What's On TV Tonight: Friday 19th December 2025

Friday night before Christmas week. The MasterChef kitchen is about to crown its celebrity champion, someone's tracking down your stolen Amazon parcels for Dispatches, and Graham Norton's got a decent sofa lined up. If you're after something darker, Sky Atlantic's All Her Fault is building to its big reveal. And for those who make it past midnight, BBC Two has Rocky Horror. Not a bad way to start the weekend.

Table of Contents

Quick Picks: Tonight's Best

• Celebrity MasterChef Final - Five weeks of culinary chaos comes down to one three-course meal (8pm, BBC One) ⭐
• Dispatches: Hunting Britain's Parcel Thieves - Tracking devices, confrontations, and a proper look at our parcel theft epidemic (8pm, Channel 4)
• All Her Fault - The big twist arrives in this child kidnapping thriller (9pm, Sky Atlantic)
• The Graham Norton Show - Jessie Buckley, Jack Black, Paul Rudd and an Anaconda reboot chat (10:40pm, BBC One)

Early Evening: Family Viewing (6:30pm - 8pm)

EastEnders - BBC One, 7:30pm

The Square's pre-Christmas drama continues. If you've been keeping up with Walford's finest, you know the drill. Expect tensions, arguments, and someone making a terrible decision at the Queen Vic.

Emmerdale - ITV1, 7:30pm

Friday in the Dales. Whatever's been brewing this week reaches a head. Standard soap fare, but solid if you're invested in the characters.

Prime Time (8pm onwards)

Celebrity MasterChef Final - BBC One, 8pm ⭐

After five weeks of celebrities pretending they've never touched a pan before, it's down to the final three. Each contestant prepares a three-course meal for John Torode and Grace Dent, who won't be going easy just because it's nearly Christmas.

The stakes are high. The pressure's on. Someone will overcook their protein. Someone else will undercook a sauce. And at least one dish will be described as "a bit too salty." That's the MasterChef promise. But genuinely, if you've followed this series, tonight's the payoff.

Dispatches: Hunting Britain's Parcel Thieves - Channel 4, 8pm

A parcel gets nicked in Britain every seven seconds. That's not a made-up statistic - that's the grim reality of our online shopping addiction. Reporter Tir Dhondy hides tracking devices in packages and follows them after they're stolen, confronting the people who took them.

What makes this interesting isn't just catching individual thieves - it's how organised gangs are now targeting delivery vans as part of their business model. Dhondy gets access to a major police operation trying to tackle the problem. Timely viewing, especially if you're anxiously tracking your Christmas presents right now.

Coronation Street - ITV1, 8pm

The cobbles continue. Friday episodes tend to wrap up the week's drama with a cliffhanger to keep you thinking over the weekend. If you're a Corrie regular, you already know what's at stake.

Have I Got 2025 for You - BBC One, 9pm

Ian Hislop and Paul Merton run through the year's news in their annual round-up special. 2025 has given them plenty of material. Whether it's politicians making fools of themselves, bizarre news stories, or just general chaos, expect the usual mix of sharp satire and grumpy observations. Reliable Friday night viewing.

Celebrity Gogglebox - Channel 4, 9pm

Famous faces watching telly and commenting on it. The Christmas special format usually means celebrities in festive jumpers reacting to the year's TV highlights. It's lightweight, undemanding, and occasionally funny when someone says something unexpectedly honest.

All Her Fault - Sky Atlantic, 9pm

This episode is entirely flashback, finally explaining what's really going on with Carrie (Sophia Lillis) and why she'd want to kidnap the Irvines' child. The story turns into something darker - a tale of desperation and sadness that reframes everything you've watched so far.

If you've been following this Irish thriller, tonight's where the major twist lands. Not for casual viewers - you need the context from earlier episodes. But if you're invested, this is the payoff.

Red One - ITV1, 9pm

The Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans Christmas action film. Santa's been kidnapped, the North Pole's top security agent teams up with a bounty hunter, and chaos ensues. It's big, loud, and doesn't take itself seriously.

Look, if you want a proper film, this isn't it. But if you want to switch off your brain and watch The Rock punch things while wearing a Christmas jumper, it'll do the job.

Daddy's Home 2 - ITV2, 9pm

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as co-dads dealing with their own fathers (John Lithgow and Mel Gibson) at Christmas. The sequel ups the chaos but keeps the heart. Solid family comedy that doesn't outstay its welcome.

Late Night: For Night Owls (10pm onwards)

The Last Leg - Channel 4, 10pm

Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker mock the week that was. With Christmas approaching and plenty of bad news to work with, expect them to find the cheer in the chaos. Comedian Fatiha El-Ghorri joins them, which should guarantee some decent laughs.

The Graham Norton Show - BBC One, 10:40pm

The red sofa's got a good lineup tonight. Jessie Buckley's promoting Hamnet - the Oscar-bait weepathon everyone's talking about. Jack Black and Paul Rudd are flogging their Anaconda horror reboot (yes, really). And comedian Michelle de Swarte rounds things out.

Buckley's always good value on chat shows, and the Jack Black/Paul Rudd combination should produce some entertaining chaos. Worth staying up for.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show - BBC Two, 11:05pm

"Let's do the Time Warp again!" The cult 1975 musical that's never quite gone away. Tim Curry as Dr Frank-N-Furter, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick as the innocent couple who stumble into his castle. If you've never seen it, you're in for a bizarre treat. If you have seen it, you probably know every word.

Still holds up as a gloriously camp, thoroughly bonkers piece of cinema. Perfect Friday night viewing if you're not ready for bed.

World War Z - BBC One, 11:30pm

Brad Pitt versus fast zombies. The 2013 adaptation of Max Brooks' novel takes the concept of a global zombie outbreak and turns it into a globe-trotting action thriller. The Jerusalem sequence still gets the heart racing, even on a third viewing.

Not as thoughtful as the book, but as a zombie action film it delivers. Late night viewing for those who don't mind undead hordes before bed.

If You're Not Into Drama

Football fans get a Welsh derby at 7:30pm on Sky Sports Main Event - Swansea v Wrexham in the Championship. The Ryan Reynolds-owned Wrexham travelling to south Wales should be entertaining, regardless of the actual quality of football on display.

What's on Streaming

Netflix has just dropped The Great Flood - a Korean disaster movie about an asteroid melting Antarctica. Seoul residents race to the top of their apartment building before tsunamis hit. It's frantic, over-the-top, and exactly what you'd expect from a Korean blockbuster.

Paramount+ has Shell - Max Minghella's sci-fi horror with Elisabeth Moss chasing eternal youth through lobster-derived treatments. Yes, that sentence is accurate. The Substance vibes are strong, and it gets entertainingly silly as it goes on.

Sky Cinema Premiere is showing Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning at 8pm and 9:40pm if you fancy Tom Cruise diving into submarines and fighting on biplanes. Arguably the best M:I film - and that's saying something.

The Viewing Schedule Table

Final Verdict

Friday's a decent night. Celebrity MasterChef's finale is the obvious main event if you've followed the series - watching celebrities stress over three courses never gets old. For something meatier, Dispatches' investigation into parcel theft is timely viewing (and might make you check your doorbell camera). All Her Fault delivers its twist on Sky Atlantic, The Last Leg wraps up the year nicely, and Graham Norton's got Jessie Buckley and Jack Black. Late night delivers with Rocky Horror and World War Z. Not a bad way to kick off the last weekend before Christmas.

Jen Thakar writes about television for TVRadar.co.uk