TV Guide UK Tonight: Tues 6 Oct 2026 – Blue Lights, England v Czech Republic & Bake Off

Published: 1 October 2026

Tuesday 6 October 2026. Football takes over tonight. England face the Czech Republic live on ITV1 from 7pm, and Scotland host Slovenia on BBC Two from 7.30pm, both kicking off at 7.45pm. If you would rather not watch, BBC One has EastEnders at 7.30pm and a new Blue Lights at 9pm, and Channel 4 hands Bake Off to the viewers. Fair warning that the England match has swept both soaps off ITV1.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• Blue Lights BBC One, 9pm. Series four, episode two.
• England v Czech Republic ITV1, 7pm. Kick-off 7.45pm at Wembley.
• The Great British Bake Off Channel 4, 8pm. Audience Choice Week.
• Anna Pigeon Mysteries Drama, 8pm. A new series starts.
• EastEnders is on tonight BBC One, 7.30pm.

Early Evening

House of Games – BBC Two, 6pm

Michael Sheen is in the host’s chair this week, which is an upgrade nobody asked for and everybody should enjoy. Stephen Mangan, Shona McGarty, Andi Peters and Nina Wadia are the four players. The format rewards fast, slightly daft general knowledge, so the person who knows the most rarely wins. Strictly: It Takes Two follows at 6.30pm with Ellie Taylor, and Villages by the Sea at 7pm, when Ben Robinson visits Alnmouth on the Northumberland coast before the football takes over.

Last of the Summer Wine – Drama, 6pm

Three episodes in a row on Drama, at 6pm, 6.40pm and 7.20pm. Roy Clarke’s sitcom has Compo, Clegg and Foggy as the oldest trio of troublemakers on television, and nobody ever resolves anything. Tonight’s run takes in an investigation into something odd in the woods, Nora Batty doing the chasing for once from a sidecar, and Compo volunteering to test Wesley’s new equipment, which can only end one way. Peter Sallis and Bill Owen lead the cast. A long, gentle, very Yorkshire way to spend teatime, and then Anna Pigeon follows at 8pm.

A New Life in the Sun: Where Are They Now? – Channel 4, 6pm

Channel 4 checks back in on people who swapped British drizzle for a foreign business plan. This episode catches up with a couple expanding their Dordogne restaurant and bar outdoors, and others in Valencia, Italy and Greece. The appeal is mostly in the bookkeeping: who is thriving, who is quietly regretting it, and who has discovered that a sunny country still has paperwork. Channel 4 News is at 7pm.

Heartbeat – ITV3, 6.55pm

Aidensfield in the 1960s, with a second helping of the series after an earlier episode at 5.50pm. This one has David’s young friend running away from home while Jack and Bernie quietly encourage Gina’s artistic side. ITV3 then moves to Vera at 8pm, in which a betting-shop magnate is shot dead at home while his family looks on during a home invasion, Downton Abbey at 10pm and a two-part DCI Banks from 11pm, where Banks goes looking for his estranged younger brother. Heartbeat has outlasted most of its contemporaries by being unashamedly cosy. No complaints.

Bridge of Spies – Film4, 6.15pm

Steven Spielberg’s 2015 spy-swap thriller, with Tom Hanks as the insurance lawyer who defends a captured Soviet spy and is then sent to arrange a prisoner swap, and Mark Rylance as the spy. It is a calm, talky film about decency under pressure, and Rylance steals it by saying very little. Film4 has The King’s Man at 9pm, the Kingsman prequel set around the First World War, and The Motorcycle Diaries at 11.35pm, Walter Salles’ road film about a young Che Guevara.

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing – Dave, 7pm

The most relaxing programme on British television. Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse are on the River Usk in Wales after wild brown trout, which they will catch eventually, and between casts they talk about their childhoods with surprising honesty. The fishing is almost beside the point. Two old friends, one of them with a heart that has been through a lot, simply talking in a river. Dave follows with Would I Lie to You? at 7.40pm and QI XL at 9pm.

Secrets of Bones – BBC Four, 7pm

The first of six, with Ben Garrod on why having a skeleton has been such a spectacularly good idea for animals large and tiny. It is a properly curious science series rather than a lecture. Garrod is good at making you look at a shrew and an elephant and see the same structure. BBC Four then goes into a sitcom run: Waiting for God at 7.30pm, To the Manor Born at 8pm and Keeping Up Appearances at 8.30pm.

