TV Guide UK Tonight: Wed 25 Mar 2026 – Ambulance, The Stolen Girl & A Woman of Substance

Published: 21 March 2026

Wednesday is unusually rich tonight, with two series finales, a top-tier documentary returning and one of the season’s best episodes of The Repair Shop. Ambulance on BBC One at 9pm is the standout for the third week running — this time a Leeds dispatch with a woman named Penny at its heart. The Stolen Girl reaches its final episode on ITV1 at 9pm, and the moment between Denise Gough and Holliday Grainger that’s been in the post all series finally arrives. A Woman of Substance wraps its eight-episode run on Channel 4 at 9pm with Brenda Blethyn in characteristically commanding form. The Marlow Murder Club continues on US&Drama with back-to-back episodes from 8pm. My Garden of a Thousand Bees arrives on BBC Four at 8pm — an absolute gem of a nature film. And Warship: Life on the Frontline on Channel 5 at 9pm is as close to Top Gun as you’ll get on a Wednesday evening.

Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best

• Ambulance – BBC One, 9pm ⭐ – Series 16, Leeds: a woman named Penny, a crew with a back story, and the usual quiet devastation
• The Stolen Girl – ITV1, 9pm – Series finale: Elisa and Nina face each other at last. Worth the five-episode build
• A Woman of Substance – Channel 4, 9pm – Final episode: Brenda Blethyn in full stride and Emma Harte making the ultimate sacrifice
• My Garden of a Thousand Bees – BBC Four, 8pm – One of the best nature films of recent years, a BBC Four spring repeat that deserves a wider audience
• The Marlow Murder Club – US&Drama, 8pm and 9pm – Becks finds herself on the wrong side of a murder investigation for a change

Early Evening (6pm – 8pm)

Great British Menu – BBC Two, 7pm

The North East and Yorkshire heat rolls on, and tonight the focus shifts to the main course. The film-themed brief this series has drawn some inventive responses from across the country, and the North East heat is no exception — this region has genuine cinematic heritage to draw on, not least in Ridley Scott, who grew up in South Shields. Andi Oliver keeps things moving with her usual unflappable energy as the chefs put their dishes in front of each other for scoring. Catch up via BBC iPlayer.

EastEnders – BBC One, 7:30pm

Yes, EastEnders is on tonight. The Slaters close ranks and present a united front — whether that unity is entirely genuine is, of course, another question. Vinny makes a gesture that presumably lands with varying degrees of warmth depending on who’s on the receiving end, and Bea makes a bid for sympathy that may or may not find its mark. Standard-issue Wednesday in Walford, but the Slater family dynamics are rarely dull. Catch up via BBC iPlayer.

Emmerdale – ITV1, 8pm

A full two-hander tonight, and the show has clearly decided this particular pairing deserves the room. Cain Dingle and Charity Dingle have decades of shared history — a relationship that started in childhood and wound its way through romance, parenthood, grandparenthood, and a very long catalogue of bad decisions made together. Cain’s prostate cancer diagnosis has thrown him into a dark place, and tonight that darkness finds a convenient target in Charity, who knows him well enough to give as good as she gets.

What makes this pairing so effective is that neither character is capable of being simply cruel to the other. There’s too much between them. Charity pushing Cain’s buttons isn’t spite — it’s the only language she knows for telling him she’s frightened for him. Whether he’s in any state to hear it is tonight’s question. Catch up via ITVX.

The Repair Shop – BBC One, 8pm

Nine series in and the barn still occasionally produces something that stops you short. Tonight’s standout item is a 3D scale model of an adenovirus — the virus responsible for ailments including the common cold — which arrives with a cluster of its polystyrene structural components missing or detached. It’s a futuristic-looking object, the sort of thing that looks like it belongs in a science museum rather than a repair barn, and David Burville has the task of making it whole again.

Alongside that is a buckled unicycle belonging to a man who, despite facing serious medical difficulties, maintained an obvious joy in the physical and the playful. The family want the unicycle restored as a tribute to that spirit. Both items are unusual; both have their own quiet emotional weight. Catch up via BBC iPlayer.

