TV Guide UK Tonight: Tues 11 Aug 2026 – The Romans, Missing & EastEnders

Tuesday 11 August 2026. BBC One‘s evening gets rearranged tonight: European Athletics eats the 8pm-to-10pm slot straight after EastEnders. Channel 5 sends Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman back to Roman Londinium, Film4 shows the screen-life thriller Missing, and ITV1 reopens the Damilola Taylor case on Cold Case Forensics. More4 also wraps up Oti Mabuse and Richard Coles’s South African trip.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• The Romans with Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman ⭐ Channel 5, 9pm. Back to AD 122 ahead of Hadrian’s visit.
• Missing Film4, 9pm. Storm Reid stars in the screen-life sequel to Searching.
• Cold Case Forensics: in the Blood ITV1, 9pm. Angela Gallop on the Damilola Taylor case.
• Savage Mountain Sky Documentaries, 9pm. Kristin Harila’s record climb and its fallout.
• EastEnders BBC One, 7:30pm. Jean, Chelsea and Max all have a rough night.

Early Evening

EastEnders – BBC One, 7:30pm

Jean’s worry about Lily keeps building, something already difficult for Chelsea takes a turn for the worse, and Max finds out exactly what it’s like to be on Cindy’s bad side.

Inside the Langham: Britain’s First Grand Hotel – ITV1, 7:30pm

Michel Roux brings his Michelin-starred Le Gavroche menu into the kitchen, and it’s chef Oliver who has to make it work under pressure. Managing director Stefan and marketing director Alice check in on the group’s delayed, costly new Venice hotel, while a pair of demanding twin guests keep front-of-house on their toes.

Prime Time

The Great British Sewing Bee – BBC Two, 8pm

Sport week brings men’s swimming trunks for the pattern challenge and old windsurfer sails for the transformation task, before the eight remaining stitchers turn out made-to-measure bowling shirts embroidered with their own stories, from badgers to paragliding. Sophie Willan hosts, Patrick Grant judges.

The Romans with Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman – Channel 5, 9pm ⭐

Tonight’s clear highlight. Rinder and Goodman head back to AD 122, when Roman Londinium was under the uneasy charge of governor Quintus Pompeius Falco, a man who could lose his head on nothing more than an imperial whim. Rinder gets the glamour, kitted out in a toga for a banquet, while Goodman draws the short straw scrubbing floors and treading urine-soaked laundry. Surviving remains of Roman London and AI reconstructions rebuild the city, ending with the start of Hadrian’s Wall.

Missing – Film4, 9pm

A standalone follow-up to 2018’s Searching, with Storm Reid as a teenager tracking down her missing mother using nothing but a laptop and whatever she can dig up online. The directors leaned on ordinary software, including Adobe tools, to build the on-screen texts, social posts and search results that carry the whole story. Rated 15.

Savage Mountain – Sky Documentaries, 9pm

In spring 2023, Norwegian climber Kristin Harila set out to summit all 14 of the world’s highest mountains faster than anyone before her, and she did it. This documentary sits her down to address footage that appeared to show her team stepping past a dying Pakistani porter, Muhammad Hassan, on K2. She argues that stopping or turning back were never realistic options at that altitude.

Cold Case Forensics: in the Blood – ITV1, 9pm

Forensic scientist Angela Gallop explains how tiny, overlooked traces of blood eventually helped investigators close in on the men who killed ten-year-old Damilola Taylor.

Joe and David’s Magical Sitcom Tour – U&Gold, 9pm

Joe Wilkinson and David Earl pitch up on the unremarkable Harrow street corner where Fawlty Towers filmed its “Gourmet Night” episode, the one with Basil Fawlty taking a tree branch to his broken-down car. They park a red Austin 1100 Countryman on the spot, David Earl gets properly emotional about it, then the pair visit Television Centre’s old TC1 studio and sit down with John Cleese.

Elsewhere, More4 closes out Oti Mabuse and Richard Coles’s South African trip with a bridge zip-line and traditional Xhosa dancing, Quest‘s Johnny Vegas hunts antiques at an Uttoxeter fair, and Channel 4‘s Dover 24/7: Britain’s Busiest Port marks the port’s wartime history with a remembrance service.

Late Night

The Vampire Lestat: Interview with the Vampire – BBC Two, 11:05pm & 11:55pm

A late double bill closes BBC Two’s night, with Daniel Molloy pressing Lestat on the years that shaped him, long before their earlier interviews took place.

Sport

The European Athletics Championships reach day two in Birmingham, with BBC One carrying the 8pm-to-10pm session that’s pushed tonight’s usual schedule aside. The Hundred returns to Old Trafford for Manchester Super Giants against Sunrisers Leeds, the women’s match at 3pm and the men’s at 6:30pm on Sky Sports, while snooker’s China Open continues its first round from Taiyuan on TNT Sports 1.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

• BBC iPlayer: EastEnders, The Great British Sewing Bee, The Vampire Lestat: Interview with the Vampire
• ITVX: Inside the Langham: Britain’s First Grand Hotel, Cold Case Forensics: in the Blood
• Channel 4 streaming: Missing, Dover 24/7: Britain’s Busiest Port, Oti and Richard’s South African Odyssey
• 5 streaming: The Romans with Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman
• Now: Savage Mountain
• Discovery+: Johnny Vegas’s Little Shop of Antiques

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Tuesday 11 August 2026)?

Yes. EastEnders airs on BBC One at 7:30pm, with Jean growing more worried about Lily, a difficult situation closing in on Chelsea, and Max getting the sharp end of Cindy’s temper. Catch up on BBC iPlayer.

What time is The Romans with Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman on?

It’s on Channel 5 at 9pm tonight, with Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman exploring Roman Londinium in AD 122 ahead of Emperor Hadrian’s visit. Also available on 5 streaming.

Why isn’t BBC One showing its usual dramas tonight?

Live coverage of the European Athletics Championships from Birmingham takes over BBC One from 8pm to 10pm, straight after EastEnders.

What live sport is on TV tonight: Tuesday 11 August 2026?

European Athletics day two runs on BBC One and BBC Two, The Hundred sees Manchester Super Giants play Sunrisers Leeds at Old Trafford from 3pm and 6:30pm on Sky Sports, and the China Open snooker continues on TNT Sports 1.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight (Tuesday 11 August 2026)?

The Romans with Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman on Channel 5 at 9pm is the pick, with Missing on Film4 and Cold Case Forensics on ITV1 close behind.

Final Verdict

Channel 5 wins the night. The Romans with Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman ⭐ is where to start at 9pm, with Missing and Cold Case Forensics: in the Blood both strong for a second screen. Savage Mountain is worth the discomfort, and EastEnders covers the soap slot before BBC One hands the rest of its evening to the athletics.

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