Hollyoaks – E4, 7pm

A new episode, with Dodger worried about what Gemma knows about Ste’s disappearance and Lucas fleeing the village. E4 slots it between The Simpsons and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, then goes to Below Deck Down Under at 8pm and Gogglebox at 9pm and 10pm. It is half an hour of soap with no football to fight, so it is a handy hiding place if you are avoiding the match.

Prime Time

UEFA Nations League: England v Czech Republic – ITV1, 7pm

Mark Pougatch presents from Wembley, kick-off at 7.45pm. It is England’s fourth game in their Nations League group, and Thomas Tuchel will use it to look at who is ready for the bigger tests. ITV1 is wall to wall football, which is why there is no Emmerdale and no Coronation Street on the channel tonight. Coverage runs until News at Ten at 10.05pm, followed by a true crime documentary, Murder at the Grand Canal, at 10.50pm. There is more on England on TV and everything else live this week at football on free TV tonight.

UEFA Nations League: Scotland v Slovenia – BBC Two, 7.30pm

Hampden Park, kick-off 7.45pm, and BBC Two carries it alongside BBC Scotland. Hampden will want a result to keep the group interesting, and Slovenia will not make it easy. BBC Two stays with the match until 10pm, when the channel returns to QI. See Scotland on TV for the rest of the fixtures.

EastEnders – BBC One, 7.30pm

Yes, it is on, and it is a decent night to have it on. Maddy Hill returns as Nancy, which stirs up the Carter family, and Linda finally breaks the news about Max to the rest of the family, Ned needles Nicola, and Alfie keeps trying to reach Kat. Linda has been circling this confession for a while, so the reaction scenes matter more than the revelation itself. Anyone who normally watches Emmerdale or Coronation Street at this time has no clash tonight, because neither is on ITV1.

DIY SOS – BBC One, 8pm

The Big Build goes to Southampton, where Ahmed and Rifat, a couple who are both deaf, have a family home that is more building site than house. Nick Knowles and a small army of local volunteers and tradespeople turn it into somewhere safe to live. The strongest episodes lean on the community rather than the carpentry, and a deaf household brings its own design questions about light, sight lines and communication. Expect tears by about the forty-minute mark.

The Great British Bake Off – Channel 4, 8pm

Audience Choice Week, in which the viewers have chosen the challenges and clearly enjoy making the bakers suffer. The signature is cheesecake, there is a pantry-box challenge, and the showstopper is a wearable bake, which sounds like a dare. Familiar faces are invited into the tent for the signature round. Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond host, Paul Hollywood and Nigella Lawson judge. A bad bake here is generally a funny one.

Anna Pigeon Mysteries – Drama, 8pm

A new series, and a change of scenery from the usual cosy murder. Tracy Spiridakos plays park ranger Anna Pigeon, adapted from Nevada Barr’s novels, and the opener, Track of the Cat, has her refusing to accept that a mountain lion killed a fellow ranger. Ronnie Rowe Jr plays FBI agent Frederick Stanton. It is a closed community in a national park, with scenery doing half the work and Anna’s loneliness the rest. Father Brown follows at 9pm and New Tricks at 10pm.

Blue Lights – BBC One, 9pm ⭐

This is the one to watch. Series four, episode two of six, and the team’s race to protect Amira drives the hour, while Mo’s choices put his own family at risk. The broadcaster flags strong language, violence and distressing scenes, and fairly.

What makes Blue Lights special is that it never treats Belfast policing as a backdrop. The officers are tired, funny and frightened in roughly equal measure, and a bad shift follows them home. Siân Brooke gives Grace a stubbornness that is both her best quality and her biggest risk. It is rare for a drama to be tense without feeling cynical. Do not look at your phone for an hour.

Henry VIII’s Enforcer: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell – BBC Four, 9pm

Historian Diarmaid MacCulloch, in a 2013 film, makes the case that Cromwell was a convinced reformer who built much of the machinery of the modern state, rather than the schemer of popular memory. It is a counterweight to the Wolf Hall version, and MacCulloch is an engaging guide who clearly relishes the argument.

