The Premier League serves up a potential title decider at the Emirates, but those avoiding football have plenty of options. Two comedies return – one about incompetent spies, another about immortal idiots – and the surviving Hairy Biker launches a new series about Britain’s most beautiful railway stations.
Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best
- Black Ops – BBC One, 9:30pm – MI5’s worst agents are back for more chaos
- Arsenal v Liverpool – Sky Sports, 7pm (k/o 8pm) – Could decide who lifts the trophy in May
- What We Do in the Shadows – BBC Two, 10pm – The vampire mockumentary hits season six
- Britain’s Favourite Railway Stations – More4, 9pm – Si King trades his motorbike for trains
Early Evening (7pm – 8pm)
The 1970s Diet: Could It Work for You? – Channel 5, 7pm
Josie Gibson wraps up her experiment in retro eating. After two weeks of living like it’s the decade of ABBA and power cuts, does she feel any different? The results might surprise you – or might just confirm what we all suspected about portion control.
This episode digs into why our food culture shifted so dramatically. Was it greed? Convenience? Supermarket expansion? The programme argues that a combination of factors – including the decline of manual labour and the rise of snacking – explains our collective weight gain. Whether anyone actually wants to return to fish paste sandwiches is another question.
Prime Time (8pm onwards)
The Traitors – BBC One, 8pm
The midweek instalment brings a challenging mission that promises to expose some truths. Then it’s Round Table time, where the accusations will fly faster than Claudia can raise an eyebrow. The host’s ability to seem sympathetic while clearly enjoying every backstabbing moment remains the show’s secret weapon.
Post-match analysis continues in Uncloaked at 9:05pm, where the evicted contestant gets to explain what they were thinking. Spoiler: they usually weren’t.
Live Well with the Drug-Free Doctor – Channel 4, 8pm
Dr Rangan Chatterjee has built a following on social media with his argument that lifestyle changes should come before prescription pads. This programme puts his philosophy into practice, and it’s deliberately confrontational.
His contention is simple: too many conditions linked to how we live – type 2 diabetes, depression, chronic pain – are being treated with pills when changes to diet, exercise and sleep might work better. He advocates cold water swimming, intermittent fasting, and low-carb eating. Whether the NHS could realistically pivot this way is left unexplored, but as a primer on taking responsibility for your own health, it’s thought-provoking.
Spain with Michael Portillo – Channel 5, 8pm
The former politician continues his Iberian wanderings in Barcelona, but deliberately avoids anywhere you’d find on a postcard. No Sagrada Familia, no Las Ramblas – instead he seeks out a lesser-known Gaudí building, samples the local vermouth culture in a traditional bodega, and tries his luck joining a human tower.
Portillo’s enthusiasm for other cultures remains endearing after all these years. His delight at trying on handmade espadrilles is genuine. The historical context is worn lightly – this is travelogue as comfort viewing.
Grantchester – ITV1, 9pm
The second episode of the penultimate series sees Rishi Nair’s Reverend Alphy facing uncomfortable questions about identity. Guest star Maya Sondhi (Line of Duty) plays a professor who accuses him of trading away his Indian heritage to fit into British institutions.
It’s a bold theme for a cosy detective drama, and Grantchester handles it with more nuance than you might expect. The actual mystery – a student death initially presumed accidental – takes a back seat to these weightier concerns about assimilation and belonging. The show continues to prove it’s more than just Sunday night wallpaper.
Black Ops – BBC One, 9:30pm ⭐
Your pick for the evening. Gbemisola Ikumelo and Hammed Animashaun return as Dom and Kay, the worst spies in MI5 history. Despite technically being full-time intelligence officers now, they’ve been assigned deeply unglamorous duties – Dom catalogues files in a basement while Kay’s been tasked with listening to drill music for potential terrorist threats.
The comedy works because it balances genuine warmth between the leads with pointed observations about workplace discrimination. Kay, who follows rules religiously and attends church regularly, encounters institutional barriers that his less conscientious colleague doesn’t face. But the show never gets preachy – there’s also a subplot involving a climate activist, a snooker tournament, and spectacularly bad timing on a pizza order. Cathy Tyson steals scenes as their exasperated handler.