My Garden of a Thousand Bees – BBC Four, 8pm

Worth flagging ahead of tonight’s broadcast: this documentary originally appeared on Sky Nature, but BBC Four is giving it a spring repeat and it thoroughly deserves it. Wildlife filmmaker Martin Dohrn spent the best part of a year in his Bristol back garden cataloguing its bee population — not honeybees, but the dozens of solitary species that are often overlooked entirely. Scissor bees, leafcutter bees, red-tailed mason bees that construct elaborate grass structures over empty snail shells. The behaviour he captures on camera is extraordinary.

The film also does something unusual for a nature documentary: it follows one individual bee — a leafcutter Dohrn names Nicky — through her complete life cycle, giving the film an emotional shape that goes well beyond a collection of impressive footage. The sequences involving bee mating and territorial fighting are properly startling. This film won four awards at the Wildscreen Panda Awards including the Golden Panda — the festival’s top award. Watch it. Catch up via BBC iPlayer.

Help! I Bought It at Auction with Sarah Beeny – Channel 4, 8pm (NEW SERIES)

Sarah Beeny is back on Channel 4 with a new series, and this one comes with a built-in dose of risk. Buying at property auction means you are legally committed the moment the hammer falls — no surveys, no cooling-off period, no going back. Tonight introduces two couples trying to make it work: one chasing a 1930s semi-detached in Guildford, the other a large former B&B in Cornwall with considerably more rooms than they’ve perhaps budgeted for.

Beeny also visits a former public toilet in Newport that has been converted into a performance space, and follows the sale of a property that’s been left to a charity. If Homes Under the Hammer has ever made you wonder whether you could do it, tonight’s programme may provide a useful reality check. Catch up via Channel 4 streaming.

The Marlow Murder Club – US&Drama, 8pm (and 9pm)

The amateur detective trio are back, and tonight the show does something smart with its structure: Becks is the one who witnesses the body. At a reunion of university friends at a grand country house, what begins as an innocent murder-in-the-dark party game ends with one of the guests actually dead — and Becks, who was present throughout, is now either a witness or a suspect rather than an investigator.

That shift matters. Judith (Samantha Bond) and Suzie (Jo Martin) have to work the case without her, which gives the episode a noticeably different energy. Cara Horgan’s performance under these circumstances is quietly excellent — there’s real discomfort beneath the composure. The whole thing still moves with the breezy confidence of a show that knows exactly what kind of programme it is, which counts for a lot. Two back-to-back episodes tonight from 8pm and 9pm. Catch up via UKTV Play.

Beyond the Brush – Sky Arts, 8pm (and 8:30pm)

The arts history series turns to two more significant paintings tonight. The 8pm episode examines Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son — one of the Black Paintings created directly onto the walls of his house, and still one of the most disturbing images in Western art history. Goya’s deteriorating health and increasing isolation in his later years provide a necessary context for understanding why a man painted that on his dining room wall. The 8:30pm episode takes on Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights, which has been generating conflicting interpretations for five centuries and shows no signs of yielding a definitive one. Both reward the time.

Alice Roberts: Our Hospital Through Time – Channel 5, 8pm

The final episode of this series takes Alice Roberts to Barts Hospital’s present day to meet a patient receiving cancer treatment, before pulling back to examine what hospital food has looked like at various points across Barts’s history. Given that the answer is apparently “variable to the point of alarming,” it makes for an instructive hour. Catch up via My5.

Prime Time (9pm onwards)

Ambulance – BBC One, 9pm ⭐

Series 16 of Ambulance has established itself clearly as the Leeds series — the Yorkshire Ambulance Service providing the raw material for what has already been one of the more consistent runs the programme has had. Tonight’s episode is described by those who’ve seen it as quieter than the more immediately dramatic entries in the run, which is rarely a warning sign: Ambulance has a long history of finding its most affecting material in stillness rather than crisis.

Tonight there’s a crew pairing worth noting — a back story between the two paramedics that the programme handles with the lightness of touch it brings to most things. And then there’s Penny: an ordinary person at what sounds like a very difficult moment in her life, who has agreed to let cameras be present for it. That kind of trust, extended to a documentary crew, tends to produce the most honest television the format can offer.

This is episode 3 of series 16. Narrated by Christopher Eccleston. Catch up via BBC iPlayer.

