What's On TV Tonight: Tuesday 9th December 2025
Tonight's schedule swings between devastatingly sad and surprisingly light. The Southport documentary is essential but harrowing viewing. If you need something gentler afterwards, there's festive stately home content and comedians attempting Bollywood stardom.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks: Tonight's Best
- Our Girls: The Southport Families - Heartbreaking tribute to three murdered girls (8pm, BBC One) ⭐
- What's the Monarchy For? - Dimbleby asks if royalty is worth our billions (9pm, BBC One)
- A Very British Christmas: Castle Howard - Oz-inspired festive decorating at Yorkshire's grandest home (8pm, Channel 4)
- Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Christmas Fishing - Gentle festive warmth by the riverbank (8pm, BBC Two)
Early Evening (7pm - 8pm)
Champions League Football - Prime Video, 7pm
Big night for English clubs in Europe. Liverpool travel to the San Siro to face Inter Milan, while Spurs host Slavia Prague at home. Chelsea versus Atalanta is over on TNT Sports 2 if you've got access. Pick your match and settle in.
Prime Time: Documentary and Light Entertainment (8pm onwards)
Our Girls: The Southport Families - BBC One, 8pm ⭐
"We sent her there as a treat." Those words from Elsie Dot Stancombe's mother cut through everything. In July 2024, three girls - Elsie, Alice da Silva Aguiar, and Bebe King - went to a Taylor Swift-themed dance class and didn't come home.
This documentary focuses on the girls as they were during their short lives rather than dwelling on the horror of their deaths. The families share memories, photos, and the unbearable reality of continuing after such loss. The sadness is overwhelming, and that's the point.
Not easy viewing. But these families want their daughters remembered as living, laughing children - not as victims in headlines. That deserves an hour of our time.
A Very British Christmas: Castle Howard - Channel 4, 8pm
If you need something lighter after the BBC documentary, this is your palate cleanser. Castle Howard - the Yorkshire stately home that starred in 2008's Brideshead Revisited - takes Christmas seriously. Preparations apparently last the entire year.
Designers Charlotte Lloyd Webber and Adrian Lillie are using the Emerald City of Oz as this year's inspiration, which sounds bonkers in the best way. Gentle, low-stakes festive television.
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Christmas Fishing - BBC Two, 8pm
Bob and Paul by a river, chatting about life, death, and the one that got away. Their festive special delivers exactly what you'd expect - gentle warmth, genuine friendship, and the odd actual fish. Television comfort food at its finest.
What's the Monarchy For? - BBC One, 9pm
King Charles is the first billionaire to take the throne. Meanwhile, the monarchy costs taxpayers more than ever before. Episode two of David Dimbleby's series asks whether that circle can be squared.
George Osborne - yes, that George Osborne, the austerity man himself - joins the discussion. The question of whether we're getting bang for our royal buck is one that's going to keep coming up. Dimbleby's the right person to ask it.
Tommy: The Good. The Bad. The Fury - BBC Three, 9pm
Cameras have been following Love Island's Tommy Fury for a year as he tries to refocus his mental health, relationships, and boxing career. The concluding double bill sees him prepping for a brutal 100km triathlon in France.
There's also the awkward business of him watching the premiere of this very series. Reality television eating itself, basically.
Rob & Romesh vs Bollywood - Sky Max, 9pm
If you haven't had enough Romesh Ranganathan in your life (and honestly, who has?), here's another series with Rob Beckett. They've headed to Mumbai to try and land roles in the most competitive film industry on Earth.
Two British comedians attempting Bollywood dance numbers should be entertainingly chaotic.
Late Night: For Night Owls (9:45pm onwards)
World's Most Dangerous Roads - BBC Two, 9:45pm
Comedians Ria Lina (rainbow hair, definitely up for it) and Darren Harriott (less prepared, increasingly panicked) tackle 500 miles of South African off-road driving. His realisation in Cape Town: "Remote usually means no wifi... Oh God..."
Say Nothing - Channel 4, 10:05pm
The Troubles drama continues. If you've been following this brilliantly raw series, you won't need convincing. If you haven't, maybe catch up on iPlayer first - jumping in now would be confusing.
The World Is Not Enough - ITV1, 10:45pm
Brosnan-era Bond with Sophie Marceau as the villain and Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist named Christmas Jones. Yes, that Christmas Jones. The theme tune's a banger though.
If You're Not Into Heavy Documentaries
Hollyoaks - E4, 7pm
Chester soap drama. Reliable enough if you need something unchallenging while you decide what to watch at 8pm.
The Viewing Schedule Table
| Time | Channel | Programme |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00pm | Prime Video | Champions League: Inter v Liverpool |
| 8:00pm | BBC One | Our Girls: The Southport Families |
| 8:00pm | Channel 4 | A Very British Christmas: Castle Howard |
| 8:00pm | BBC Two | Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Christmas Fishing |
| 9:00pm | BBC One | What's the Monarchy For? |
| 9:00pm | BBC Three | Tommy: The Good. The Bad. The Fury |
| 9:00pm | Sky Max | Rob & Romesh vs Bollywood |
| 9:45pm | BBC Two | World's Most Dangerous Roads |
| 10:05pm | Channel 4 | Say Nothing |
| 10:45pm | ITV1 | The World Is Not Enough |
Final Verdict
Tuesday's dominated by Our Girls. It's harrowing but important - these families deserve to have their daughters remembered. After that, you've got options: Dimbleby questioning royal value for money, Bob and Paul fishing, or comedians failing at Bollywood. Castle Howard offers gentle festive escape if you need it. Pick your mood and plan accordingly.
Nick Bain writes about television for TVRadar.co.uk