Tempting Fortune – Channel 4, 9.30pm

The group splashes out on a spa break and divides over it, and Nico is chosen as the new leader, though his first decision starts a row. The format rewards pettiness: every small choice about money is a political act. Bake Off’s Second Helpings follows at 10.35pm.

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

A new episode following traffic officers who spend their shifts catching bad drivers. This week’s cases include a reckless off-road biker, an M6 crash that exposes a licence that should not have been in use, and a drug-driving boy racer with a dodgy engine. Channel 5 opens at 7pm with Tesco: How Do They Really Do It? and goes medical from 9pm with Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death, where one patient has a tumour deep in her brain.

Ireland with Simon Reeve – Yesterday, 7pm

Simon Reeve’s tour of the island of Ireland, taking in the Giant’s Causeway, Belfast and Dublin. Reeve is a very good travel presenter because he finds the history under the postcard view. Yesterday then runs Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics at 8pm and a stack of Bangers & Cash episodes from 9pm.

Vinnie Jones in the Country – Quest, 9pm

The episode finds Vinnie Jones talking candidly about his struggles with drink, visiting his friend Colsey, and watching Wobbly put up a log cabin while Emma gets ready for puppies. A gentler show than the presenter’s old reputation suggests. Quest has Ant Anstead’s tractor restoration at 8pm and The Repair Shop at 10pm.

Elsewhere on the digital dial, Really has Who Do You Think You Are? at 9pm with Sheridan Smith, Legend screens the 1968 western Shalako with Sean Connery at 9pm, and 5USA runs NCIS from 6pm to 9pm.

Late Night

Bel – BBC Four, 10pm

A documentary tribute to Beldina Odenyo, the Kenya-born Scottish singer-songwriter who died in 2021. Her sister Leah prepares a posthumous release of her music, and friends and family describe what she was like. It carries a warning for very strong language. A moving, honest film that BBC Four gives space to breathe.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula – BBC One, 10.40pm

Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 adaptation, with Gary Oldman as the count and Winona Ryder as Mina. It is all velvet, shadows, practical effects and operatic emotion, and the performances are gloriously over the top. Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing and Keanu Reeves as Jonathan Harker are the more debatable casting choices, though both are entertaining. Contains some sexual content, violence and disturbing scenes, so it is not a family choice.

QI – BBC Two, 10pm

Sandi Toksvig runs through a round of topics beginning with T, with Jo Brand, Guz Khan, Sally Phillips and the ever-present Alan Davies. It follows the football on BBC Two, so there is a small chance of a late start if the match overruns. Newsnight is at 10.30pm, then Romesh Ranganathan in Uganda at 11.05pm.

Downton Abbey – ITV3, 10pm

Series three, with Isobel’s kind gesture backfiring, Mary taking Branson’s side when his decisions are questioned, and strain between Robert and Cora. DCI Banks follows at 11pm.

Sport

Two live free-to-air matches in the Nations League. England v Czech Republic is on ITV1 from 7pm with kick-off at 7.45pm at Wembley. Scotland v Slovenia is on BBC Two (and BBC Scotland) from 7.30pm, also kicking off at 7.45pm at Hampden Park.

Elsewhere, the first of five Men’s T20s between India and West Indies from Lucknow is on TNT Sports 1 from 2.15pm, the European Cycling Championships continue on TNT Sports 2 from 1.45pm, and the China Open tennis is on Sky Sports Main Event from 6am. All three are subscription channels.

What’s On Streaming

BBC iPlayer — Blue Lights (full series), EastEnders, DIY SOS, Bel, Henry VIII’s Enforcer, Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over USA (BBC Three, from 9pm).

ITVX — England v Czech Republic, Murder at the Grand Canal.

Channel 4 streaming — The Great British Bake Off, Tempting Fortune.

U — Anna Pigeon Mysteries, Father Brown.

Tonight by Channel

A channel-by-channel breakdown of Tuesday 6 October 2026, so you can jump straight to the one you actually watch.