The Stolen Girl – ITV1, 9pm (SERIES FINALE)

Five weeks of careful, intricate tension building arrives at its destination tonight. The series has had moments where the pace felt studied to the point of frustration, but the finale concentrates everything: Lucia finds a box of photographs that doesn’t square with the story Nina (Holliday Grainger) has been telling, a flashback fills in the remaining details of Elisa and Marcus’s history, and the scene that’s been lurking at the end of every episode finally happens — Elisa (Denise Gough) and Nina in a room together.

Both women are presented throughout the series as simultaneously wronged and complicit, and the show is careful not to distribute the blame too tidily in the finale. What it does do is give Gough and Grainger the space to play out a confrontation with something approaching full emotional honesty. It’s the best scene in the series, and it’s worth the wait. The full series is on ITVX. Based on the novel Playdate by Alex Dahl, adapted by Catherine Moulton, directed by Eva Husson.

A Woman of Substance – Channel 4, 9pm (SERIES FINALE)

The eight-part adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s novel has been building to this point across weeks of empire-building, betrayal, sacrifice and sherry. Tonight’s finale brings together both timelines in a final reckoning: the older Emma Harte (Brenda Blethyn), who by now is striding through her 1970s business headquarters with the authority of someone who has survived everything the world has thrown at her, and young Emma (Jessica Reynolds), still in Leeds, whose dress shop is growing while the Fairley family’s fortunes contract around her.

The sacrifice Emma makes tonight to secure the future of her business is presented as the logical endpoint of everything the series has been building — and it is, though it doesn’t make it easier to watch. Blethyn’s older Emma gets to show exactly what that sacrifice eventually cost, and bought. A well-made and satisfying conclusion to a series that gave Barbara Taylor Bradford the treatment her work deserved. The full series is on Channel 4 streaming. Written by Katherine Jakeways and Roanne Bardsley.

Warship: Life on the Frontline – Channel 5, 9pm

Former Royal Marines Commando and television presenter JJ Chalmers joined HMS Prince of Wales in the Arabian Gulf in October 2025, during a deployment that the Navy itself described as its most significant in years. The 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier — Britain’s largest and most capable warship — was operating in the region as a demonstration of military force directed at Iran, passing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait between Yemen and Djibouti.

Chalmers makes clear how quickly the atmosphere can change in that corridor of water. There are sequences of jets and helicopters launching from the flight deck that have genuine spectacle to them, and one involving missiles being armed — and subsequently malfunctioning — that is rather less comfortable viewing. Alongside the operational footage, the programme takes time with the 1,600 crew members going about their daily lives aboard the ship. One of the more topical documentaries of the season, given the ongoing tensions in the region. Catch up via 5 streaming.

Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story – BBC Two, 9:45pm (NEW SERIES)

A three-part documentary series on BBC Two from 9:45pm (11:05pm in Northern Ireland). The story it tells is so strange that a screenwriter would think twice about pitching it. In 1980, a fourteen-year-old boy named Steven Stayner walked into a police station in California with a five-year-old child he had rescued, saying he had been kidnapped seven years earlier at the age of seven. He had lived with his abductor for all that time.

The first episode uses American news coverage from the time to show how the story was immediately absorbed into the national media narrative — how a traumatic experience became a feel-good story of homecoming, and how that framing affected the family’s ability to process what had actually happened to them. Steven’s mother’s warning — that people tend to forget the whole story — is a thread the documentary takes seriously. The darkest elements of the full picture are saved for later episodes, but this opening instalment is already deeply atmospheric. Full series available on BBC iPlayer.

Sport

Tennis: Miami Open – Day nine from Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. The two remaining women’s quarter-final matches and the first two men’s quarter-final matches. Live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Tennis from 4:30pm.

Men’s Cycling: Tour of Catalunya – Stage 3 – The 159.5km stage from Mont-roig del Camp to Vila-seca. Live on TNT Sports 1 from 2:45pm.

Women’s T20 Cricket: New Zealand v South Africa – The fifth and final match of the series in Christchurch. Live on TNT Sports 5 from 6am.

The Viewing Schedule

What’s On Streaming

BBC iPlayer: Ambulance (series 16), The Repair Shop, My Garden of a Thousand Bees, Great British Menu, Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story (full series)
ITVX: The Stolen Girl (full series, 5 episodes), Emmerdale
Channel 4 streaming: A Woman of Substance (full series, 8 episodes), Help! I Bought It at Auction with Sarah Beeny
My5 (Channel 5 streaming): Warship: Life on the Frontline, Alice Roberts: Our Hospital Through Time
UKTV Play: The Marlow Murder Club (series 2)

Frequently Asked Questions

What time is Ambulance on BBC One tonight?

