What's on TV tonight Saturday 16 May 2026? Two appointments with national television, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, with barely a breath between them. At 3pm, Pep Guardiola walks out at Wembley for what may prove to be his last game in charge of Manchester City, facing a Chelsea side led by an interim manager nobody expected to be here in May -- Calum McFarlane, the development coach turned cup finalist. The FA Cup Final is the story of the afternoon. Then, before the dust settles, BBC One flips to Vienna: 8pm, the Wiener Stadthalle, Graham Norton at the microphone, and the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 Grand Final -- the 70th edition of the thing that Britain simultaneously loves to mock and cannot stop watching. Sam Battle, performing as Look Mum No Computer with a synth-pop anthem called "Eins, Zwei, Drei" that leans into every British Eurovision cliche before flipping them sideways, takes the stage for the UK. The whole of Saturday is structured around these two events. Everything else -- and there is a lot of everything else -- fits around them.

Browse what's on right now for live updates, check tonight's highlights, or head to the full channels list including dedicated pages for BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four, ITV1, Channel 5, Channel 4, and Sky Max. Yesterday's TV guide covers the Premier League title race from Villa Park, Hidden Treasures of the National Trust Series 4 premiere on BBC Two, Hacks final season on Sky Atlantic, and Bob Marley Night on BBC Four: see our Friday 15 May 2026 TV guide.

What's on TV tonight: quick picks

  • Eurovision Song Contest 2026 Grand Final -- BBC One, 8pm -- LIVE; 70th edition; Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna; Graham Norton commentary; UK: Sam Battle (Look Mum No Computer) -- "Eins, Zwei, Drei"; Finland favourites; five boycotts
  • "FA Cup Final: Chelsea v Manchester City" -- BBC One from 2pm / TNT Sports 1 from 10am -- KICK-OFF 3pm; Wembley; Guardiola seeks 8th City FA Cup; Calum McFarlane interim Chelsea
  • Saturday Night Live UK -- Sky Max, 10pm -- SERIES FINALE S1 Ep 8; Ncuti Gatwa hosts; Holly Humberstone musical guest; series 2 already confirmed
  • The Teachers' Lounge -- BBC Four, 9pm -- 2023 German school drama; Ilker Catak; Leonie Benesch; Oscar-nominated; subtitled; ★★★★
  • "Sophie: the Royal Family's Hidden Gem" -- Channel 5, 9pm -- Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh profile; Vanessa Feltz; Tessa Dunlop; Sean Smith
  • Monsieur Spade -- U&Drama, 9pm -- Clive Owen as Sam Spade; village of Bozouls, France; six nuns murdered; 2024 AMC limited series
  • World's Most Secret Hotels -- Channel 4, 9pm -- Series 2; Kent railway hotel; Hamburg crane; South African flora safari; Utah wagons; Scottish Highlands
  • Their Finest -- BBC Two, 10pm -- Lone Scherfig; Gemma Arterton; Bill Nighy; wartime propaganda film; ★★★★
  • Angela Rippon's River Cruises -- Channel 5, 8pm -- Ep 2; Danube; Vienna; Nuremberg; Bamberg
  • Celebrity Bridge of Lies -- BBC One, 5.55pm -- Ross Kemp hosts; Perry Fenwick; Sue Cleaver; Rebecca Sarker; Nick Pickard; all-soap quartet
  • Britain's Got Talent semi-final 4 -- ITV1, 6pm--8pm -- Live; Ant and Dec; scheduled to end before Eurovision begins
  • Open All Hours marathon -- U&Gold, from 7.25am -- 50th anniversary; Ronnie Barker; David Jason; all day

See what's on right now for live updates.

