An evening of compelling drama, documentary exploration and entertainment awaits viewers across multiple channels. Legal intrigue takes centre stage with a new spin-off, while crime investigation and wilderness adventure round out the schedule.
The Split Up
Premiering at 9pm on BBC One, this new legal drama represents a fresh chapter in Abi Morgan's universe of courtroom tension and personal turmoil. The series follows lawyers navigating the complexities of their clients' relationship breakdowns while their own private lives remain equally fractured. The narrative centres on Aria, who stands to inherit her family's Manchester law firm following her father's death—a prospect that has prompted her to postpone her own wedding indefinitely. Her carefully constructed plans unravel when a former romantic interest resurfaces, a high-profile case involving a podcasting couple demands her attention, and the revelation of an infidelity forces her to reconsider her trajectory entirely.
According to BBC promotional materials released on 10 September 2026, the six-part drama features Ritu Arya and Sanjeev Bhaskar as the Kishan family's principal lawyers. The ensemble cast also includes Aysha Kala, Arian Nik, Danny Ashok, Dimitri Leonidas, Mawaan Rizwan, Sindhu Vee, Shalini Peiris and Tom Forbes, alongside guest appearances from Lenny Henry, Jameela Jamil, Victoria Ekanoye and Jane Horrocks. Production wrapped in Manchester in January 2026, meaning the spin-off had completed filming several months before tonight's broadcast.
The Great Celebrity Pottery Throwdown 2026
At 7.45pm on , comedians Lucy Beaumont, Fatiha El-Ghorri and Richard Herring compete in a ceramics challenge that risks considerable wordplay opportunities. Host Liza Tarbuck oversees proceedings as the participants attempt to construct a children's desk set and master the decorative technique of sprigging—a process that could easily lead to comedic mishaps given the contestants' backgrounds in stand-up performance.
Wilderness With Simon Reeve
Simon Reeve returns to television at 9pm on BBC Two with a four-part expedition series that takes him to Earth's most isolated locations. Tonight's episode, titled Papua New Guinea, marks the first instalment of a journey that will see Reeve traverse some of the planet's most challenging terrain. In this opening episode, he ventures into dense jungle in pursuit of the tenkile, a tree-dwelling kangaroo species renowned for its diminutive size and distinctive appearance. The BBC has described the series as a return to some of the world's most remote rainforest regions, including the Torricelli Mountains in Papua New Guinea.
The Blame
Michelle Keegan takes the lead in a new crime drama beginning at 9pm, playing Detective Inspector Emma Crane. The series examines how she confronts institutional misogyny within law enforcement while solving complex criminal cases. When a teenage girl is found murdered under unclear circumstances, the investigation becomes the focal point of the narrative. However, the storyline that demands closest attention involves a parallel thread of systemic corruption and misconduct within the police force itself, which threatens to undermine the investigation and test Crane's integrity.
Apocalypse
's reality experiment continues at 9pm with another instalment of manufactured social drama. Tonight's episode escalates tensions when a dispute over stolen chickens threatens to spiral into violence, with participants brandishing baseball bats in scenes reminiscent of post-apocalyptic fiction. Complicating matters further, one member of the Westsiders faction has grown disillusioned with the group and is contemplating switching allegiances, potentially reshaping the group dynamics.
Gene Wilder: The Art of Survival
At 9pm on Sky Documentaries, filmmaker Chris Smith presents an intimate portrait of the late actor Gene Wilder that complements a 2023 retrospective. Rather than surveying his career achievements, this documentary delves into Wilder's internal struggles—his perfectionism, anxiety, withdrawal from public visibility and philosophical questioning about life's meaning. The film assembles archival material, contemporary interviews and previously unreleased footage to construct a multifaceted portrait, with Wilder's nephew Jordan Walker-Pearlman offering personal recollections that ground the narrative in family perspective.
Film Selections
Wasteman (Cal McMau, 2025) arrives on Netflix as a stark examination of incarceration in the British prison system. The claustrophobic drama follows Taylor, portrayed by David Jonsson—an actor soon to assume the role of Black Panther in forthcoming Marvel productions—as a man imprisoned for manslaughter and battling addiction. With parole eligibility approaching, Taylor attempts to maintain a low profile within the institution. His strategy collapses when a new cellmate, Dee, played by Tom Blyth with menacing intensity, coerces him into assisting with a scheme to seize control of the prison's drug distribution network from Paul, portrayed by Alex Hassell.
How to Live on Earth (Fredi Devas, 2026) launches on YouTube with narration from Benedict Cumberbatch. Described as a compendium of practical responses to climate breakdown, the documentary traverses multiple continents—China, Chad, Brazil and Singapore among them—to showcase solutions across interconnected domains. Chapters address nature conservation and restoration, sustainable food production systems and innovative approaches to assigning economic value to biodiversity. Despite documenting environmental devastation, the film maintains a cautiously hopeful tone through profiles of activists and scientists working toward tangible change.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (Matthew Johnson, 2026) screens at 6.45am and 6.15pm on Sky Cinema Premiere. This mockumentary sequel draws from a 2007 Canadian web series and a 2017 Vice TV sitcom, though familiarity with those predecessors is unnecessary to appreciate the absurdist humour. Toronto-based musicians Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, performing as themselves, devise a scheme to skydive from the CN Tower as a promotional stunt for a concert they have not yet secured. When a time-travelling recreational vehicle inadvertently enters their orbit, their carefully laid plans dissolve into comedic pandemonium.
Live Sport
Premier League football dominates the afternoon schedule, with Bournemouth facing Liverpool at 1pm on Sky Sports Main Event, followed by Fulham versus Manchester United at 4pm. The World Road Championships cycling coverage begins at 2.45pm on BBC Two, broadcasting the women's individual time-trial from Montreal.
What Happens Next
Wilderness with Simon Reeve continues its four-part run in the coming weeks. The Papua New Guinea episode repeats on 20 September 2026 at 21:00 on BBC Two, with subsequent instalments following as part of the scheduled four-episode series.
