TV Guide UK Tonight: Tues 25 Aug 2026 – Sewing Bee Final, Celebrity MasterChef & The Tudors

Tuesday 25 August 2026. BBC One runs its two biggest returning formats back to back, the Sewing Bee final at 8pm and Celebrity MasterChef at 9pm, while BBC Two does lifeboats then A&E. Channel 5 sails with the Armada, Channel 4 finishes Celebrity Hunted, and ITV1 gives its whole evening to the League Cup. EastEnders is on at 7.30pm.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• The Great British Sewing Bee BBC One, 8pm. The final, and a cone-shaped bra.
• Celebrity MasterChef BBC One, 9pm. Blindfolded palate test, nobody sent home.
• The Tudors with Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman Channel 5, 9pm. 1588, and the Armada has sailed.
• Celebrity Hunted Channel 4, 9pm. Last of the series.
• EastEnders is on tonight — BBC One, 7.30pm.

Early Evening

EastEnders – BBC One, 7.30pm

The usual Tuesday half-hour in Albert Square before BBC One switches to the Sewing Bee final.

Race against the Tide – BBC Two, 7.30pm

Iain Stirling welcomes everybody to the show where people carry spades and sandbags up to Scotland, which tells you exactly how seriously it takes itself. Tonight’s teams are at St Andrews Beach working to the theme No Place Like Home, with six hours to sculpt something before the North Sea removes it. The entries run from Welsh valleys to artists’ studios, with cats, dogs, sheep and dragons appearing for reasons best known to the sculptors. Collapses and last-minute rescues are guaranteed.

Saving Lives at Sea – BBC Two, 8pm

Kristi has never been so pleased to see a boat in her life, and says as much about the Tamar-class lifeboat that came out for her with total sincerity. She and her teenage daughter had been paddleboarding off the Pembrokeshire coast on a still August day when the conditions turned, leaving Kristi in the water getting steadily colder while her daughter used a mobile to call for help. The best parts of this series are always the postscripts, when rescuers hear how it felt from the other side.

Best Medicine – Sky One, 8pm

The series finale, and Martin’s chilly manner finally becomes useful. A Norwegian salmon farm is coming, most of the community has already signed the land away, and he is the only person detached enough to call the bluff of the people doing the taking. He also delivers a baby while it is going on.

The Dog House – Channel 4, 8pm

Wood Green tries to match dogs with the people who have come looking for one, and the match is almost never the one the humans arrived expecting. Reliably the kindest hour on Tuesday television.

Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders – Channel 5, 8pm

Roads policing units, in-car cameras, and a steady supply of drivers who believed nobody was paying attention.

Vera – ITV3, 8pm

A feature-length Brenda Blethyn case on ITV3, with Lewis at 10pm behind it. The dependable alternative when everything else is a final.

Prime Time

The Great British Sewing Bee – BBC One, 8pm ⭐

Last week produced a superhero outfit inspired by music, so the standard for a final was already high. Tonight it’s a Madonna-style cone-shaped bra, which nobody has attempted on this show before and which looks every bit as hazardous as you’d expect. The transformation round splits the finalists into a team of three making a set of outfits for a girl band, still judged individually, and Esme Young mentions in passing that she made some of Cher’s stage clothes, a line dropped so casually you almost miss it. One bespoke outfit gets Disco Fever, another a Love Hangover.

Celebrity MasterChef – BBC One, 9pm

Giorgio Locatelli spends most of the hour worrying about this batch’s signature dishes. Gladiator Emily Steel and content creator Tom Simons hand him steak, comedian Donna Preston produces a doner kebab in tribute to a childhood nickname, retired ballet dancer Eric Underwood makes mac ‘n’ cheese and actor Nitin Ganatra offers a vegetarian curry. Then comes the blindfolded palate test, where one contestant cannot identify a cucumber, and a fresh pasta round that produces a dish Locatelli would not recognise as his own and Grace Dent gasping at the sheer quantity of something on a plate. Nobody goes home.

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

London is jittery, the Armada is on its way, and Rinder and Goodman tell the whole thing through one family. Merchant Thomas Cordell had his fleet requisitioned by Elizabeth I and went off with it; his wife Margaret stayed behind with the children. The battle detail is grim, as is the account of conditions aboard, but the pleasure of this series is the sideways material, including, tonight, where the word toerag comes from.

Emergency 24/7 – BBC Two, 9pm

Southmead Hospital in Bristol, filmed the way this production company films police stations: almost no narration, cameras left running, decisions made in front of you. Tonight’s cases are graphic and quick, the worst of them a man called Paul who took an overdose and then jumped in front of a train. One remark from the medical team about the state of his leg is not easily forgotten.

Celebrity Hunted – Channel 4, 9pm

The final episode, and with 48 hours on the clock the remaining fugitives all head for the same place, Birmingham train station, to collect their extraction details. Brian and Lucy Conley are still out there. Whether the hunters have worked out that everyone is converging on one building is the whole question.

PopMaster TV – More4, 9pm

Ken Bruce’s third heat, working through chart-toppers and one-hit wonders. More4 has found the right home for a radio format that should not translate to television and somehow does.

Have I Got a Bit More News for You – Dave, 9pm

Dave runs the longer edit, which is usually the better one — the jokes that were cut for time on BBC One tend to be the ones that needed the run-up.

Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four – Talking Pictures TV, 9pm

Two hours of Conan Doyle’s second novel, the one with the Agra treasure and the pact between four men that nobody honours. Talking Pictures TV runs it past 11pm.