Tonight's TV schedule: full listings

Time Channel Programme
7.25am U&Gold Open All Hours marathon from Episode 1 -- 50th anniversary; Ronnie Barker, David Jason
10.00am TNT Sports 1 "FA Cup Final: Chelsea v Manchester City" LIVE extended build-up -- six-hour pre-match coverage
11.30am Sky Sports Main Event / Football "Football: Celtic v Hearts" coverage start -- Scottish Premiership final day; title decider
12.00pm BBC Two "Athletics: Diamond League" Keqiao, China -- opening meeting of 2026 season; deferred broadcast
12.00pm TNT Sports 1 "Cycling: Giro d'Italia" Stage 8 LIVE -- Chieti to Fermo, 156km
12.30pm Sky Sports Main Event "Football: Celtic v Hearts" KICK-OFF -- Hearts lead table by 1 point; final day
2.00pm BBC One "FA Cup Final: Chelsea v Manchester City" coverage start -- Match of the Day build-up
3.00pm Sky Sports Golf "Golf: PGA Championship" Round 3 LIVE -- Aronimink; Scheffler defending
3.00pm BBC One + TNT Sports 1 "FA Cup Final: Chelsea v Manchester City" KICK-OFF -- Wembley
5.55pm BBC One Celebrity Bridge of Lies -- Ross Kemp; Perry Fenwick; Sue Cleaver; Rebecca Sarker; Nick Pickard
6.00pm ITV1 Britain's Got Talent S19 semi-final 4 LIVE -- Ant and Dec; ends 8pm
8.00pm Channel 5 Angela Rippon's River Cruises Ep 2 -- Danube; Vienna; Nuremberg; Bamberg
8.00pm BBC One Eurovision Song Contest 2026 Grand Final LIVE -- 70th edition; Vienna; Graham Norton; UK: Sam Battle
9.00pm BBC Four The Teachers' Lounge (2023 film) ★★★★ -- Ilker Catak; Leonie Benesch; subtitled
9.00pm Channel 4 World's Most Secret Hotels S2 -- Kent railway hotel; Hamburg crane; South Africa; Utah; Scottish Highlands
9.00pm Channel 5 "Sophie: the Royal Family's Hidden Gem" -- Vanessa Feltz; Tessa Dunlop; Sean Smith
9.00pm U&Drama Monsieur Spade -- Clive Owen; Bozouls; six nuns; 2024 AMC limited series
10.00pm BBC Two Their Finest (2016/17 film) ★★★★ -- Lone Scherfig; Gemma Arterton; Bill Nighy
10.00pm Sky Max Saturday Night Live UK S1 Ep 8 SERIES FINALE -- Ncuti Gatwa; Holly Humberstone
Now streaming Netflix Berlin and the Lady with an Ermine -- all 8 eps; Money Heist spin-off; Pedro Alonso; dropped Friday 15 May

Eurovision Song Contest 2026 Grand Final -- BBC One, 8pm

The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 Grand Final begins at 8pm on BBC One, live from the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria. It is the 70th edition of the contest. Graham Norton provides UK commentary. Available on BBC iPlayer.

This is the one. Sixty-nine editions before it, and tonight is the 70th -- which means Eurovision has now outlasted more television formats, cultural movements, and geopolitical arrangements than almost any other broadcast event in the world. It has survived the Cold War, survived the collapse of the Soviet Union, survived Brexit, survived a global pandemic, and is currently in the middle of surviving its largest boycott crisis in history. And still, on Saturday night, forty-odd countries point their cameras at a stage in Vienna and the whole thing begins.

Austria is hosting because last year's winner, JJ -- Johannes Pietsch, a classically trained countertenor from Vienna who won in Basel with "Wasted Love" -- brought the contest home. Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski are your on-stage hosts. Emily Busvine handles the Green Room. Graham Norton does what he has been doing for BBC One at Eurovision for years now: sitting at the commentary position, choosing the right moment to say something that makes you spit your drink, and otherwise keeping out of the way of the spectacle.

Sam Battle and the song that knows what it is

"Counting in English doesn't cut the mustard / So sick of munchin' roly poly with custard."

That is a real lyric from the UK's Eurovision entry. It is not an accident. Sam Battle, performing under his project name Look Mum No Computer, has written a synth-pop anthem called "Eins, Zwei, Drei" that is very specifically and deliberately about the comedy of Britain's relationship with Eurovision -- the counting in German, the national self-deprecation, the whole rubbish-at-Eurovision reputation worn as a badge rather than a wound. The track is retro-electro, bouncy, knowing, and it has a hook that sounds like something you have heard before but cannot quite place, which is roughly the formula for a successful Eurovision entry in any decade you choose.