BBC One

• 7pm — The One Show
• 7.30pm — EastEnders
• 8pm — DIY SOS
• 9pm — Blue Lights
• 10.40pm — Bram Stoker’s Dracula

BBC Two

• 6pm — House of Games
• 6.30pm — Strictly: It Takes Two
• 7pm — Villages by the Sea
• 7.30pm — UEFA Nations League: Scotland v Slovenia
• 10pm — QI

ITV1

• 7pm — UEFA Nations League: England v Czech Republic
• 10.50pm — Murder at the Grand Canal

Channel 4

• 6pm — A New Life in the Sun: Where Are They Now?
• 8pm — The Great British Bake Off
• 9.30pm — Tempting Fortune

Channel 5

• 7pm — Tesco: How Do They Really Do It?
• 8pm — Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders
• 9pm — Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death

BBC Four

• 7pm — Secrets of Bones
• 7.30pm — Waiting for God
• 8pm — To the Manor Born
• 8.30pm — Keeping Up Appearances
• 9pm — Henry VIII’s Enforcer: The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell
• 10pm — Bel

ITV3

• 6.55pm — Heartbeat
• 8pm — Vera
• 10pm — Downton Abbey
• 11pm — DCI Banks

Dave

• 7pm — Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing
• 9pm — QI XL
• 10pm — Have I Got a Bit More News for You

Drama

• 6pm — Last of the Summer Wine
• 8pm — Anna Pigeon Mysteries
• 9pm — Father Brown

E4

• 7pm — Hollyoaks
• 8pm — Below Deck Down Under
• 9pm — Gogglebox

Film4

• 6.15pm — Bridge of Spies
• 9pm — The King’s Man
• 11.35pm — The Motorcycle Diaries

Yesterday

• 7pm — Ireland with Simon Reeve
• 8pm — Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics

The Viewing Schedule

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Tuesday 6 October 2026)?

Yes. EastEnders is on BBC One at 7.30pm tonight, with Maddy Hill back as Nancy. Linda finally breaks the news about Max to the family, while Ned needles Nicola and Alfie keeps trying to reach Kat.

What time is England v Czech Republic on TV tonight?

England v Czech Republic is live on ITV1 from 7pm, with Mark Pougatch presenting from Wembley. Kick-off is 7.45pm in the UEFA Nations League, and ITV1 stays with the football until ITV News at Ten at 10.05pm.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight (Tuesday 6 October 2026)?

Blue Lights on BBC One at 9pm, the second episode of series four. If football is your thing, England v Czech Republic on ITV1 and Scotland v Slovenia on BBC Two both kick off at 7.45pm.

What channel is Scotland v Slovenia on?

Scotland v Slovenia is live on BBC Two from 7.30pm, and also on BBC Scotland, with kick-off at 7.45pm at Hampden Park. BBC Two returns to its normal schedule with QI at 10pm.

What time is Emmerdale on tonight?

Emmerdale does not appear on ITV1’s schedule tonight. England v Czech Republic takes the channel from 7pm to 10.05pm, which is where the soaps normally sit, and no replacement slot is listed.

What time is Coronation Street on tonight?

Coronation Street is not in its usual 8.30pm slot on ITV1 tonight, as the England match occupies the channel from 7pm to 10.05pm. No replacement slot is listed.

What’s on BBC One tonight?

BBC One has The One Show at 7pm, EastEnders at 7.30pm, DIY SOS at 8pm from Southampton, Blue Lights at 9pm and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 Bram Stoker’s Dracula at 10.40pm.

What channel is Blue Lights on?

Blue Lights is on BBC One at 9pm tonight. It is episode two of six in series four, and the whole series is on iPlayer.

What time is The Great British Bake Off on tonight?

The Great British Bake Off is on Channel 4 at 8pm tonight, and it is Audience Choice Week. Tempting Fortune follows at 9.30pm.

What live sport is on TV tonight: Tuesday 6 October 2026?

Two Nations League matches, both free to air: England v Czech Republic on ITV1 from 7pm and Scotland v Slovenia on BBC Two from 7.30pm, each kicking off at 7.45pm. Cricket, cycling and tennis are on subscription channels.

Final Verdict

Blue Lights at 9pm is the pick, and it is worth setting aside the football for if you can. It is the programme on tonight that most justifies a full hour of your attention.

If you want the football, ITV1 and BBC Two both have it, and if you just want something warm, Last of the Summer Wine and Anna Pigeon share Drama’s evening and Bake Off holds Channel 4’s. The soaps are the casualties. See when the soaps and big shows are on for where Emmerdale and Coronation Street land this week.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | Films on TV Tonight | Freeview Channel Guide