Wednesday night settles into its groove with ITV’s cosy detective drama kicking off its final run, while BBC One serves up another helping of televised paranoia. Dawn French has a new sitcom that needs to find its feet, and late-night BBC Four offers something special for spy fiction devotees.
Quick Picks: Tonight’s Best
- Grantchester – ITV1, 9pm – Vicar-detective series begins its farewell tour
- The Traitors – BBC One, 8pm – Claudia’s mind games reach fever pitch
- Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – BBC Four, 10pm – Alec Guinness in John le Carré’s masterpiece
- Can You Keep a Secret? – BBC One, 9:30pm – Dawn French hides her husband from the neighbours
Early Evening (7pm – 8pm)
The 1970s Diet: Could It Work for You? – Channel 5, 7pm
Remember when a bag of crisps was a treat rather than a desk lunch? This Week presenter Josie Gibson spends a fortnight living like it’s 1975 – liver and onions, tinned peaches, and no central heating to speak of. The portions alone would make modern Instagram foodies weep.
There’s genuine insight here about how dramatically our relationship with food has changed in fifty years. Back then, a family might walk miles daily just running errands. Supermarkets existed but didn’t dominate. Whether you fancy living on Spam sandwiches is another matter entirely.
EastEnders – BBC One, 7:30pm
School reunions: one of life’s genuine anxieties condensed into an evening of awkward small talk. Linda attends hers and immediately wishes she hadn’t when she spots former classmate Bea across the room.
Impressionist Ronni Ancona plays the mysterious figure from Linda’s past. Given that Ancona has spent years perfecting takes on EastEnders characters like Peggy Mitchell and Sharon Watts, casting her in the actual show has a nice meta quality. The question is what history she shares with Linda, and whether it’s about to surface at the worst possible time.
Prime Time (8pm onwards)
The Traitors – BBC One, 8pm
The psychological warfare continues as Claudia Winkleman’s contestants gather for another breakfast where nobody trusts the person buttering their toast. By this stage of the series, the paranoia has typically reached such heights that even innocent glances get dissected for hidden meaning.
The format remains brilliantly simple: watch normal people tear each other apart trying to identify the secret killers among them. Analysis show Uncloaked follows at 9:05pm for those who need more.
Kirstie and Phil’s Love It or List It – Channel 4, 8pm
Eleven series in, and the formula hasn’t changed: one half of a couple wants to move, the other wants to renovate. Phil Spencer tries to find the movers a new home within budget while Kirstie Allsopp champions staying put with some ambitious redesigns.
Tonight’s family of six have a house that sounds like an estate agent’s nightmare – the kitchen is apparently in the wrong place, the dining room exhausts people just walking through it, and somehow there’s no bath in the bathroom. Scottish property prices mean a £650,000 budget, which buys rather more than it would in London.
Grantchester – ITV1, 9pm ⭐
Tonight’s essential viewing. The Cambridgeshire village mystery series returns for what we’re told is its penultimate run, with Robson Green’s gruff detective Geordie Keating now partnered with Rishi Nair’s Reverend Alphy Kottaram.
The show has survived multiple vicar changes – from James Norton through Tom Brittney to Nair – because it’s always been about more than whodunnit. This opener wraps a murder investigation inside an Easter egg hunt while exploring themes of loneliness and family estrangement. Al Weaver’s Leonard, one of TV’s most sensitively drawn gay characters, faces questions about reconnecting with parents who rejected him.
The writing finds drama in moral complexity rather than just body counts. A second episode airs tomorrow night.
Patience – Channel 4, 9pm
This British remake of French series Astrid: Murder in Paris sees autistic records clerk Patience (Ella Maisy Purvis) solving crimes that baffle the actual detectives. Jessica Hynes joins as new DI Frankie Monroe, who hasn’t yet cottoned on to how useful her civilian colleague could be.
Tonight’s case involves a body drained of blood, leading the police to briefly entertain theories involving vampires. Patience, naturally, has more rational explanations. The show splits opinions – fans of the original aren’t convinced – but the murder plots are satisfyingly knotty.
Digging for Britain – BBC Two, 9pm
Alice Roberts continues her tour of active archaeological sites around the UK. Tonight’s episode moves between a massive Roman cemetery being excavated near Penrith – where delicate grave goods are emerging after nearly two millennia – and the site of the 1692 Glencoe Massacre in Scotland.
Dr Tori Herridge examines artefacts connected to the infamous slaughter of the MacDonald clan by government forces. In Bradford, Roberts visits the site of an Edwardian exhibition featuring a recreated Somali village, raising questions about how we displayed other cultures a century ago. Thoughtful stuff if you can handle the methodical pace.