Battle is a YouTuber, musician, and builder of impractical synthesisers -- his Look Mum No Computer project built a "nightmare machine," a one-of-a-kind synthesiser that processes human fear, and a MIDI-controlled church organ in his studio. He is not a conventional pop act. The BBC chose him for reasons that presumably include his genuine peculiarity and the fact that "Eins, Zwei, Drei" is an entry that will not simply dissolve into the running order. Whether the juries and televotes across Europe share that assessment becomes clear tonight.

The favourites, the entrants, the complications

Finland are the clear bookmakers' favourites. Linda Lampenius -- a Finnish violinist and musician with a long international career -- and Pete Parkkonen perform "Liekinheitin," which translates roughly as "flamethrower." The odds have held steady at approximately 37 to 40 per cent win probability across the major bookmakers, a level of consensus that is either well-founded or a trap. Greece and Denmark follow at significantly longer odds.

San Marino are represented by Senhit, featuring Boy George on vocals and as co-writer; the song is "Superstar." The entry is principally Senhit's -- she is the lead artist and won San Marino's national selection -- with Boy George providing guest vocals and having co-written the track. His willingness to appear at Eurovision despite the boycott controversy has generated its own commentary.

Australia sends Delta Goodrem performing "Eclipse." Goodrem, who spent years playing Nina Tucker in Neighbours before the soap ended in 2022, has been building an international profile since, and Eurovision represents a platform of a kind that Australian pop rarely gets in Europe. She qualified from Semi-Final 2, which ran on Thursday 14 May.

JJ, who won this contest last year, performs during the grand final as the 2025 winning act -- the traditional opening spot for the reigning champion. He is not a co-host. He is there to remind everyone who is responsible for Vienna getting the event, and to perform "Wasted Love" to an arena that, twelve months ago, voted it the best song in the contest.

Five countries are not here

Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain have all withdrawn from Eurovision 2026. All five cited Israel's continued participation, in the context of the Gaza conflict, along with concerns raised after voting irregularities at Eurovision 2025. Spain's withdrawal is historically significant: they are a Big Five broadcaster, one of five (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) who automatically qualify for the Grand Final and contribute disproportionately to the EBU's funding. It is the first time Spain has not broadcast Eurovision since 1961. The Grand Final field is therefore 25 competing countries rather than the more familiar 26. This is the largest boycott in the contest's 70-year history, and its effect on the running order, the vote, and the tone of the evening will be felt throughout.

None of this means Eurovision is in crisis. It means Eurovision is, as it has always been, a mirror held up to whatever Europe is arguing about this decade -- which is partly what it has always been for, and partly why it has survived 70 editions.

On BBC One from 8pm. Available on BBC iPlayer.

FA Cup Final: Chelsea v Manchester City -- BBC One from 2pm, kick-off 3pm

The 2025/26 FA Cup Final, Chelsea v Manchester City, kicks off at 3pm at Wembley Stadium. BBC One coverage begins at 2pm and is free to view; also on BBC iPlayer. TNT Sports 1 carries the match from approximately 10am with an extended pre-match build-up.

The framing around Pep Guardiola today is one that he will have spent the week trying to ignore and the press has spent the week amplifying: this could be his last game as Manchester City manager. Departure rumours have circulated since January. Guardiola himself has said little of use on the subject, which is either deliberate opacity or the straightforward position of someone who has not yet decided. What is not in any doubt is his FA Cup record over the past two seasons: he has lost the last two finals. In 2024, Manchester United beat City 2-1. In 2025, Crystal Palace beat them 1-0. Two losses, from a manager who rarely loses finals.

City have now reached four consecutive FA Cup finals -- 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 -- which is a record no other club has achieved. They won in 2023 as part of the treble. They have lost the two that followed. A win today would give them their eighth FA Cup, moving them joint-third all time alongside Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham. That is the statistical context. The psychological context is a manager who does not want to leave with two consecutive final defeats as the last image.

Chelsea and the interim manager narrative

Calum McFarlane is Chelsea's interim head coach for the second time this season. Enzo Maresca left by mutual consent in January; McFarlane stepped in, Chelsea appointed Liam Rosenior as full-time manager, Rosenior was sacked in April, and McFarlane came back. He has been running Chelsea through the cup run that brought them to Wembley, and whatever happens today, the club's summer appointment will almost certainly not be him -- Andoni Iraola has been widely reported as the leading candidate for the permanent role.

