylan said it was the best interview he’d ever done. It starts cheeky and gets somewhere more personal. Catch up via ITVX.

Obituary – ITV1, 10:45pm

New series. Elvira Clancy (Siobhán Cullen) writes obituaries in a small Irish coastal town. She only gets paid when someone dies, so she starts making that happen more often — choosing victims she considers deserving. Gothic, Irish, and funnier than the premise suggests. Cullen plays Elvira with the calm confidence of someone who has thought this through and found it reasonable. Full series on ITVX.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

• BBC iPlayer: Dear England (eps 1 & 2), Death Valley, Expedition with Steve Backshall, Being Stanley Baxter, Later… with Jools Holland
• ITVX: Obituary (full series), The 1% Club Kids Special, The Assembly
• Channel 4 streaming: Vengeance: Murder on the Heath (both parts)
• 5 streaming: Britain’s Best Service Station
• Now: Murdoch Mysteries, Hudson and Rex
• Sky / TNT Sports: Premier League Final Day, Canadian GP, French Open, Giro (subscriptions)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Sunday 24 May 2026)?

No. EastEnders doesn’t air on Sundays. New episodes return Monday 25 May on BBC One at 7:30pm. Catch up via BBC iPlayer.

What time is Dear England on BBC One tonight?

Dear England is on BBC One at 9pm (Sunday 24 May 2026). James Graham’s adaptation of his Olivier-winning stage play. Joseph Fiennes as Gareth Southgate, Jason Watkins as FA chairman Greg Dyke. Episodes 1 and 2 on BBC iPlayer from tonight.

What time is Death Valley on BBC One tonight?

BBC One at 8:15pm. Timothy Spall as John, newly single after splitting from Yvonne (Melanie Walters). Roisin Conaty guest stars as pub owner Karen. Full series on BBC iPlayer.

What is Obituary on ITV1?

A new dark comedy starting on ITV1 at 10:45pm tonight. Siobhán Cullen as an obituary writer who starts quietly murdering people to keep her income flowing. Full series on ITVX.

What’s the best thing to watch tonight (Sunday 24 May 2026)?

Dear England on BBC One at 9pm. Before that, Death Valley at 8:15pm. Late-night, Obituary on ITV1 at 10:45pm is worth staying up for.

Final Verdict

Dear England at 9pm on BBC One. Joseph Fiennes as Southgate, James Graham’s script, and a story about emotional intelligence in professional football that somehow works completely. Before it, Death Valley at 8:15pm is the best ongoing comedy-drama on BBC One right now. Late-night, don’t sleep on Obituary — Siobhán Cullen is as good as the premise deserves.

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