Can You Keep a Secret? – BBC One, 9:30pm
Dawn French and Mark Heap previously played husband and wife in ITV’s village comedy The Problem with Maggie Cole. They’re reunited here for a premise that sounds like a sitcom writer’s fever dream: Debbie (French) has discovered her husband William (Heap) was mistakenly declared dead, and rather than correct the paperwork, they’ve kept the life insurance payout.
William now lives secretly in his own home, hiding when visitors call. Their son Harry (Craig Roberts, excellent in Submarine) is horrified. Whether the show can sustain this one-joke setup remains to be seen – tonight’s gags involve William concealing himself in cupboards and using bottles as emergency toilets. There’s potential here, but it needs to expand its comedy vocabulary quickly.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – BBC Four, 10pm
Three consecutive episodes of the definitive television spy drama. Alec Guinness plays George Smiley, the unglamorous spymaster brought out of retirement to hunt a Soviet mole at the highest levels of British intelligence.
John le Carré adapted his own novel for this 1979 production, and the deliberate pacing rewards patience. Tonight’s highlight is Beryl Reid’s appearance as former intelligence analyst Connie Sachs – the comedy actress transforms herself into someone simultaneously bitter at how the Service discarded her and devoted to “the lovely boys” she once worked with. Reid received a BAFTA nomination; she’d win for the follow-up series.
If you’ve only seen the Gary Oldman film, this is deeper, richer, and far more unsettling.
Sport
Football: Two Premier League games tonight – Fulham v Chelsea at 6pm on Sky Sports Main Event (kick-off 7:30pm) and Burnley v Manchester United at 6pm on Sky Sports Premier League (kick-off 8:15pm). Cricket: Final day of the fifth Ashes Test from Sydney at 11pm on TNT Sports 1.
The Viewing Schedule
| Time | Channel | Programme |
|---|---|---|
| 6:00pm | Sky Sports | Fulham v Chelsea |
| 6:00pm | Sky Sports PL | Burnley v Manchester United |
| 7:00pm | Channel 5 | The 1970s Diet |
| 7:30pm | BBC One | EastEnders |
| 8:00pm | BBC One | The Traitors |
| 8:00pm | Channel 4 | Kirstie and Phil’s Love It or List It |
| 8:00pm | BBC Two | How to Sleep Well with Michael Mosley |
| 9:00pm | ITV1 | Grantchester |
| 9:00pm | Channel 4 | Patience |
| 9:00pm | BBC Two | Digging for Britain |
| 9:30pm | BBC One | Can You Keep a Secret? |
| 10:00pm | BBC Four | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy |
| 11:00pm | Channel 4 | The Murder of Laci Peterson |
| 11:00pm | TNT Sports 1 | Australia v England (Cricket) |
What’s On Streaming
BBC iPlayer: The Traitors (full series), Can You Keep a Secret?, EastEnders, Digging for Britain, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
ITVX: Grantchester (full series)
Channel 4 streaming: Patience (full series), Kirstie and Phil’s Love It or List It
Channel 5 streaming: The 1970s Diet, Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death
Frequently Asked Questions
What time is Grantchester on TV tonight?
Grantchester is on ITV1 at 9pm tonight (Wednesday 7th January 2026). It’s the start of the penultimate series with Robson Green and Rishi Nair.
What’s the best thing to watch on TV tonight?
Our top pick is Grantchester on ITV1 at 9pm – the beloved detective drama returns for its penultimate series, blending murder mystery with moral complexity and genuine soul.
What time is The Traitors on BBC One?
The Traitors is on BBC One at 8pm tonight. Episode five sees the players arrive at a breakfast that poses more questions than answers.
What’s the new Dawn French sitcom?
Can You Keep a Secret? is on BBC One at 9:30pm tonight. Dawn French plays a woman hiding her husband’s fake death to keep the life insurance payout. Mark Heap plays the not-dead husband.
What’s on BBC Four tonight?
BBC Four has a triple bill of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy from 10pm – the classic 1979 adaptation starring Alec Guinness, featuring Beryl Reid’s Bafta-nominated performance as Connie Sachs.
Final Verdict
Grantchester is tonight’s must-watch – the penultimate series opener balances Easter celebration with melancholy and murder. If you’re after something more cerebral, the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy triple bill on BBC Four is essential viewing – Beryl Reid alone is worth your evening. The Traitors continues its paranoid reign, and Can You Keep a Secret? offers Dawn French and Mark Heap in a sitcom that might find its feet.