McFarlane's Chelsea have, in reaching this final, done something that Maresca's and Rosenior's Chelsea did not manage: they have been consistent enough in the cup to get here. The Premier League season has been the rollercoaster that the club's ownership model tends to produce. But the FA Cup run has been a cleaner story, and it has ended with a final.

The match itself sets up as a genuinely interesting tactical problem. Guardiola will have his standard approach, refined and adapted for Wembley's dimensions and Chelsea's defensive shape. McFarlane, precisely because he has less history for opposition analysts to model, is harder to read. City are the heavy favourites. Chelsea have been here before -- they have eight FA Cup wins of their own, which ties them with City's target today.

BBC One coverage from 2pm with the Match of the Day build-up. Kick-off 3pm, Wembley Stadium. BBC One and BBC iPlayer. TNT Sports 1 from approximately 10am.

Saturday Night Live UK series finale -- Sky Max, 10pm

Saturday Night Live UK Series 1, Episode 8 of 8 (the series finale) airs on Sky Max at 10pm on Saturday 16 May 2026. Ncuti Gatwa hosts; Holly Humberstone is the musical guest. Sky has confirmed a second 12-episode series returning in autumn 2026. Available on NOW.

A note for anyone searching on Sky's old channel names: Saturday Night Live UK is on Sky Max, not Sky One. Sky One was retired as a brand years ago. The show's home is Sky Max, and the slug if you are navigating the guide is sky-max.

Ncuti Gatwa takes the host's chair for the finale. Gatwa, who spent three series as the Doctor in Doctor Who before handing the TARDIS keys over, has the stage presence that late-night sketch television requires: comfortable with rhythm and timing, willing to be the butt of the joke, and visibly enjoying the live format rather than merely surviving it. Holly Humberstone as musical guest brings the more intimate, atmospheric end of British alternative pop to a show that has generally leaned toward high-energy musical choices -- an interesting contrast for a finale slot.

The first series ran eight episodes and received the reception that UK format adaptations of long-running American shows usually receive: affection from those who committed to it early, occasional confusion from those expecting a replica, and gradually warmer notices as it found its own register. Sky's announcement of Series 2 at 12 episodes -- an increase on the inaugural run -- suggests the broadcaster is satisfied with where it has landed.

After tonight, you have until autumn 2026. On Sky Max at 10pm. Available on NOW.

The Teachers' Lounge ★★★★ -- BBC Four, 9pm

The Teachers' Lounge (German: Das Lehrerzimmer) airs on BBC Four at 9pm on Saturday 16 May 2026. Directed by Ilker Catak (2023); Leonie Benesch stars as teacher Carla Nowak. Nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards. German language, subtitled. Available on BBC iPlayer.

The premise of Ilker Catak's film sounds simple and contained: a new teacher, Carla Nowak, suspects a colleague of theft and sets up an improvised surveillance operation in the staffroom. What she catches changes everything, and the film spends the rest of its ninety-six minutes demonstrating that there is no such thing as a contained action inside an institution. One incident produces a chain of consequences -- a school newspaper investigation, a classroom revolt, parental pressure, a headteacher caught between protocols and politics -- and Carla, who acted from the best possible motives, finds herself at the centre of a situation she cannot defuse.

Leonie Benesch is extraordinary in this film. She made her debut at seventeen in Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon (2009), playing Eva, the schoolteacher's young companion -- the small-town world of post-WWI Germany, the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the beginning of a career that has moved carefully and with increasing ambition. Carla Nowak in The Teachers' Lounge is a performance built on the gap between what a person intends and what they cause; Benesch holds the film's moral centre without making it look like work.

The film was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards in 2024 -- it lost to The Zone of Interest, which is the only defeat that would have felt proportionate. Catak is a German-born director of Turkish descent, working in a tradition of German social-realist cinema that includes Haneke's Austrian-inflected work and the films of Christian Petzold, though The Teachers' Lounge has its own register: tighter, more claustrophobic, and without the coolness that sometimes marks that tradition at its most rigorous.

This is one of the better films BBC Four has scheduled in the past year. Subtitled German. On BBC Four at 9pm. Available on BBC iPlayer.

