TV tonight: Our highlights for Wednesday, April 26

Monique and Ladi surrounded by bags in Race Across the World series 3
(Image credit: BBC/Studio Lambert)

On TV tonight, the competitors are off to Quebec City in Race Across the World, companion doc Saving Our Wild Isles offers up some stark stats about the state of UK wildlife, The Mysterious Mr Lagerfeld tries to track down where the fashion magnate's money went, and German-language series Sam - A Saxon starts streaming on Disney Plus. Here's what you shouldn't miss on TV Tonight.

  • Our hand-selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include TV shows, a film, live sport and the latest trending need-to-binge-on-now box set 
  • Keep up to date with the latest soap spoiler storylines on TV tonight with our daily soap synopsis 
  • For more information about what’s on TV tonight see our TV Guide

What's on TV tonight

Our expert TV journalists have picked the best things on TV tonight... 

Best TV shows on TV tonight

Race Across the World, 9 pm, BBC One

Claudia and Kevin pose by a waterfall in Race Across the World season 3

(Image credit: BBC/Studio Lambert)

The competitors are five weeks in and the longest leg of the race so far – to Manitoulin Island in Ontario – has taken its toll. But they have to pick themselves up and plan a route to the next checkpoint, Quebec City. This time, there should be less difficulty finding transport and places to stay, as the teams will be passing through major cities such as Toronto, Ottawa and Ottawa. The downside of that is that their dwindling budgets will take a hit – and it’s the weekend of the Canadian Grand Prix, so hotel prices are astronomical. Claudia says that doing the trip with her dad Kevin has had ‘ups and downs, highs and lows’ – will a detour to see Niagara Falls set them on the right path? 

★★★★ JP

Saving Our Wild Isles, BBC iPlayer

A young grey seal swimming off the coast of Devon, England

(Image credit: BBC/Silverback Films/Alex Mustard/naturepl.com)

This companion documentary to Wild Isles is only available to stream (it’s in the ‘Extras’ section of the series). Made in association with the RSPB, WWF and the National Trust, it offers grim statistics on the state of our nation’s nature – a quarter of our mammals face extinction, for starters. But its aim is to share the stories of those who are making a difference, from the arable farmer in Sussex who has increased biodiversity by reducing ploughing and pesticides to the volunteers planting thousands of willows to rewild the Cairngorms. Their efforts provide inspiration for everyone to support David Attenborough’s rallying cry: ‘This starts and ends with us.’ 

★★★★ NT 

The Mysterious Mr Lagerfeld, 9 pm, BBC Two

Karl Lagerfeld on the Chanel runway during Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2019 in Paris on October 2, 2018.

Karl Lagerfeld pictured in 2018. (Image credit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

With his ponytail, high collars, sunglasses and slender frame dressed inevitably in black and white, flamboyant designer and one-time head of Chanel Karl Lagerfeld, aka ‘Kaiser’, certainly cut a dash in the world of fashion. But when he died in 2019, aged 85, the question everyone was asking was: who’s he left his money to? Helped by remarkable access and unusually frank interviewees, it’s the question film-maker Michael Waldman (director of eye-openers including Inside the Foreign Office and Inside Monaco: Playground of the Rich) asks, too, of Lagerfeld’s own inner circle. So who got it? The models he was close to? His rugged bodyguard? Surely not the cat 

★★★★ SM

Sam - A Saxon, Disney Plus

Sam — A Saxon on Disney Plus stars Malick Bauer

(Image credit: Disney Plus)

This gripping German-language series explores the incredible true-life story of Samuel Njankouo Meffire, the first Black policeman in East Germany in the late 1980s. Malick Bauer plays Sam, and the series shows how he felt compelled to join the police force after his father’s murder. Sam rises to the top and, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, becomes a symbol of the new Germany, the face of an anti-racism campaign and a media sensation. However, Sam’s life takes a dramatic turn when he finds himself behind bars after becoming an internationally wanted criminal and Germany’s ‘public enemy number one’. Also starring Vienna Blood’s Luise von Finckh and Munich Games’ Carina Wiese. 

NC 

Best box set on TV tonight

The Diplomat, Netflix

The Diplomat.

(Image credit: Netflix)

The always-excellent Keri Russell stars as Kate Wyler, the newly appointed US Ambassador to the United Kingdom, who was hoping to be sent to Afghanistan rather than London. But as threats of war bubble over across the world, Kate has to make do with the UK, where she defuses international crises, forges strategic alliances, and adjusts to her new life and career. 

Making everything harder is Kate’s need to balance the grandeur and majesty of working with heads of state with surviving her long-term marriage to fellow career diplomat and political star Hal Wyler (Rufus Sewell). The political thriller also stars Brits David Gyasi and Rory Kinnear, while Celia Imrie makes a guest appearance. 

NC

Best film on TV tonight

Deadpool 2, 9 pm, Film4

Zazie Beetz Ryan Reynolds Terry Crews jumping out of airplane in Deadpool 2

(Image credit: 20th Century Fox, AA Film Archive / Alamy Stock Photo)

The wisecracking anti-hero meets Russell, a gifted youngster pursued by a heavily armed cyborg from the future. With the aid of fellow mutant Domino and five less lucky teammates, they attempt to defeat the villainous Cable. Action comedy, starring Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Julian Dennison and Zazie Beetz.

Soaps

Live Sport

  • Snooker World Championship, 1 pm & 7 pm, BBC Two
  • IPL 2023: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders, 3 pm, Sky Sports Main Event
  • Premier League: Manchester City v Arsenal, 7 pm (k-o 8 pm), BT Sport 1
  • EFL: Sheffield United v West Bromwich Albion, 7.30 pm (k-o 8 pm), Sky Sports Main Event

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss Race Across the World on TV tonight.

Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide

Happy viewing!

Martin Shore
Staff Writer at WhatToWatch.com

Martin was a Staff Writer with WhatToWatch.com, where he produced a variety of articles focused on the latest and greatest films and TV shows. Now he works for our sister site Tom's Guide in the same role.

Some of his favorite shows are What We Do In The Shadows, Bridgerton, Gangs of London, The Witcher, Doctor Who, and Ghosts. When he’s not watching TV or at the movies, Martin’s probably still in front of a screen playing the latest video games, reading, or watching the NFL.