What to Watch Tonight UK · Monday 19 October 2026
Monday night starts with a gunshot and ends in Chinatown. Luke Evans’ The Party reaches its finale on ITV1 at 9pm, John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China follows late on Film4, and — after William Shatner said Star Trek’s optimism matters more than ever — the most hopeful hour of the original series is waiting on Paramount+.
Tonight’s three picks
NEW: The Party (2026) — the finale on ITV1
- Channel: ITV1 at 9pm (episode five of five)
- Runtime: About 60 minutes, including adverts
- Cast: Luke Evans, Tom Cullen and Joanna Scanlan
- Catch up: The earlier episodes are on ITVX
- UK availability: Free-to-air on ITV1 tonight and streaming on ITVX
Elizabeth Day’s novel reaches its final episode tonight. Luke Evans plays Martin Gilmour, a journalist who has spent thirty years loyal to Tom Cullen’s wealthy, charismatic politician Ben Fitzmaurice. A lavish birthday party at the family’s country house ended with a gunshot, and Martin has been in a police interview room ever since. With Ben fighting for his life and the evidence mounting, the final hour has to answer what happened that night — and what the two men have hidden since school.
Perfect if you liked Saltburn, Brideshead Revisited, or Anatomy of a Scandal. Plan the rest of the week with our UK Release Calendar.
HIDDEN GEM: Big Trouble in Little China (1986) on Film4
- Channel: Film4 at 10.55pm
- Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Age rating: 15
- Director: John Carpenter
- Also streaming: Disney+
- UK availability: Free-to-air on Film4 tonight, and on Disney+ in the UK
It flopped in 1986, and plenty of people have still never seen it. Kurt Russell’s truck driver Jack Burton thinks he is the hero, but he is really the sidekick as his friend Wang Chi takes on an ancient sorcerer beneath San Francisco’s Chinatown, with Kim Cattrall alongside. Carpenter mixes kung fu, monsters, magic and a swaggering synth score into something nobody else would have dared to make. It is daft, quick and enormous fun, and ideal late-October viewing if you want thrills without real horror.
Perfect if you liked Escape from New York, Ghostbusters, or Everything Everywhere All at Once.
PRIORITY FRANCHISE CLASSIC: Star Trek — “The City on the Edge of Forever” (1967) on Paramount+
- Service: Paramount+
- Episode: The Original Series, season one, first broadcast in April 1967
- Runtime: About 50 minutes
- Writer: Harlan Ellison
- Why tonight: Today’s Horror and Sci-Fi Brief: Shatner says Star Trek’s optimism matters more than ever, and The Sixty-Year Mission reaches UK cinemas on Wednesday
- UK availability: Streaming now on Paramount+ in the UK
If Shatner is right that hope is what keeps Star Trek alive, this is the episode that proves it. A delirious Dr McCoy leaps through the Guardian of Forever into 1930s New York and changes history, and Kirk and Spock must follow him to put it right. There Kirk falls for Edith Keeler, a mission worker who believes people will one day reach the stars. Joan Collins plays her with real warmth, and the ending is one of the most painful choices Kirk ever makes. Watch it before Wednesday’s documentary.
Perfect if you liked Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Somewhere in Time, or 12 Monkeys. Find your next voyage with our Star Trek watch guide.
Movieversalfilm Takeaway
Make The Party your 9pm appointment, and catch up on ITVX first if you are behind. If you would rather spend the evening somewhere more hopeful, “The City on the Edge of Forever” is under an hour on Paramount+. And if you are still awake at 10.55pm, let Kurt Russell’s Jack Burton talk you through the rest of the night.
What are you watching tonight?