What's On TV Tonight: Monday 8th December 2025

Monday night's got an unexpected emotional punch waiting for you. The Matthew Perry documentary isn't easy viewing, but it's important. If that's too heavy, Jamie Oliver's got your Christmas gravy sorted and there's Aztec history if you fancy something ancient and brutal.

Table of Contents

Quick Picks: Tonight's Best

• Matthew Perry and the Ketamine Queen - Devastating doc about the Friends star's final years (9pm, BBC Three) ⭐
• Jamie's Cook-Ahead Christmas - The all-purpose gravy that'll save your festive bacon (8pm, Channel 4)
• Civilisations: Rise and Fall - The Aztecs hand Cortés a golden gift. Mistake. (9pm, BBC Two)
• Say Nothing - Troubles drama continues to simmer brilliantly (10:05pm, Channel 4)

Early Evening (7pm - 8pm)

Only Connect - BBC Two, 8pm

Victoria Coren Mitchell's fiendish connection quiz. 5Ks take on Oh No They Didn't. If you can solve even one wall, you're doing better than most contestants.

Panorama: The Pothole Problem - BBC One, 8pm

Britain's roads are falling apart - 8 billion quid's worth of repairs needed. Panorama investigates why fixes are taking so long and where the money's going.

Prime Time: Drama and Documentary (8pm onwards)

Jamie's Cook-Ahead Christmas - Channel 4, 8pm

Jamie Oliver's back with genuinely useful Christmas intel. The star? An all-purpose gravy that works through three stages - vegan first, then gluten-free, then meaty. Make it ahead, freeze it, and watch your Christmas Day stress evaporate. Part two follows later in the week.

Ghosts Christmas Special - BBC One, 8:30pm

Button House's resident ghosts are back for a festive treat. "He Came!" promises more supernatural shenanigans with Alison and Mike plus the full spectral gang. The series has always balanced silly and sweet, and Christmas episodes tend to lean into the latter.

Matthew Perry and the Ketamine Queen - BBC Three, 9pm ⭐

This one's going to hurt. The documentary examines the final troubled years of Matthew Perry's life through his relationship with Jasveen Sangha - the ketamine dealer who pleaded guilty to selling the drugs that killed the Friends star in 2023. Her sentencing hearing is set for December 10th in LA.

What emerges isn't just celebrity tragedy. It's a look at the grim underbelly of Hollywood's margins - the bottom-feeders and hangers-on who orbit vulnerable people with too much money and too much pain. Perry was open about his addiction struggles for years, but this documentary reveals just how dark things got.

Not easy viewing, but if you grew up with Chandler Bing making you laugh, understanding what happened matters. The people who enabled his addiction deserve exposure.

Civilisations: Rise and Fall - BBC Two, 9pm

The Aztecs had it all - one of the most advanced and progressive societies of their time. Then they made one catastrophic mistake: they gave gold to Hernán Cortés as a welcoming gift. Oops.

This episode charts how that single moment of diplomacy triggered their destruction. Spanish smallpox and conquistador ruthlessness did the rest. Grim historical viewing.

The Only Way Is Essexmas 2025 - ITV2, 9pm

TOWIE turned 15 this year and welcomed back breakout star Amy Childs. This feature-length Christmas special gathers the cast for a festive dinner - which inevitably means drama alongside the sprouts. If you've been following since the vajazzle era, there's comfort in the chaos.

Late Night: For Night Owls (10pm onwards)

Twisted Sisters: Madness and Manslaughter - Channel 5, 10pm

In 2008, police attended a bizarre callout on the M6. Two sisters were walking on the central reservation. What unfolded was disturbing: despite serious injuries, both attacked police, ran into traffic, and eventually absconded. The consequences were fatal. This two-part documentary unpicks one of the most baffling true crime cases in recent British history.

Say Nothing - Channel 4, 10:05pm

The Troubles drama continues to impress. This episode sees the IRA struggling with internal discipline - they suspect at least one informant in their ranks. But with stakes this high, can they be certain enough to act?

The series balances 1970s turbulence with its pensive aftermath brilliantly. It's raw, uncomfortable, and essential viewing if you want to understand Ireland's recent history.

Have I Got News for You - BBC One, 10:40pm

Ian and Paul tear through the week's headlines. Depending on what's happened politically, this could be savage or merely scathing. Either works.

Film Choice

Rocky - ITV4, 8pm

Stallone's 1976 original remains the underdog sports movie all others get measured against. The Philadelphia steps, "Adrian!", Bill Conti's score - you know the beats. But it's worth revisiting how scrappy and intimate the original film actually is compared to the sequels.

The King's Man - Film4, 9pm

Matthew Vaughn's WWI prequel to the Kingsman series. Ralph Fiennes leads a conspiracy thriller about the spy agency's origins. It's messier than the Colin Firth films but has its moments - particularly the trench warfare sequences. Gemma Arterton and Rhys Ifans in support.

True Romance - Sky Cinema Greats, 12:20am

Late night Tarantino (he wrote it, Tony Scott directed). Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette flee with cocaine while Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, and Dennis Hopper deliver scene-stealing cameos. The Walken/Hopper showdown alone is worth staying up for.

If You're Not Into Heavy Documentaries

The 1% Club Rollover - ITV1, 9pm

Lee Mack's quiz show where the questions get progressively harder. The rollover format means someone's chasing a bigger prize than usual.

The Viewing Schedule Table

Final Verdict

Monday's got weight to it. The Matthew Perry documentary is uncomfortable but necessary - understanding how celebrity and addiction intersect in Hollywood's murkier corners matters. For lighter fare, Jamie Oliver's Christmas prep is genuinely useful and Ghosts delivers reliable festive warmth. True crime fans get a bizarre real-life mystery with Twisted Sisters. Decent spread for a December Monday.

Nick Bain writes about television for TVRadar.co.uk