"Sophie: the Royal Family's Hidden Gem" -- Channel 5, 9pm

Sophie: the Royal Family's Hidden Gem airs on Channel 5 at 9pm on Saturday 16 May 2026. A documentary profile of Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, featuring Vanessa Feltz, historian Tessa Dunlop, and biographer Sean Smith. On My5.

Channel 5 has a long and reliable relationship with royal documentary programming, and this profile of Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh -- the former Countess of Wessex, now one of the working royals who appears most regularly at public engagements -- follows an established format: contributors who have observed the subject from different angles, archive footage, the occasional revelation about what the family is actually like in private, and a central argument about why this person matters.

The "hidden gem" framing gestures at what has been Sophie's consistent public narrative: she was, in the early years of her marriage to Prince Edward, defined primarily by a tabloid sting in 2001 that the News of the World ran against her PR firm. She had started out as a public relations executive, she married into the family, and for a period she was less a working royal than a cautionary tale about the proximity of tabloid journalists. What happened since -- the gradual, determined expansion of her royal role, the extensive charity work, the diplomatic engagements, the consistent visibility during the late Queen's final years -- is the subject of the film's main argument.

Tessa Dunlop is one of the more reliable historians Channel 5 turns to for royal programming; she has a directness that the format requires and a willingness to make a case rather than merely describe. Sean Smith, a biographer whose subjects have included royal and entertainment figures, provides the biographical counterweight. Vanessa Feltz fronts the piece.

On Channel 5 at 9pm. Available on My5.

Monsieur Spade -- U&Drama, 9pm

Monsieur Spade airs on U&Drama at 9pm on Saturday 16 May 2026. Clive Owen stars as Sam Spade, now retired and living in the French village of Bozouls in 1963, when the murder of six nuns draws him back into investigation. A six-episode AMC limited series from 2024, now on free-to-air UK television. Full series also available on the U streaming platform.

Sam Spade in the south of France in the early 1960s, twenty years after The Maltese Falcon, with a different tan and a different context but, as Clive Owen plays him, exactly the same machinery running underneath. The village of Bozouls in the Aveyron department -- a real place, a village built around a circular canyon called the trou de Bozouls -- provides the setting for a mystery that begins with six murdered nuns and expands, as it must in this genre, into connections with World War Two atrocities, Cold War politics, and the local entanglements that Spade has accumulated by choosing to retire somewhere that thought he was just a quiet American.

Owen is a good fit for this material. His screen persona has always had a quality of contained capability -- you can believe he has seen enough that he could handle what is in front of him, while also tracking the cost of that history. Andrew Kevin Walker (Seven) and Scott Frank (The Queen's Gambit) created the series, which gives it a pedigree that explains why it functions as well as it does when the plot could otherwise tip into pastiche.

The series originally aired on AMC in the United States in early 2024 and ran on Acorn TV in the UK. U&Drama is now giving it a free-to-air broadcast run. If you want to watch ahead or catch up, the full six episodes are available on the U streaming platform.

On U&Drama at 9pm. Full series on U.

Sport today

FA Cup Final -- BBC One / TNT Sports 1, 3pm kick-off

Covered in full above. BBC One from 2pm, kick-off 3pm. TNT Sports 1 from approximately 10am. Wembley Stadium. Chelsea v Manchester City.

Celtic v Hearts -- Sky Sports Main Event / Football, 12.30pm kick-off

The Scottish Premiership's final day is a proper title decider, not a coronation. Hearts lead Celtic by one point going into the last round of fixtures. Celtic are at home -- Celtic Park, Glasgow, 12.30pm kick-off. Hearts need to hold their nerve; Celtic need to win and hope Hearts drop points. Every other Scottish Premiership match kicks off simultaneously under the standard final-day format that prevents any club from watching results before deciding how to play.

This is the match that the final-day format was designed to produce and occasionally delivers. Hearts winning the Scottish Premiership would be their first title since 2011/12, which adds a layer of historical weight to what is already a high-pressure ninety minutes. Celtic's recent dominance of the division makes them the structural favourites even when the points gap is one. Expect Sky Sports to lean hard into the stakes.

Sky Sports coverage begins at 11.30am on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football. Kick-off 12.30pm.

