TV Guide UK Tonight: Wed 20 May 2026 – Under Suspicion: Kate McCann, Falling Ep 2 & Amandaland

Published: 15 May 2026

Wednesday 20 May 2026. Collision at 9pm: Under Suspicion: Kate McCann on Channel 5 is this week’s Radio Times cover, Falling episode 2 on Channel 4, Amandaland on BBC One. EastEnders at 7:30pm picks up Tuesday’s cliffhanger.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• Under Suspicion: Kate McCann ⭐ — C5, 9pm — Factual drama. The arguida moment. Laura Bayston
• Falling — C4, 9pm — Ep 2. Anna’s ultimatum. Jason Watkins as the bishop
• EastEnders — BBC One, 7:30pm — Grant/Mark kidnapping saga continues
• Amandaland — BBC One, 9pm — The Talk, a condom, and an AI chatbot
• Surgeons: at the Edge of Life — BBC Two, 9pm — Double transplant. Roman’s sixth
• Peelers: the PSNI for Real — BBC Two, 10pm — NEW TO NETWORK. Belfast. No filters

Early Evening

Natural History Museum World of Wonder – Channel 5, 7pm

Behind the scenes at the Natural History Museum. Tonight: the bat collection and its connection to coronavirus research, plus a search for micrometeorites on city rooftops. 5 streaming.

The Future with Hannah Fry – BBC Two, 7:30pm

AI that reads facial expressions to infer emotional states. Fry is sceptical until it’s shown what the same tools could do for non-verbal children with severe autism. BBC iPlayer.

EastEnders – BBC One, 7:30pm

Wednesday is a standard EastEnders night — Mon through Thurs. Tuesday ended with Mark Fowler bundled into a van by masked men; tonight follows Grant Mitchell’s response. BBC iPlayer.

Prime Time

MasterChef – BBC One, 8pm

Knock-out week. Dream dish for the judges, then live lunch service at a high-end London hotel. The first round tells you what people cook; the second tells you who handles pressure. BBC iPlayer.

9pm

Under Suspicion: Kate McCann ⭐ – Channel 5, 9pm

Channel 5’s factual drama focuses on a moment that gets glossed over: four months after Madeleine’s disappearance from an Algarve apartment in 2007, Portuguese police formally declared Kate (Laura Bayston) an arguida — official suspect. The McCanns were cleared the following year. Looking back, it’s striking how close events came to something far worse.

Bayston plays Kate without reaching for sympathy, which is the harder and better choice. The interviews start as procedure and slide into accusation; the filming is tight and low-lit, probably as much for budget as for mood. The narrow scope means the bigger story strains at the edges, but it does let you see the private reckoning Kate is running against herself, separately from anything Portuguese police are doing. That’s the harshest tribunal in the room. 5 streaming.

Falling – Channel 4, 9pm

Episode 2 of Jack Thorne’s new series. The first episode set up Anna (Keeley Hawes) and David (Paapa Essiedu) circling an unnamed problem; this one makes it unavoidable. Anna delivers an ultimatum. His bishop (Jason Watkins) starts asking questions.

The scene the episode is built around is David delivering last rites. It’s the kind of thing that only works when the actors trust the material completely, and Essiedu does. Worth the hour for that scene alone. Full series on C4 streaming.

Amandaland – BBC One, 9pm

Amanda (Lucy Punch) reaches the parenting moment most handle badly: The Talk, prompted by a condom behind the sofa cushion. Her plan to demonstrate what a cool, sex-positive parent she is goes about as well as you’d expect. Anne sidesteps a similar conversation with Darius by consulting an AI chatbot. The chatbot is not helpful. BBC iPlayer.

Surgeons: at the Edge of Life – BBC Two, 9pm

Roman has been to the Royal Infirmary five times hoping for this. Tonight he gets it — a simultaneous pancreas and kidney transplant, handled by surgeons Andrew and Rachel working as closely in tandem as this series ever shows. A second case follows: Kate, who has a cancerous tumour on her tongue. Both stay with you. BBC iPlayer.

