What to Watch Tonight UK · Tuesday 20 October 2026
Tuesday night belongs to the police, the hunted and the dead who will not stay buried. Blue Lights reaches its fourth episode on BBC One at 9pm, Robert De Niro’s Midnight Run takes the late slot on Film4, and — with Ryan Coogler’s new X-Files now ordered to series — a Halloween-season classic that first aired 31 years ago tonight is waiting on Disney+.
Tonight’s three picks
NEW: Blue Lights (2026) — series four, episode four on BBC One
- Channel: BBC One at 9pm (episode four of six, “So Far”)
- Runtime: 59 minutes
- Age rating: 15; contains strong language
- Cast: Siân Brooke, Martin McCann, Katherine Devlin, Nathan Braniff and Andi Osho
- Catch up: All six episodes are already on BBC iPlayer
- UK availability: Free-to-air on BBC One tonight and streaming on BBC iPlayer
The Belfast police drama is at its midpoint, and tonight it turns on Sandra Cliff. In the aftermath of the trial over Gerry’s murder, Andi Osho’s Sandra Cliff remembers a secret Gerry once shared with her and realises she is holding volatile information that could do real damage. Around her, Grace, Tommy and Annie are three years into the job and running on empty. Few British dramas make a single shift feel this tense, or this human.
Perfect if you liked Line of Duty, Happy Valley, or Say Nothing. Plan the rest of the week with our UK Release Calendar.
HIDDEN GEM: Midnight Run (1988) on Film4
- Channel: Film4 at 11.25pm
- Runtime: 2 hours 2 minutes
- Age rating: 15
- Director: Martin Brest
- UK availability: Free-to-air on Film4 tonight; otherwise to rent or buy digitally in the UK
It is the De Niro film that plenty of people have somehow never seen. He plays Jack Walsh, a bounty hunter who only has to get Charles Grodin’s mild-mannered accountant, who stole from the Mob, from New York to Los Angeles. The FBI, the Mafia and a rival bounty hunter all want him first. What follows is a chase across America that keeps getting funnier and, by the end, surprisingly moving. De Niro and Grodin bicker like an old married couple. Set a recording if 11.25pm is too late.
Perfect if you liked Planes, Trains and Automobiles, The Nice Guys, or Beverly Hills Cop.
PRIORITY FRANCHISE CLASSIC: The X-Files — “The List” (1995) on Disney+
- Service: Disney+ (also on Prime Video, and free with adverts on 5)
- Episode: Season three, episode five, first broadcast in the US on 20 October 1995
- Runtime: About 45 minutes
- Writer and director: Chris Carter
- Why tonight: It first aired 31 years ago today, it is perfect Halloween-season viewing, and Ryan Coogler’s new X-Files has been ordered to series
- UK availability: Streaming now on Disney+ in the UK
Strapped into the electric chair, a death row inmate swears he will come back and kill the five men who wronged him. Soon after, a guard is found dead in the executed man’s cell, and Mulder and Scully arrive at a prison where everyone is suddenly desperate to know whether they are on the list. Chris Carter wrote and directed it himself, and it is grim, sweaty and full of maggots. It is a monster-of-the-week episode, so you can watch it on its own.
Perfect if you liked The Green Mile, Shocker, or Fallen. Find your next case with our X-Files watch guide.
Movieversalfilm Takeaway
Make Blue Lights your 9pm appointment, or binge ahead on iPlayer if you cannot wait a week. If you would rather be scared than stressed, “The List” is under an hour on Disney+. And if you are still up at 11.25pm, let De Niro and Grodin bicker their way across America on Film4.
What are you watching tonight?