Giro d'Italia Stage 8 -- TNT Sports 1, from 12pm BST

Stage 8 runs from Chieti to Fermo, 156 kilometres along the Adriatic coast and into the hilly terrain of the Fermo hinterland. Chieti is the birthplace of Giulio Ciccone, which provides the local colour. The stage is a hilly rather than a mountain day -- this is not Blockhaus -- but it is not a flat sprint either. The final kilometres rise and twist through the Fermo hills in a way that rewards attackers over pure sprinters, and the general classification will not be overturned here but can be adjusted.

Stage start is 12.35 CET. Live on TNT Sports 1 from 12pm BST.

PGA Championship Round 3 -- Sky Sports Golf, from 3pm

The third round of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania begins its UK coverage window at 3pm. Aronimink is a par-70 course at 7,394 yards that demands precision on approach shots rather than simply power off the tee -- the Saturday moving day at a par-70 major with this rough tends to separate fields decisively. Scottie Scheffler won the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow by five strokes and is defending. Round 3 coverage on Sky Sports Golf from 3pm.

Athletics Diamond League -- BBC Two, 12 noon

The 2026 Wanda Diamond League opens its season in Keqiao, in the Shaoxing district of China. BBC Two carries a highlights or deferred broadcast at 12 noon BST -- the event runs in the Chinese evening, which means UK noon is a plausible transmission window for coverage of an event that concludes several hours before. BBC has confirmed Diamond League broadcast rights for 2026, covering 14 of the 15 meetings. The opening meeting of a Diamond League season carries title implications for the whole series, with athletes beginning to accumulate points toward the year-end Diamond League Final. On BBC Two at 12 noon.

Also worth watching today

Celebrity Bridge of Lies -- BBC One, 5.55pm

Ross Kemp hosts Bridge of Lies with a four-person lineup drawn entirely from British soap operas: Perry Fenwick (Billy Mitchell from EastEnders), Sue Cleaver (Eileen Grimshaw from Coronation Street), Rebecca Sarker (Manpreet Sharma from Emmerdale), and Nick Pickard (Tony Hutchinson from Hollyoaks). Four soaps, four long-running characters, one bridge. The format rewards general knowledge and the ability to stay calm while walking across a game show floor, which is its own skill set. The all-soap quartet is a booking that will please the demographic that has spent years watching all four of these actors in completely different fictional worlds. On BBC One at 5.55pm.

Britain's Got Talent semi-final 4 -- ITV1, 6pm

The fourth and final live semi-final of Britain's Got Talent Series 19 runs from 6pm to 8pm on ITV1 -- that 8pm end time is deliberate, clearing the schedule before the Eurovision Grand Final begins on BBC One. Ant and Dec host. The semi-final format runs the acts, the public vote, and the judge's interventions through a live two-hour broadcast. On ITV1 from 6pm to 8pm.

Angela Rippon's River Cruises -- Channel 5, 8pm

Episode 2 of the four-part series continues Angela Rippon's Danube cruise with Scenic Luxury Cruises. After Budapest in the opening episode, the journey moves through Vienna and the Wachau Valley before continuing into Germany and the cities of Nuremberg and Bamberg. The series is marking Rippon's 60th anniversary as a broadcaster, which means that the programme is doing two things at once: travelling through central Europe on a luxury cruise ship and functioning as a gentle retrospective on a career that began in the mid-1960s. Rippon carries the format well -- she has always been a journalist by instinct rather than a television personality by design, and the combination of those two things gives the travel format more texture than it typically has. On Channel 5 at 8pm.

World's Most Secret Hotels -- Channel 4, 9pm

Series 2 of World's Most Secret Hotels. Tonight's properties include a luxury hotel in Kent assembled from a converted railway station and a set of Pullman coaches; an old freight crane in Hamburg's docklands repurposed as a harbour-side hotel; a South African nature reserve that focuses entirely on flora rather than the game drives you might expect; a retro retreat in Utah built around wagons; and what the research describes as "curious submarine accommodation" in the Scottish Highlands. The premise of the series is that the most interesting hotels are the ones that were something else first, and tonight's lineup covers the spectrum from industrial conversion to wilful eccentricity. On Channel 4 at 9pm.