A Taste for Murder – ITV1, 9pm

A dead diver on Capri. Joe (Warren Brown) learns how deep Gennaro (Urbano Barberini) is in the local criminal underworld; their public clash may have put Joe in real danger. Phyllis Logan also stars. ITVX.

Only Child – BBC One, 9:30pm

Richard (Greg McHugh) checks whether dad Ken (Gregor Fisher) should still be driving. Ken is rusty. Gregor Fisher cannot deliver a line badly. BBC iPlayer.

Late Night

Marilyn and the Mob – Channel 4, 10pm and 11pm

Two-part documentary, back-to-back. Part one covers Monroe’s 1950s career; part two her death at 36 and the theories that followed. The mob angle operates at several removes — Sinatra, Kennedy, studio figures — and the programme works better as a Monroe portrait than crime history. C4 streaming.

Peelers: the PSNI for Real – BBC Two, 10pm (NEW TO NETWORK)

Already aired in Northern Ireland; the rest of the UK gets it now. Uniform police in Belfast, real call-outs, no gloss. A bleach attack between brothers, a mother near icy water with her baby, and a crowd outside a sex offender’s address — the sergeant describes the last one, with some expletive emphasis, as a nightmare. Continues tomorrow. BBC iPlayer.

A Very Peculiar Practice – BBC Four, from 10pm

Andrew Davies’ 1986 university satire — remembered for the nuns, though Davies himself is the reason to watch. Thatcherite cuts, private money in higher education, Peter Davison baffled by grotesques. Davies reflects at 10pm before two episodes repeat. BBC iPlayer.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

BBC iPlayer: EastEnders, MasterChef, Amandaland, Only Child, Surgeons: at the Edge of Life, Peelers: the PSNI for Real, The Future with Hannah Fry, A Very Peculiar Practice
Channel 4 streaming: Falling (full series), Marilyn and the Mob
5 streaming: Under Suspicion: Kate McCann, Natural History Museum: World of Wonder
ITVX: A Taste for Murder
Now: Harry Hill: New Bits and Greatest Hits (Now Entertainment membership required)

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EastEnders on tonight (Wednesday 20 May 2026)?

Yes — BBC One at 7:30pm. EastEnders runs Monday to Thursday. Tonight picks up from Tuesday: Mark Fowler has been abducted and Grant Mitchell has to find him. BBC iPlayer.

What time is Under Suspicion: Kate McCann on Channel 5 tonight?

9pm on Channel 5. Laura Bayston plays Kate McCann in the 2007 arguida drama. 5 streaming.

What time is Falling episode 2 on Channel 4 tonight?

9pm on Channel 4. Anna’s ultimatum; Jason Watkins as the bishop. Full series on C4 streaming.

What time is Amandaland on BBC One tonight?

9pm on BBC One. Amanda has The Talk with her teenager. Anne consults an AI chatbot. BBC iPlayer.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight (Wednesday 20 May 2026)?

Under Suspicion: Kate McCann on Channel 5 at 9pm — this week’s Radio Times cover, factual drama about the 2007 arguida moment. If you started Falling on Tuesday, episode 2 on Channel 4 at 9pm is equally worth your evening. Peelers: the PSNI for Real on BBC Two at 10pm is tonight’s sleeper pick.

Final Verdict

Under Suspicion: Kate McCann on Channel 5 at 9pm gets the star tonight. Factual drama about a moment in 2007 that clung to public perception for years afterwards, and Laura Bayston is the reason to watch it live.

If Falling is your priority after last night, episode 2 absolutely earns the hour — the last-rites scene is the kind of thing you remember the show for. Both are on streaming if you’re double-booked at 9pm anyway.

And Peelers: the PSNI for Real at 10pm on BBC Two is the one nobody will tell you to watch this week. Watch it.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight Wednesday | What’s On TV Tonight Tues 19 May 2026 | What’s On TV Tonight Thurs 21 May 2026