Ambulance is on BBC One at 9pm tonight (Wednesday 25th March 2026). This is episode 3 of series 16, set with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service in Leeds. The episode features a woman named Penny, who allows cameras to be present at a very difficult point in her life, as well as a crew pairing with an engaging personal story. Catch up via BBC iPlayer.

Is EastEnders on TV tonight Wednesday 25 March 2026?

Yes, EastEnders is on BBC One at 7:30pm tonight (Wednesday 25th March 2026). The Slaters put on a united front, Vinny makes a gesture, and Bea tries her luck at winning sympathy. Catch up via BBC iPlayer.

What time is The Stolen Girl on ITV1 tonight?

The Stolen Girl is on ITV1 at 9pm tonight (Wednesday 25th March 2026) — this is the series finale, episode 5 of 5. Elisa (Denise Gough) and Nina (Holliday Grainger) finally confront each other directly, Lucia finds photographs that throw Nina’s story into doubt, and the full history of how these two women came into each other’s lives is at last made clear. The full series is on ITVX.

What time is A Woman of Substance on Channel 4 tonight?

A Woman of Substance is on Channel 4 at 9pm tonight (Wednesday 25th March 2026). This is the eighth and final episode. Brenda Blethyn’s older Emma Harte is commanding her 1970s empire from on high, while young Emma (Jessica Reynolds) makes a significant sacrifice to keep her business growing as the Fairley family’s fortunes continue their downward spiral. Full series on Channel 4 streaming.

What time is The Marlow Murder Club on tonight?

The Marlow Murder Club is on US&Drama at 8pm tonight (Wednesday 25th March 2026), with a second episode following at 9pm. In tonight’s story, Becks finds herself at a university reunion that takes a very dark turn — placing her in the awkward position of being a person of interest rather than the investigator. Samantha Bond, Jo Martin and Cara Horgan star. Catch up via UKTV Play.

What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight?

Our top pick tonight is Ambulance on BBC One at 9pm. Series 16 has been a strong run, and this Leeds episode is one of its quieter but more affecting hours — Penny’s story in particular has the kind of raw honesty that makes the series worth keeping up with. The Stolen Girl reaches its finale on ITV1 at 9pm and the Gough/Grainger confrontation is worth the journey. My Garden of a Thousand Bees on BBC Four at 8pm is the wild card — a nature documentary that won the Golden Panda and not enough people will see.

What’s on BBC One tonight Wednesday 25 March 2026?

BBC One tonight features EastEnders at 7:30pm, The Repair Shop at 8pm, and Ambulance at 9pm. All three are available to catch up on via BBC iPlayer.

What time is Warship: Life on the Frontline on Channel 5 tonight?

Warship: Life on the Frontline is on Channel 5 at 9pm tonight (Wednesday 25th March 2026). Former Royal Marines Commando JJ Chalmers boards HMS Prince of Wales in the Arabian Gulf during a tense October 2025 deployment in which the carrier operated within range of Iranian weapons. Catch up via My5.

Final Verdict

Ambulance on BBC One at 9pm is tonight’s must-watch. Series 16 has been one of the programme’s more consistent runs, and this Leeds episode — whatever its particular shape — will do what the series reliably does: find the human inside the institutional. Penny’s story sounds like exactly the kind of thing that made Ambulance worth watching in the first place.

If you’ve been watching The Stolen Girl on ITV1, tonight’s finale is the pay-off you’ve been waiting for. The five-episode build-up has been working towards putting Denise Gough and Holliday Grainger in the same room, and when that moment arrives it delivers. A Woman of Substance also ends its eight-episode run on Channel 4 at 9pm — Brenda Blethyn has been the best thing in it from the start, and the finale is her episode to own.

Don’t sleep on My Garden of a Thousand Bees on BBC Four at 8pm. It won the Golden Panda at Wildscreen and it deserves every bit of that recognition. Martin Dohrn’s year in his Bristol back garden produced something very beautiful. The Marlow Murder Club continues on US&Drama with back-to-back episodes from 8pm — the new series is finding its confidence, and tonight’s structural twist pays off.

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