TV Guide UK Tonight: Thurs 27 Aug 2026 – Ludwig, EastEnders & A House through Time

Thursday 27 August 2026. BBC One has the night’s two big draws — EastEnders turning the Queen Vic into a Costa resort at 7.30pm, and Ludwig walking into a wedding with a body on the dancefloor at 9pm. BBC Two starts a new A House through Time in Edinburgh, BBC Four gets back in the water with Jaws, and Sky Atlantic launches a boxing crime saga.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• Ludwig BBC One, 9pm. A stabbing mid-ceilidh, and nobody saw a thing.
• A House through Time BBC Two, 9pm. David Olusoga in Edinburgh, and the stories are extraordinary.
• EastEnders BBC One, 7.30pm. Alfie has discovered straw donkeys.
• Fightland Sky Atlantic, from 9pm. Three episodes to start.
• Jaws BBC Four, 9pm. Followed by Jaws 2 at 11.45pm.

Early Evening

EastEnders – BBC One, 7.30pm

Alfie has watched some footage from the twins’ school project and decided the answer is to turn the Queen Vic into Benidorm. Palm trees, straw donkeys and a karaoke machine all appear, and the odds on him getting through Spanish Eyes before somebody stops him are shorter than he thinks. Kat is elsewhere, distracted by another surprise entirely, and the party inevitably goes sideways: the Panesar-Unwins’ foster daughter Ria is hurt, Suki starts talking about legal action, and Kat is quietly worried the accident has damaged her own custody case.

It’ll Be Alright on the Night – ITV1, 7.30pm

Alan Carr fronts the outtakes, and tonight the best material is him losing it entirely. ITV1 has been running this format since before most of the clips were filmed.

Dragons’ Den – BBC One, 8pm

Touker Suleyman is back in the line-up alongside guest Dragon Gary Neville, who spends a fair bit of the hour laughing at a couple’s water-saving device before taking part in a pitch for a street art agency. Elsewhere there’s a gut-health snack business and a women’s cricket-wear range, both of which are exactly the sort of thing this show does well. The most valuable thing on offer, as ever, is the advice rather than the money.

The Yorkshire Vet – Channel 5, 8pm

Not a gentle one, this. Milo the hamster has a stone in his bladder and is in no mood to be examined, though a piece of broccoli buys the practice some time. Bryony the pedigree heifer is 5,000 times bigger and no happier about having a lump removed. Badger cub Basil, meanwhile, has strong opinions about being blood-tested for tuberculosis. Peter Wright also finds time for a charity tractor ride and what he declares the best ice cream in Yorkshire. Channel 5 knows its audience.

The Big Deal with Steph McGovern – BBC Two, 8pm

Off to the seaside, where the buying brief is prints and limited editions. Harder than it sounds: the gap between a numbered edition and a decorative poster is where nearly all the money sits.

Lion – National Geographic, 8pm

The series signs off with two episodes, at 8pm and 8.55pm. Kio and his brothers are no longer small enough to be tolerated, which is where lion documentaries usually get difficult.

Bangers and Cash – Yesterday, 8pm

The 1966 Morris 1000 pickup that turns up tonight is, in Derek’s assessment, more Scottish field than vehicle — it shouts scrap at him, and he isn’t wrong. Better prospects come from a 60s mod offloading a 1966 Lambretta and a 1964 Trojan 200 bubble car: 100 miles to the gallon and a top speed of 55mph, though anyone much over five foot eight will need help getting into it. The £2,000 reserve looks optimistic. Yesterday has it at 8pm.

Prime Time

Ludwig – BBC One, 9pm ⭐

Fictional detectives usually reduce a killing to timelines and patterns and keep everything at arm’s length. Puzzle setter John Taylor takes that approach considerably further, and tonight it nearly breaks him. He arrives at a wedding where the bride’s former partner has collapsed and died after being stabbed in the middle of a ceilidh, surrounded by the entire guest list. Everyone was there, he protests, and that is far too many variables to work with, before getting through most of a jug of water at speed. What settles him is realising that a ceilidh follows a fixed sequence of steps, which means the room can be reduced to who could physically have been standing where. David Mitchell has never been better used. The first three episodes are already on iPlayer.

A House through Time – BBC Two, 9pm

David Olusoga starts again, this time at a house on Calton Hill in Edinburgh built in the 1760s and long since carved into flats. By 1901 those flats held working-class families, and one resident’s life opens up into a genuinely startling story: an irregular marriage, a move to Canada for a farm that didn’t work out, a deportation and a prison sentence for bigamy. By 1911 three of the flats had been taken by the local prison for its staff, including a head warder who was thanked, loudly and in public, by a convicted murderer he had been kind to. Two of the homes had telephones, which in 1911 meant something. Then the First World War arrives.

Benidorm Is Murder – Channel 5, 9pm

The penultimate episode brings Tiff (Tamzin Outhwaite) to the bar with a sheaf of divorce papers her estranged husband Dennis is in no rush to sign. Meanwhile the patriarch of one holidaying family dies of what looks like natural causes, and the relief on the faces of those left behind is doing rather more work than grief. Dennis’s dartboard is pressed back into service as an incident board.

