TV tonight: Our highlights for Saturday, September 23

On TV tonight, this year's Strictly stars perform their first routine of the series, BBC Two is screening a recording of Kylie Live in the Park, new detective drama Black Snow gets underway on BBC Four, and both Michael McIntyre's The Wheel and Blankety Blank return for new series. 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

Strictly Come Dancing 2023, 6.15 pm, BBC One

We’re in for a glitter-filled treat as the Strictly class of 2023 are all glammed,sequinned and tanned and ready to take to the floor to perform their first routine of the series – and we get to see who’s ready to rumba and who has two left feet! Judges Shirley, Anton, Motsi and Craig are all set with their score paddles (can someone make sure that Craig actually has a ‘10’ this series?). Meanwhile, Tess and Claudia are on standby to congratulate or console and there’s also a top musical performance to enjoy. But which couples will top (and tail!) the famous leader board at the end of the night?  

★★★★★ HD

Black Snow, from 9 pm, BBC Four/iPlayer (box set)

Detective shows are always grasping for new angles, and this series about a time capsule blowing open an unsolved murder case is an intriguing prospect. Set in the small Australian town of Ashford and following two timelines, in 1994 and 2019, tonight’s opener recounts the death of 17-year-old Isabel Baker (Talijah Blackman-Corowa). It’s a case with racist undertones, especially for the town’s South Sea Islanders community, and it holds special resonance for tortured cold case specialist Detective James Cormack (Vikings’ Travis Fimmel).

★★★★ SMA

Kylie Live in the Park, 10.05 pm, BBC Two

Kylie Minogue headlines this Radio 2 in the Park gig, recorded last Sunday in Leicester – not only Radio 2’s biggest ever live music event outside London but also the Australian superstar singer’s first UK concert in four years. Expect a lot of hits along the lines of Can’t Get You Out of My Head, Better the Devil You Know, Spinning Around and I Believe in You, as well as songs from new album Tension, including the ridiculously catchy Padam Padam. Tonight’s schedule also includes Stock Aitken Waterman at the BBC (8.35 pm), featuring Kylie, Rick Astley and Bananarama among others, and more performances in Kylie at the BBC (11.15 pm). All we can do is step back in time!

★★★★ JP

Blankety Blank, 9.35 pm, BBC One

Bradley Walsh returns to host his third series of the popular quiz show that, although it only seems like yesterday, began in 1979 with Terry Wogan at the helm. Then, Les Dawson took over, before the late Paul O’Grady’s alter ego Lily Savage made it her own from 1997 to 2002. The six celebrities on board to fill in the blanks tonight are Emma Willis, Rylan Clark, Iain Stirling, Anita Rani, Sue Perkins and Desiree Burch.

★★★ MC

Michael McIntyre's The Wheel season 3, 8.35 pm, BBC One

Yes, of course the highlight of our Saturday nights for the next few months will be watching celebrities wearing loads of sequins and fake tan as they foxtrot and salsa on live TV. But we also love to see the ‘expert’ celebs spinning round and waving on The Wheel like gleeful kids on a fairground ride. Tonight, their categories include classic cars (Richard Madeley), dogs (Clare Balding),
TV (Josie Gibson), music from the 2000s (Mollie King) and… hats(!) (Tom Allen). ‘I feel like we need to talk about hats first,’ says baffled host Michael. Precisely what we were thinking, Michael.

★★★★ JP

Best box set on TV tonight

Mad Men, UKTV Play (box set)

The brilliant period drama about a New York advertising agency, which originally aired on BBC Four, is available to stream for free on UKTV Play from Tuesday, September 19. Mad Men follows the fortunes of Sterling Cooper and its many incarnations, from the early 1960s to the early 1970s. In the role of genius ad man Don Draper, a character whose complicated history unfolds throughout the series, Jon Hamm became the breakout star, but it’s really an ensemble piece with a great cast including Elisabeth Moss, John Slattery, Christina Hendricks and Jared Harris. The recipient of numerous Emmys, BAFTAs and Golden Globes, it will no doubt remain a fixture on ‘greatest ever TV’ lists for many years to come (why not check where it placed on What To Watch's Top 100 TV shows list?).

★★★★★ JP

Best film on TV tonight

Kingsman: The Secret Service, 9.35 pm, Channel 4

A streetwise teenager is taken under the wing of his dead father's old colleague, an agent working for a super-secret spy organisation. Will the youngster turn out to be a chip off the old block by proving useful during a battle against a twisted, hi-tech genius? Action comedy based on a comic book, starring Colin Firth, Taron Egerton and Samuel L Jackson.

Live Sport

• Golf: Solheim Cup, from 8 am, Sky Sports Main Event/NOW

• ITV Racing: Live from Ayr, 1 pm, ITV4

• Rugby World Cup 2023: Georgia vs Portugal 12.25 pm (k-o 1 pm) / England vs Chile, 3.55 pm (k-o 4.45 pm) / South Africa vs Ireland, 7.15 pm (k-o 8 pm), ITV1

• Premier League: Burnley vs Manchester United, 7 pm (k-o 8 pm), TNT Sports 1

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss Strictly Come Dancing on TV tonight.

Not found anything you want to watch on TV tonight? Check out our TV Guide.

Happy viewing!