Their Finest ★★★★ -- BBC Two, 10pm

Lone Scherfig's 2016 film (UK release April 2017), starring Gemma Arterton as Catrin Cole, a Welsh copywriter recruited by the Ministry of Information's film unit to write propaganda shorts during the Blitz. Bill Nighy plays Ambrose Hilliard, a fading matinee idol brought in to appear in one of the unit's films -- a role that gives Nighy space to do what he does brilliantly: make vanity both funny and quietly sad. The film is based on Lissa Evans's novel Their Finest Hour and a Half, and Scherfig's handling of the wartime setting avoids both sentimentality and ironic distance, landing somewhere in between that feels more honest than either.

It is also a film about the relationship between women and the film industry during a period when women were doing much of the creative work and receiving very little of the recognition -- a theme the script handles with light hands and specific detail rather than statement. Arterton is the screen presence this material depends on: she can carry the period without disappearing into it. On BBC Two at 10pm. Available on BBC iPlayer.

Open All Hours marathon -- U&Gold, from 7.25am

The 50th anniversary of Open All Hours as a series proper -- Roy Clarke's sitcom about Arkwright the shopkeeper (Ronnie Barker) and his put-upon nephew Granville (David Jason) began in 1976. Clarke, now 95, wrote all of it and is still the most important single figure in British sitcom history that television does not quite know what to do with in anniversary terms. U&Gold runs the archive episodes back-to-back from early morning, which is how marathon scheduling works and also how the show rewards watching: episode to episode, the rhythm builds, the running jokes compound, and Arkwright's stutter becomes its own percussion section. On U&Gold from 7.25am.

Frequently asked questions

What's on TV tonight Saturday 16 May 2026?

Saturday 16 May 2026 has two appointment television events. Afternoon: the FA Cup Final, Chelsea v Manchester City at Wembley, 3pm kick-off on BBC One (coverage from 2pm) and TNT Sports 1 (from 10am) -- Guardiola seeks his 8th FA Cup for City, Chelsea led by interim Calum McFarlane. Evening: the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 Grand Final, 8pm BBC One, live from Vienna, Graham Norton, UK entry Sam Battle (Look Mum No Computer) performing "Eins, Zwei, Drei." After Eurovision: Saturday Night Live UK series finale on Sky Max at 10pm (Ncuti Gatwa, Holly Humberstone). Earlier: Celtic v Hearts Scottish Premiership final day 12.30pm kick-off Sky Sports; Celebrity Bridge of Lies BBC One 5.55pm; Britain's Got Talent semi-final 4 ITV1 6pm. Evenings also bring The Teachers' Lounge (BBC Four, 9pm), Monsieur Spade (U&Drama, 9pm), Their Finest (BBC Two, 10pm). Browse tonight's full highlights or what's on right now.

What time is the Eurovision Grand Final tonight?

The Eurovision Song Contest 2026 Grand Final begins at 8pm on BBC One, live from the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria. It is the 70th edition of the contest. Austria hosts because JJ won Eurovision 2025 in Basel. Graham Norton provides UK commentary. The UK is represented by Look Mum No Computer (real name Sam Battle) performing "Eins, Zwei, Drei." Finland, represented by Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen with "Liekinheitin," are the clear bookmakers' favourites with approximately 37–40% win probability. Five countries -- Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain -- are boycotting over Israel's participation. On-stage hosts: Victoria Swarovski and Michael Ostrowski. Available on BBC iPlayer.

What time is the FA Cup Final 2026 and where can I watch it?

Chelsea v Manchester City kicks off at 3pm at Wembley Stadium. BBC One coverage begins at 2pm -- free to air and on BBC iPlayer. TNT Sports 1 carries the match with an extended build-up from approximately 10am. Chelsea are managed by interim head coach Calum McFarlane. Pep Guardiola's Manchester City have lost the last two FA Cup finals (2024 to Manchester United 2-1; 2025 to Crystal Palace 1-0) and are seeking their eighth FA Cup title. City have reached four consecutive FA Cup finals (2023–2026), the first club to achieve this.

Who is performing for the UK at Eurovision 2026?

The UK is represented at Eurovision 2026 by Look Mum No Computer, the stage name of musician and YouTube creator Sam Battle. The song is "Eins, Zwei, Drei," a retro synth-pop track built around the joke of a British Eurovision entry counting in German to seem more continental. Sample lyrics: "Counting in English doesn't cut the mustard / So sick of munchin' roly poly with custard." It is a self-aware anthem that wears the UK's Eurovision reputation as a costume rather than a wound, and it has a hook substantial enough to land in the Grand Final. The UK qualifies automatically as a Big Five broadcaster.

