What’s On TV Tonight: Sunday 4th January 2026

The first proper Sunday of 2026 serves up a solid spread. There’s Tom Hiddleston doing spy things, Alfred Hitchcock doing suspense things, and Keith Brymer Jones crying at pottery. Plus Marisa Abela’s Amy Winehouse biopic finally hits terrestrial TV.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best…

• The Night Manager – BBC One, 9pm – Episode two of the spy thriller
• Alfred Hitchcock Night – BBC Four, from 8pm – Rear Window plus North by Northwest
• Back to Black – BBC Two, 10pm – Marisa Abela’s acclaimed Winehouse performance
• The Great Pottery Throwdown – C4, 7:30pm – New series, same emotional judge

Early Evening: Family Viewing (6pm – 8pm)

Countryfile – BBC One, 6pm

Hamza Yassin explores Loch Affric in the Scottish Highlands, which should provide some stunning scenery to ease you into the evening. Standard Countryfile fare – pleasant enough if you’re after something undemanding before the main event.

Inside the World’s Most Luxurious Flights – Channel 4, 6:30pm

For most of us, good value means a budget airline to Spain without too many delays. Not for wealthy entrepreneur Charlie, who reckons his £6,000 helicopter trip to go clay pigeon shooting is a bargain. This documentary follows the mega-rich as they travel in three-room suites with en-suite bathrooms and on-tap champagne. Prepare to feel poor.

The Great Pottery Throwdown – Channel 4, 7:30pm

Keith Brymer Jones is already wiping away tears before anyone’s touched the clay. Twelve new contestants troop into Gladstone Pottery Museum for their first challenge: a decorative lidded soup tureen. The bucket of doom gets very full during the throwdown, but this lot seem a relaxed and jolly bunch. Comfort viewing of the highest order.

Prime Time Picks (8pm onwards)

The Floor – ITV1, 8pm

Eighty-one contestants stand on a vast illuminated floor, each occupying a square that represents their specialist subject – everything from horror films to Premier League managers, Taylor Swift lyrics to British birds. When challenged, they must prove their expertise or lose their territory to an opponent. Rob Brydon presides with trademark bemusement, whispering a horrified “What?!” when obvious images go unidentified. The format rewards deep nerdy knowledge: pick a subject you genuinely know inside out, and you might just survive. It runs for ten weeks with £50,000 at stake.

Alfred Hitchcock Night – BBC Four, from 8pm

What better way to spend a cold January evening than with the Master of Suspense? BBC Four devotes the night to Leytonstone’s most famous son with Rear Window at 8pm – James Stewart as a wheelchair-bound photographer who becomes convinced his neighbour is a murderer. At 9:50pm there’s a rare 1969 interview with Hitch at the National Film Theatre, followed by North by Northwest at 10:45pm with Cary Grant as a hapless ad man on the run. Dry wit, cinema insights and star-laden anecdotes aplenty.

Antiques Roadshow – BBC One, 8pm

Fiona Bruce is at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea, where tonight’s treasures include unpublished letters by Dylan Thomas. The usual mix of delighted owners and barely-concealed disappointment.

The Night Manager – BBC One, 9pm ⭐

Here’s your pick of the night. Episode two picks up from last week’s Barcelona blast, with Tom Hiddleston’s Pine now operating in the shadow of Teddy Dos Santos (Diego Calva), a Colombian arms dealer who’s stepped into the void left by Richard Roper. Calva brings menace to the role, though he hasn’t yet matched the crocodilian charm of Hugh Laurie’s Roper – that peculiar mix of hospitality and threat that made series one so unsettling. Still, there’s time for Teddy to grow into a worthy successor.

Red Eye – ITV1, 9pm

The ambassador’s reception has gone properly wrong – one man thrown from a balcony, another shot, and now the assassin’s poisoning the whisky. DS Hana Li (Jing Lusi) and Clay Brody (Martin Compston) want to shut it down, but the ambassador insists on keeping the party going. What’s he hiding? Meanwhile, actors deliver lines like “you’re not the CEO of jack***t!” without corpsing. Impressive really.

Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins – Channel 4, 9pm

Billy Billingham whips off the hoods of 14 celebrities in north Africa. Half are Australian and you might not recognise several social media personalities, but it doesn’t matter – the submersion tests and brutal fights are the draw. There are emotional revelations, epic fails, and at one point someone wets themself in fear. Continues tomorrow.

The Million Pound Shaman Scam – BBC Two, 9pm

Based on the BBC Sounds podcast of the same name, this two-part documentary examines the extraordinary case of Juliette D’Souza, a Hampstead con-woman who posed as a shaman between 1998 and 2010. She convinced vulnerable clients that “spiritual offerings” left at a sacred tree would cure illness and solve problems. The money funded her lifestyle instead. It’s a disturbing look at how faith becomes weaponised and how intelligent people can be drawn into something they’d normally see through.

Late Night

Back to Black – BBC Two, 10pm

Marisa Abela went into full boot-camp mode to play Amy Winehouse – learning guitar, working with a vocal coach, and singing everything herself. Jack O’Connell plays Blake Fielder-Civil, the chaotic love of Amy’s life, while Eddie Marsan plays her father Mitch and Lesley Manville her grandmother Cynthia. When Abela recreated Amy’s 2008 Glastonbury set in front of 400 extras, they started chanting “Amy, Amy, Amy!” After she finished, silence – then “Marisa, Marisa, Marisa!” First terrestrial showing of the 2024 biopic.

First Dates Beach Club – Channel 4, 10pm

Fred Sirieix takes his matchmaking talents abroad for the second series, setting up shop at a sun-drenched Spanish resort. Tonight Joe and Emily reach a crossroads in their holiday romance – will they stay together or call it quits when reality beckons? It’s the First Dates formula transplanted to warmer climes, with sangria replacing the house red and beach walks instead of awkward tube journeys home.

Sport

A massive day for football. Leeds v Manchester United kicks off at 12:30pm on TNT Sports 1, while Fulham v Liverpool (3pm) and Newcastle v Crystal Palace (3pm) are on Sky Sports. The big one is Manchester City v Chelsea at 5:30pm on Sky Sports. Championship fans can catch Birmingham City v Coventry City at 3pm on Sky Sports. For rugby, Leicester v Saracens in the Premiership is live at 3pm on TNT Sports 2. Later, day two of the Australia v England Test continues from Sydney at 11pm on TNT Sports 1.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

BBC iPlayer: The Night Manager, Back to Black, Rear Window, North by Northwest – plus the EastEnders flash-forward episode if you missed Max Branning’s glimpse into 2027 over New Year
ITVX: Red Eye (full series), The Floor
Channel 4 streaming: Celebrity SAS, The Great Pottery Throwdown, First Dates Beach Club

Frequently Asked Questions

What time is The Night Manager on TV?

The Night Manager is on BBC One at 9pm tonight (Sunday 4th January 2026).

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight?

Our top pick is The Night Manager on BBC One at 9pm – Tom Hiddleston’s spy thriller returns for episode two with new villain Diego Calva.

What time is Back to Black on TV?

Back to Black is on BBC Two at 10pm tonight. It’s the 2024 Amy Winehouse biopic starring Marisa Abela.

What’s on BBC Four tonight?

BBC Four has an Alfred Hitchcock Night: Rear Window at 8pm, a 1969 interview at 9:50pm, and North by Northwest at 10:45pm.

What channel is Celebrity SAS on?

Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins is on Channel 4 at 9pm tonight.

Is EastEnders on tonight?

No, EastEnders is not on tonight. EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday at 7:30pm on BBC One. Catch up on iPlayer if you missed the New Year flash-forward episode.

Final Verdict

The Night Manager is your main event – BBC One does prestige spy drama well, and this sequel’s shaping up nicely. If you’d rather classic cinema, BBC Four’s Hitchcock double bill is unmissable. Late owls should stick around for Back to Black – Marisa Abela’s Amy Winehouse is the real deal.

Clint Edgar

Clint is a writer and self-proclaimed professional binge-watcher who treats the "Skip Intro" button with the suspicion it deserves. When he isn't dissecting plot holes or getting emotionally invested in fictional characters, you can find him scrolling through streaming queues or arguing about why The Office is a masterpiece. Clint lives in London with a dangerously comfortable couch and a remote control that he guards with his life.