What We Do in the Shadows – BBC Two, 10pm
The mockumentary about vampire housemates in Staten Island returns for its sixth and final season. The opener addresses a question fans may not have known to ask: whatever happened to Jerry?
Jerry, it turns out, went into a vampire “super sleep” in 1976 with instructions to be woken on New Year’s Eve 1996. The others simply forgot. Now he’s back, three decades late, struggling to understand why there’s a camera crew in the house and generally upsetting the dynamic that Nandor, Nadja, Laszlo and Colin Robinson have established.
Mike O’Brien plays Jerry with appropriate confusion. The show’s ability to generate comedy from immortal beings dealing with mundane problems hasn’t faded.
Britain’s Favourite Railway Stations with Si King – More4, 9pm
Following the death of Dave Myers last year, Si King continues to carry the Hairy Bikers torch solo. Here he indulges a passion beyond motorcycles: Britain’s railway heritage.
York station provides the starting point – a Victorian cathedral to steam travel that still impresses today. King chats to current railway workers alongside historians and architects. The programme also visits Huddersfield’s grand classical station and Exmoor’s charming Woody Bay halt on a preserved steam line.
There’s something inherently soothing about trains, and King’s warm presence makes this gentle viewing for anyone who’s ever felt moved by station architecture or the romance of rail travel.
Sport
Football: The big one tonight – Arsenal v Liverpool at 7pm on Sky Sports Main Event (kick-off 8pm) from the Emirates Stadium. A clash of the heavyweights. Tennis: ATP and WTA tournaments from Brisbane, Auckland and Hong Kong at 6am and 10:30pm on Sky Sports Tennis.
The Viewing Schedule
| Time | Channel | Programme |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00pm | Channel 5 | The 1970s Diet |
| 7:00pm | Sky Sports | Arsenal v Liverpool |
| 8:00pm | BBC One | The Traitors |
| 8:00pm | Channel 4 | Live Well with the Drug-Free Doctor |
| 8:00pm | Channel 5 | Spain with Michael Portillo |
| 9:00pm | ITV1 | Grantchester |
| 9:00pm | Channel 4 | Patience |
| 9:00pm | More4 | Britain’s Favourite Railway Stations |
| 9:00pm | Channel 5 | The Trial of Michael Jackson |
| 9:00pm | BBC Two | Rob and Rylan’s Grand Tour |
| 9:30pm | BBC One | Black Ops |
| 10:00pm | BBC Two | What We Do in the Shadows |
What’s On Streaming
BBC iPlayer: The Traitors (full series), Black Ops (full series), What We Do in the Shadows (full series), Rob and Rylan’s Grand Tour
ITVX: Grantchester (full series)
Channel 4 streaming: Patience (full series), Live Well with the Drug-Free Doctor, Britain’s Favourite Railway Stations
Channel 5 streaming: Spain with Michael Portillo, The 1970s Diet, The Trial of Michael Jackson
Frequently Asked Questions
What time is Black Ops on TV tonight?
Black Ops is on BBC One at 9:30pm tonight (Thursday 8th January 2026). The spy comedy returns with Dom and Kay more inept than ever.
What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight?
Our top pick is Black Ops on BBC One at 9:30pm – the solidly funny spy comedy returns with rubbish MI5 operatives Dom and Kay causing chaos with mistimed pizza deliveries and snooker-table protests.
What time is Arsenal v Liverpool on TV?
Arsenal v Liverpool is on Sky Sports Main Event at 7pm tonight, with kick-off at 8pm from the Emirates Stadium.
What time is What We Do in the Shadows on?
What We Do in the Shadows is on BBC Two at 10pm tonight. Season six begins with Jerry finally waking from his 1976 super sleep.
What’s on ITV1 tonight?
ITV1’s highlight is Grantchester at 9pm – the second episode of the penultimate series, with Maya Sondhi guest starring as a professor who challenges Alphy about his identity.
Final Verdict
Black Ops is tonight’s pick if you fancy some solidly funny spy nonsense – the pizza delivery gag alone is worth tuning in for. Football fans won’t need telling that Arsenal v Liverpool is the main event. Later on, What We Do in the Shadows returns with its brand of smartly silly vampire comedy. And if you prefer something gentler, Si King’s railway journey is just the ticket.
