TV tonight: Our highlights for Thursday, August 24
On TV tonight, Ambulance returns for another series on the front line with the North West Ambulance Service, action-packed thriller Who is Erin Carter? lands on Netflix, Reel Britannia guides us through British cinema history, London Bridge: Facing Terror sees three men who intervened in the 2019 terror incident sharing their own stories, and Tom Kerridge investigates the street food scene in this week's The Hidden World of Hospitality. Here's what you shouldn't miss on TV Tonight.
Our hand-selected recommendations for what's on TV tonight include TV shows, a film, live sport and the latest trending need-to-binge-on-now box set
Keep up to date with the latest soap spoiler storylines on TV tonight with our daily soap synopsis
For more information about what’s on TV tonight see our TV Guide
What's on TV tonight
Our expert TV journalists have picked the best things on TV tonight...
Best TV shows on TV tonight
Ambulance, 8 pm, BBC One
As the BAFTA-winning series returns, there’s added pressure for the control centre and paramedics. The North West Ambulance Service has lost a third of the workforce due to staff striking over pay, working conditions and concerns for patient safety, with a regional operations centre monitoring the impact on the first of two strike days to ensure resources are in the best possible place. Those answering 999 calls are forced to remind often panicky callers of the situation, although many are already aware and sympathetic – including a very distressed mum who manages to get a passer-by to take her six-year-old to hospital after she slipped on a fence and impaled her armpit.
★★★★ JP
The Hidden World of Hospitality, 8 pm, BBC Two
This week, Tom Kerridge is looking at the street-food scene, which has seen a surge in popularity in recent years. It’s a part of the industry he admits he’s not that familiar with, so he’s interested to go behind the scenes with two successful businesses. First, he heads to Digbeth Dining Club in Birmingham to find out more about their business model of providing a platform for independent vendors (‘It’s really smart,’ he concludes), then visits Inkie’s Smokehouse in Cornwall. Apart from setting up in car parks, what they have in common – like several other businesses in this series – is a solid commitment to the local community, which surely bodes well for the future of the industry.
★★★★ JP
Who Is Erin Carter? is an excellent question – and you’ll want to stick with this action-packed thriller to find out the answer! Erin (Evin Ahmad) is a Brit abroad, working as a teacher in Barcelona. But after Erin and her daughter Harper (Indica Watson) get caught up in a robbery in the supermarket and Erin expertly disarms one of the robbers with just the groceries she can lay her hands on, it’s clear she’s more than just a teacher. As word of her heroism spreads, people start asking awkward questions – and Erin gets deeper into trouble. The star-spangled cast also includes Douglas Henshall, Denise Gough, Susannah Fielding and Jamie Bamber.
★★★★★ SP
London Bridge: Facing Terror, 9 pm, Channel 4
When a terror attack occurred near London Bridge in 2019, three men – Darryn Frost, Steven Gallant and John Crilly – helped to stop the attacker, but the full picture is much more complex than ‘heroes’ taking on a ‘villain’. When the past criminality of Steven and John came to light the narrative shifted. Now the three share their stories in detail for the first time.
★★★ IM
Reel Britannia, ITVX (box set)
This documentary series, first shown on BritBox last year, takes a look at the history of British cinema, with an impressive roster of contributors including Mike Leigh, Stephen Frears, Ken Loach and Terence Davies. It begins in the 1960s, which is when cinema moved on from ‘white telephones and people talking like thyet’, as Davies says, to portraying the working class in films such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and A Taste of Honey. It’s a treasure trove of a series, with heaps of clips from those two classics, along with others including The Servant and Whistle Down the Wind, while later episodes look at the decades from the 1970s up to 2010.
★★★★ JP
Best box set on TV tonight
Harlan Coben's Shelter, Prime Video
In Shelter, Mickey Bolitar survives the car crash that kills his father and puts his mother in hospital. While she recovers from her injuries in rehab, he goes to live with his estranged Aunt Shira (Entourage’s Constance Zimmer) in the quiet suburban town of Kasselton, New Jersey.
Struggling with his grief and trying to fit into his new surroundings, Mickey immediately forms a connection with another new student Ashley Kent (Samantha Bugliaro). But when she disappears before their first date, he is determined to find out what’s happened to her.
NC
Best film on TV tonight
Shadowlands, 9 pm, BBC4
Looking ahead to what would have been Sir Richard Attenborough’s 100th birthday, BBC4 celebrates Dickie Darling by showing the BAFTA-winning Shadowlands. Sir Richard directed this 1993 drama which stars Anthony Hopkins as writer CS Lewis, whose faith is tested by the illness of his wife Joy Gresham (a sparky Debra Winger). It’s bookended by a two-part Arena profile, The Many Lives of Richard Attenborough (from 8pm), first shown in 2003 to mark his 80th, which shows his home life as well as charting his extraordinary career in cinema.
★★★★ NT
Soaps
EastEnders, 7.30 pm, BBC One
Emmerdale, 7.30 pm, ITV1
Hollyoaks, 6.30 pm, Channel 4
Home and Away, 6 pm, 5Star
Live Sport
The Hundred 2023, 2.30 pm, Sky Sports Main Event
Athletics World Championships 2023, 5.30 pm, BBC Two / 8 pm, BBC One / 9 pm, BBC Three
ITV Racing Live From York, 1.30 pm, ITV1
If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…
Don't miss Ambulance on TV tonight.
Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide.
Happy viewing!