Which countries are boycotting Eurovision 2026?

Five countries are boycotting Eurovision 2026: Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain. All five withdrew over Israel's continued participation, in the context of the Gaza conflict and following concerns about voting practices at Eurovision 2025. Spain's withdrawal is particularly significant -- as a Big Five member, Spain is one of five broadcasters who automatically qualify for the Grand Final and contribute substantially to the EBU's funding. It is the first time Spain has not broadcast Eurovision since 1961. The five boycotts constitute the largest withdrawal in the contest's 70-year history and reduce the Grand Final to 25 competing countries.

Who is the host of Saturday Night Live UK tonight?

Saturday Night Live UK concludes its first series on Sky Max at 10pm, with Ncuti Gatwa hosting and Holly Humberstone as the musical guest. It is Episode 8 of 8 -- the series finale. Sky has already confirmed a second series, extended to 12 episodes, returning in autumn 2026. The show is on Sky Max (not Sky One -- that channel brand no longer exists). Available on NOW.

What is The Teachers' Lounge on BBC Four tonight?

The Teachers' Lounge is a 2023 German-language drama film directed by Ilker Catak, starring Leonie Benesch as Carla Nowak, a young teacher who sets up surveillance to catch a staffroom thief -- and triggers a cascade of consequences she cannot control. The film was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards (2024). Benesch made her film debut in Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon (2009). Subtitled. On BBC Four at 9pm; available on BBC iPlayer.

What Scottish football is on TV today?

Celtic v Hearts at Celtic Park, Glasgow -- the final day of the Scottish Premiership 2025/26 -- kicks off at 12.30pm on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football, coverage from 11.30am. Hearts lead the table by one point. A Celtic win could hand them the title depending on the points arithmetic; Hearts need a win or draw to be certain. All other Scottish Premiership matches kick off simultaneously under the standard final-day format.

Is there any cycling today?

Yes -- Giro d'Italia Stage 8, from Chieti to Fermo, 156km, a hilly stage along the Adriatic coast and into the Fermo hinterland. Stage start is 12.35 CET. Live on TNT Sports 1 from 12pm BST. Chieti is the birthplace of Giulio Ciccone; the finish in Fermo rewards attackers over pure sprinters.

Tonight's final word

The structure of this Saturday is unusually clean for television scheduling: two events that own their time slots completely, with the rest of the evening arranged diplomatically around them. The FA Cup Final at 3pm and the Eurovision Grand Final at 8pm are not competing for the same audience at the same moment -- they are sequential, and the gap between them (Celebrity Bridge of Lies, the BGT semi-final closing at 8pm) is the programme equivalent of clearing the table before the next course.

What makes it interesting is the emotional register of each. The FA Cup Final has the Guardiola question running through it -- a manager who may be at the end of an era, who has won almost everything and has been losing FA Cup finals, now facing a Chelsea side with nothing to lose and an interim manager who is either an afterthought or the most interesting character in the stadium depending on how you read the narrative. That is a compelling 90 minutes regardless of the scoreline.

Eurovision has its own energy: 70 editions, the largest boycott in its history, a UK entry that has leaned into self-deprecation hard enough to make it a creative statement, and Finland as clear favourites with a song called "Flamethrower." Graham Norton will be at his most useful -- which is to say, somewhere between a guide and a co-conspirator, helping you watch without taking it too seriously while also knowing that some of it is genuinely worth taking seriously. Sam Battle performing "Eins, Zwei, Drei" live on that stage will be a moment. Whether it translates into points depends on a continent's worth of telephone votes and jury decisions. Either way, it is television.

After Eurovision finishes: The Teachers' Lounge on BBC Four at 9pm is the film of the night and worth staying up for. Their Finest on BBC Two at 10pm is an excellent piece of wartime filmmaking that BBC Two schedules far too infrequently. And Saturday Night Live UK finishes its first series at 10pm on Sky Max -- a good note to end a very full Saturday on.

Check what's on right now, see tonight's full highlights, or browse all channels. Tomorrow night: the Eurovision aftermath, the FA Cup results analysis, and the Scottish Premiership title has a new holder. Sunday's TV guide will be up from early morning.