TV tonight: Our highlights for Saturday, August 19
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On TV tonight, there's a 5-star rated episode of Casualty, it's the series finale of Champion, and BBC Two pays tribute to Johnny Cash. 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
Casualty, 8:25 pm, BBC One
There’s a documentary feel to tonight’s visit to Holby City Hospital, which fosters an effective sense of immediacy and intimacy. The ED’s overrun with patients from a festival and it’s like eavesdropping as we follow the medics on a hectic, unpredictable shift. This style particularly lends itself to Donna’s (Jaye Jacobs) storyline.
She alternates between her roles of mum, nurse – the death of a young patient and his mother’s grief are devastating – and guilty secret-keeper, unaware that Max is also watching her. Amid the chaos and casualties he confronts the troubled nurse, who tearfully confesses the truth about the car crash… An excellent episode.
★★★★★ ER
Champion, 9:15 pm, BBC One
As the final episode opens, six months have passed and Vita (Déja J Bowens) not only has a slot performing at the Best British Music Awards ceremony but is also nominated in the Best Newcomer category. Her excitement is marred by the fact that Bosco has disappeared and hasn’t replied to any of her messages – and the series’ clever use of social-media screen pop-ups is never so poignant as when three dots briefly pulse next to his name, then vanish.
Beres, who’s emerged as the villain of the series, is also keen to find him, but his concern is purely money-driven… Here’s hoping we get a second series.
★★★★ JP
The Man Who Stole The Scream, 9 pm, Sky Documentaries
During the 1994 Winter Olympics in Norway, master criminal Pål Enger carried out the outrageous theft of Edvard Munch’s iconic painting The Scream from Oslo’s National Gallery. This documentary sees Enger tells his side of the story and explain why, despite the painting’s £100 million value, the robbery wasn’t motivated by money.
We also hear from an undercover cop who launched an elaborate sting to recover the painting, as the film reproduces the dramatic cat-and-mouse chase that followed the biggest theft in Norway’s history.
★★★★ NH
Johnny Cash Night, from 9:30 pm, BBC Two
Tonight, BBC2 pays tribute to Johnny Cash, beginning with 1969 documentary The Man, His World, His Music, filmed shortly after Cash and fellow country singer June Carter were married. The movie version of their story, Walk the Line, is at 11pm, with Joaquin Phoenix and an Oscar-winning Reese Witherspoon. There’s also a Later Presents… tribute (10.30 pm), recorded after Cash died in 2003.
★★★★ JP
Best box set on TV tonight
Heartstopper season 2, Netflix
In Heartstopper season 2, Nick and Charlie navigate their new relationship; Tara and Darcy face unforeseen challenges and Tao and Elle work out if they can ever be more than just friends. With exams on the horizon, a school trip to Paris and a prom to plan, the gang has a lot to juggle as they journey through the next stages of life, love and friendship.
LB
Best film on TV tonight
Mulan, 6:40 pm, BBC One
Going straight to Disney+ in 2020, this live-action remake of the 1998 animation went somewhat under the radar. While the plot of the story is the same – Mulan (Yifei Liu) disguises herself as a boy to take her father’s place in the army to defend 4th-century China from invaders – there are key elements missing from the original, not least the comic dragon sidekick.
And we get two new villains: Jason Scott Lee’s warrior and Gong Li’s shapeshifting witch. But this is all about the big battles, and like director Niki Caro’s Whale Rider, the focus is firmly on a girl who has enough faith in herself to fight against convention.
★★★★ NT
Live Sport
Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United (Kick-off 5.30 pm), Sky Sports Main Event
If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…
Don't miss Casualty on TV tonight.
Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide.
Happy viewing!
