What to Watch Tonight UK · Sunday 18 October 2026
Sunday night belongs to David Tennant. Time reaches its finale on BBC One at 9pm, Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men follows late on the same channel, and — after Taika Waititi put his Star Wars film on ice today — his Mandalorian finale is the perfect Disney+ chaser.
Tonight’s three picks
NEW: Time Series 3 (2026) — the finale on BBC One
- Update: We covered Time’s return on 11 October; tonight the series ends with episode three
- Channel: BBC One at 9pm (episode three of three)
- Runtime: About 60 minutes
- Catch up: Episodes one and two are on BBC iPlayer
- UK availability: Free-to-air on BBC One tonight and streaming on BBC iPlayer
Jimmy McGovern and Samuel Bailey’s prison drama reaches its final hour tonight. Inside HMYOI Alderwick, a young offender institution, David Tennant’s custodial manager Bobby Bailey knows more about a fatal incident than he has admitted, and Siobhan Finneran’s chaplain Marie-Louise, who arrived having lost her faith, will not let it lie. Teenage inmates Peter and James face choices that could shape the rest of their lives. McGovern never lets anyone off lightly, and this is where the truth has to come out.
Perfect if you liked the first series of Time with Sean Bean and Stephen Graham, Adolescence, or Blue Lights. Tennant fans can keep going with our Doctor Who watch guide.
HIDDEN GEM: Children of Men (2006) on BBC One
- Channel: BBC One at 11.40pm (until 1.20am)
- Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes
- Age rating: 15
- Director: Alfonso Cuarón
- UK availability: Free-to-air on BBC One tonight
Cuarón’s thriller is set in a Britain of November 2027 — barely a year from now — where no child has been born for eighteen years. Clive Owen’s burnt-out civil servant Theo is asked to get a young pregnant woman to safety, with Julianne Moore and Michael Caine alongside. It made little noise at the box office, yet its long, unbroken takes are still studied by filmmakers. It starts late, so set a recording: this is British-set sci-fi at its most frightening and most humane.
Perfect if you liked 28 Days Later, Gravity, or The Road.
PRIORITY FRANCHISE CLASSIC: The Mandalorian — “Chapter 8: Redemption” (2019) on Disney+
- Service: Disney+
- Episode: Season 1, episode 8 — the first season finale
- Runtime: About 50 minutes
- Director: Taika Waititi, who also voices IG-11
- Why tonight: Tonight’s evening news: Waititi says his Star Wars film is “on ice”
- UK availability: Streaming now on Disney+ in the UK
With Waititi’s Star Wars film paused, spend tonight with the Star Wars story he has already finished. He directed the first season finale of The Mandalorian and voices the reprogrammed droid IG-11, who all but steals the episode. Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin, Gina Carano’s Cara Dune and Carl Weathers’ Greef Karga fight their way out of Nevarro with Grogu as Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon closes in. Funny, tense and surprisingly moving, it shows exactly why fans still want his film.
Perfect if you liked Rogue One, Andor, or Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok. Plan the rest of the saga with our Star Wars watch guide.
Movieversalfilm Takeaway
Make the Time finale your 9pm appointment. If you want something lighter afterwards, the Mandalorian finale on Disney+ is under an hour. And set a recording for Children of Men, a film about a near-future Britain that lands harder every year it gets closer.
What are you watching tonight?