Fightland – Sky Atlantic, from 9pm

Howard Charles moves from the cosiness of Whitstable Pearl to a glossy, violent crime saga made by 50 Cent’s production company, and it suits him. He plays Maduka “Duke” Kilroy, a former world champion out of a Nevada prison and back in London, ostensibly to make good with promoter Kingsley Marshall (Nicholas Pinnock) and actually to take revenge. After a Stateside prologue it settles in London, though the look and rhythm stay firmly American, and it moves quickly enough that you rarely stop to test how much of it would hold up. Charles anchors it completely. Episodes one to three tonight, with all three on Now.

Hit Point – Dave, 9pm

You get plenty of value from Leo’s face in the opening minutes, and there’s more where that came from. It’s stretching credibility that Bella still hasn’t worked out why her police partner reacts to things in the wrong order, though she has troubles of her own — she’s convinced that if she hadn’t flirted with Hubble he’d still be breathing. Dave has the full series on U.

The Hunting Party – U&Alibi, 9pm

Kelsey Grammer plays the head of an apocalyptic cult who poisoned his followers as the authorities closed in on the compound, survived it, and has come out the other side ready to start recruiting again. Noah Cyrus plays a follower. What makes it work is that he never raises his voice: he sounds warm, patient and entirely reasonable, which is a far harder thing to sit through than shouting.

Late Night

Jaws – BBC Four, 9pm

Sunday’s BBC Two showing wasn’t enough, apparently. Spielberg’s 1975 thriller runs again on BBC Four tonight — the fourth shark on the schedule this week, after BBC Two’s Sunday double and The Shallows on BBC One last night.

Talking Pictures: Jaws – BBC Four, 11pm

Forty-five minutes of archive on the film that invented the summer blockbuster and emptied the beaches for a generation.

Jaws 2 – BBC Four, 11.45pm

And then the sequel, which has the best poster tagline ever written and roughly a third of the first film’s tension.

Sport

Day one of the second England v Pakistan Test begins at Lord’s from 10am on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket, with highlights on BBC Two at 7pm. Stage six of La Vuelta is a mountainous 177.4km from Alcossebre to Castellón, live on TNT Sports 1 from 1.30pm with highlights on Channel 5 at 7pm. The British Masters starts at The Belfry in Wishaw, Warwickshire, on Sky Sports Golf from 12.30pm.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

• BBC iPlayer: EastEnders, Dragons’ Den, The Big Deal with Steph McGovern, Ludwig (first three episodes), A House through Time (full series), Jaws, Jaws 2
• ITVX: It’ll Be Alright on the Night
• 5: The Yorkshire Vet, Benidorm Is Murder
• U: Bangers and Cash, Hit Point (full series)
• NOW: Fightland (episodes one to three), The Hunting Party

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Thursday 27 August 2026)?

Yes. EastEnders is on BBC One at 7.30pm. Alfie has turned the Queen Vic into a Benidorm tribute, complete with palm trees, straw donkeys and a karaoke machine, while Suki threatens Kat with legal action after an accident involving foster daughter Ria. It’s on iPlayer straight afterwards.

What time is Ludwig on tonight?

Ludwig is on BBC One at 9pm, with the first three episodes of the series already on iPlayer. Tonight John Taylor arrives at a wedding where the bride’s former partner has been stabbed mid-ceilidh in front of the entire guest list.

Is Jaws on TV tonight?

Yes. Jaws is on BBC Four at 9pm, four days after its BBC Two showing, and is followed by Talking Pictures: Jaws at 11pm and Jaws 2 at 11.45pm.

What live sport is on TV tonight: Thursday 27 August 2026?

Day one of the second England v Pakistan Test starts at Lord’s from 10am on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket, with highlights on BBC Two at 7pm. Stage six of La Vuelta, a mountainous 177.4km from Alcossebre to Castellón, is on TNT Sports 1 from 1.30pm, and day one of the British Masters comes from The Belfry on Sky Sports Golf from 12.30pm.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight (Thursday 27 August 2026)?

Ludwig on BBC One at 9pm is the pick. A House through Time on BBC Two and the new crime series Fightland on Sky Atlantic are the strongest alternatives.

What’s on BBC One tonight?

BBC One runs EastEnders at 7.30pm, Dragons’ Den at 8pm and Ludwig at 9pm. The first three episodes of Ludwig are already on iPlayer.

What time is the cricket on today?

Day one of the second England v Pakistan Test starts at Lord’s from 10am on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket. Highlights are on BBC Two at 7pm. It’s the second of a three-match series.

What time is Bangers and Cash on tonight?

Bangers and Cash is on U&Yesterday at 8pm. Tonight’s lots include a 1966 Morris 1000 pickup that is beyond saving, a 1966 Lambretta and a 1964 Trojan 200 bubble car with a £2,000 reserve.

What’s on Channel 5 tonight?

Channel 5 runs The Yorkshire Vet at 8pm and the penultimate episode of Benidorm Is Murder at 9pm, with La Vuelta cycling highlights at 7pm.

Final Verdict

Thursday 27 August is BBC One’s night. Ludwig turns a ceilidh into a locked-room problem and gives David Mitchell his best hour of the series, while EastEnders at 7.30pm goes full Costa Blanca before the inevitable happens. A House through Time is the quality alternative at 9pm, Fightland brings three episodes in one go, and Bangers and Cash remains the most relaxing hour on television. And if Sunday wasn’t enough, Jaws is back on BBC Four at 9pm.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight Thursday | What’s On TV Tonight Wed 26 Aug 2026 | What’s On TV Tonight Fri 28 Aug 2026