The Pursuit of Love is just one of the gems on today...
Enjoy BBC1's lavish new period drama The Pursuit of Love, there's World Cup Fever in Call the Midwife, and Ben Whishaw stars in the new series of Fargo. Here’s what you shouldn’t be missing on TV tonight.
- Our hand-selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include three TV shows, a film, live sport and the latest trending need-to-binge-on-now box set
- 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
Call the Midwife, 8pm, BBC1
Now that we’ve reached the summer of 1966, the residents of Nonnatus House are determined to join in with all the World Cup wonderment, but, as the team runs a sweepstake, Fred makes a surprising bet of his own… Meanwhile, Shelagh’s clever scheme to teach pupil midwives gets underway and one of the trainees, garrulous and chirpy young Nancy (a spirited performance from Megan Cusack), makes a memorable first impression. But the most powerful part of the episode comes when Phyllis and Dr Turner meet a troubled young man, leading to one of the series’ toughest – but profoundly moving – cases to date.
★★★★ CC
The Pursuit of Love, 9pm, BBC1
Settle back to wallow in this absolute gem of a period drama (think Downton with a waspish edge and a modern soundtrack) based on Nancy Mitford’s novel. Lily James and Emily Beecham are sensational as cousins Linda and Fanny, who are eager to find the men of their dreams but who have mixed fortunes in the perilous high-society dating scene of the 1920s and 1930s. Look out for a scene-stealing Dominic West as Linda’s apoplectic dad Matthew, and Andrew Scott as their wonderfully louche neighbour.
★★★★★ CC
Fargo, 10pm, C4/All 4 (box set)
He’s best known as 007’s nerdy quartermaster Q and the voice of Paddington. But Ben Whishaw is showing a much darker side as this consistently good crime series, inspired by the film of the same name, returns. Set in 1950s Kansas City, the latest saga centres on tensions between black migrants from the Southern states, led by Loy Cannon (Chris Rock), and the local Mafia, who include Irish-American ‘Rabbi’ (Ben). Martin Freeman, Ewan McGregor and David Thewlis have all impressed in previous series (all available to watch on All 4), and there’s also a role in this one for Jessie Buckley as a nurse with an unusual bedside manner...
★★★★ IM
Best box set to watch on TV tonight
Peaky Blinders, seasons one to five, BBC iPlayer/Netflix
Helen McCrory, who died on 16 April, aged 52, is phenomenal in this superb gangland drama, set in Birmingham in the 1920s, as Polly Gray, the formidable matriarch of the Shelby crime family and aunt to the leader of the Peaky Blinders, Tommy (Cillian Murphy).
Best film to watch on TV tonight
Inside Out, 3.05pm, BBC1 (not Scotland)/BBC iPlayer
One of Pixar’s finest movies, this has plenty of humour and action, but what it has most of is heart. When an unwilling 11-year-old girl is uprooted by her parents to live in San Francisco, her emotions – Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling) and Anger (Lewis Black) – can’t agree on the best course of action. As we travel through a developing mind trying to make sense of her world, this is an often hilarious and, at times, heartbreaking journey, but one that is an absolute delight to be on.
Live sport
- Motorsport: Spanish Grand Prix from 12.30pm (start-time 2pm), Sky Sports F1/NOW (highlights, 6.30pm, C4)
- Premiership Football: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Brighton & Hove Albion 11.45am (k-o 12noon), BBC1
If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…
Don't miss The Pursuit of Love on TV tonight – sumptuous drama
Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide.
Happy viewing!