Johnny Vegas’s Little Shop of Antiques – Quest, 9pm

Johnny and Bev take their stock to auction in Stafford for the first time, which is the natural next step for a shop that has mostly involved buying things. He is then tempted by a giant golden eagle statue with a £65,000 tag on it. Quest has found a genuinely likeable format here.

Late Night

Drive-away Dolls – Film4, 9.30pm

Ethan Coen went solo after the brothers split — Joel made a stark Macbeth, Ethan made this. Written with his wife and editor Tricia Cooke, who has called it the first of a lesbian B-movie trilogy, it drops two young women into a 1999 road trip from Philadelphia to Florida in a car carrying something they know nothing about and several criminals want badly. Margaret Qualley plays Jamie, Geraldine Viswanathan the uptight Marian. It’s 84 minutes of nonsense and it moves. Film4 has it at 9.30pm.

Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret – BBC Three, 11pm

Nine women approached a US publication with allegations of inappropriate behaviour by the actor and musician, all of which he denies. BBC producer Jessica Sartenaer spoke to them and to others for this documentary. What emerges most strongly is how many describe being teenagers at the time, and how effectively power can keep people quiet.

Live at the Apollo – BBC Two, 10pm

Half an hour of stand-up from Hammersmith before Newsnight, and a useful palate cleanser after Emergency 24/7.

The Vampire Lestat: Interview with the Vampire – BBC Two, 11.05pm

Last week’s penultimate episode ended a romantic reunion in the most gruesome way available, which for vampires barely registers as a setback. The finale gives Lestat and Louis a very dark night of the soul apiece, and the odds on anything surviving it are not good.

A House through Time – BBC Two, 11.55pm

A late run for the David Olusoga series that starts properly on Thursday at 9pm. If you want to go in already knowing the Calton Hill house, here it is.

Sport

Nottingham Forest host Leeds United in the League Cup second round, live on ITV1 and Sky Sports Main Event from 7.30pm. Champions League play-off second legs run on TNT Sports 1 and 2 from 8pm. Stage four of La Vuelta is a short, brutal 104.8km that starts and finishes in Andorra la Vella, live on TNT Sports 1 from 1.30pm.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

• BBC iPlayer: EastEnders, Race against the Tide, The Great British Sewing Bee, Saving Lives at Sea, Celebrity MasterChef, Emergency 24/7, Jared Leto: Hollywood’s Dark Secret, The Vampire Lestat (full series)
• ITVX: Nottingham Forest v Leeds United, Long Lost Family
• Channel 4 streaming: Celebrity Hunted, PopMaster TV, Drive-away Dolls
• 5: The Tudors with Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman
• NOW: Best Medicine

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Tuesday 25 August 2026)?

Yes. EastEnders is on BBC One at 7.30pm, followed by The Great British Sewing Bee final at 8pm and Celebrity MasterChef at 9pm. The episode goes onto iPlayer straight after transmission.

What time is The Great British Sewing Bee final on tonight?

The Great British Sewing Bee final is on BBC One at 8pm. The remaining sewers face a Madonna-inspired cone-shaped bra, a team challenge and a transformation round before Esme Young and Patrick Grant pick a winner.

What’s on Celebrity MasterChef tonight?

Celebrity MasterChef is on BBC One at 9pm. Giorgio Locatelli and Grace Dent judge signature dishes from Emily Steel, Tom Simons, Donna Preston, Eric Underwood and Nitin Ganatra, then set a blindfolded palate test and a fresh pasta challenge. Nobody goes home tonight.

What live sport is on TV tonight: Tuesday 25 August 2026?

Nottingham Forest host Leeds United in the League Cup second round from 7.30pm on ITV1 and Sky Sports Main Event. Champions League play-off second legs are on TNT Sports 1 and 2 from 8pm, and stage four of La Vuelta starts and finishes in Andorra la Vella, live on TNT Sports 1 from 1.30pm.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight (Tuesday 25 August 2026)?

The Great British Sewing Bee final on BBC One at 8pm is the pick. Celebrity MasterChef at 9pm and The Tudors with Rob Rinder and Ruth Goodman on Channel 5 are the alternatives.

Are Emmerdale and Coronation Street on tonight?

No. Neither soap airs tonight. ITV1 has given its whole evening to the League Cup, with Nottingham Forest v Leeds United from 7.30pm running until about 10.25pm. Both soaps return tomorrow at 8pm and 8.30pm.

What’s on BBC Two tonight?

BBC Two runs Race against the Tide at 7.30pm, Saving Lives at Sea at 8pm, Emergency 24/7 at 9pm, Live at the Apollo at 10pm, the finale of The Vampire Lestat at 11.05pm and A House through Time at 11.55pm.

What film is on TV tonight?

Drive-away Dolls is on Film4 at 9.30pm, Ethan Coen’s 84-minute crime comedy with Margaret Qualley and Geraldine Viswanathan. Talking Pictures TV has Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four at 9pm.

What time is Celebrity Hunted on tonight?

Celebrity Hunted is on Channel 4 at 9pm, and this is the last episode of the series. With 48 hours left the remaining fugitives all head for Birmingham train station to collect their extraction details.

Final Verdict

Tuesday 25 August belongs to BBC One. The Great British Sewing Bee crowns its champion at 8pm and Celebrity MasterChef keeps the kitchen chaotic at 9pm. The Tudors is the best factual hour of the night, Celebrity Hunted finishes in Birmingham, and Drive-away Dolls is the late film worth staying up for. EastEnders is on at 7.30pm, and ITV1 has handed the whole evening to football.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight Tuesday | What’s On TV Tonight Mon 24 Aug 2026 | What’s On TV Tonight Wed 26 Aug 2026