TV tonight: Our highlights for Sunday, August 20

On TV tonight, it's the season finale of World On Fire, Rob and Monica head to the Nusfjord Arctic Resort in Norway, and Bear Grylls has a thrilling 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

World on Fire season 2, 9 pm, BBC One

After succumbing to the pressures of leadership during the Siege of Tobruk, Lieutenant Harry Chase (Jonah Hauer-King) returns home to Manchester in tonight’s series finale. With Sir James swanning about the place and Kasia now working for MI5, many things have changed.

She’s mellowed on some fronts, but when it comes to her son Robina remains as intransigent as ever. Harry’s desperate to find out more about his father, who took his own life after returning from the trenches of World War One, and a difficult scene between mother and son highlights the corrosive effect grief can have if left unchecked.

★★★★ SMA

Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby, 8 pm, BBC Two

Rob Rinder and Monica Galetti are given a warm welcome when they visit the Nusfjord Arctic Resort in Norway, a winter wonderland with a fairy-tale feeling. This magical place isn’t just a hotel but an entire ancient fishing village that combines historic preservation and modern luxury.

Rob’s duties include mastering a snow shovel before graduating to tractor-driving, followed by a splash of cold-water swimming. Meanwhile, Monica is mesmerisingly in her element in the kitchen before getting the resort’s trawler shipshape for guests. After a whale of a time, will they experience the Northern Lights?

★★★★ ER

Running Wild with Bear Grylls: The Challenge, 6 pm, National Geographic

In the first of Bear Grylls’ new series, actor Benedict Cumberbatch is joining the survival expert for a life-changing experience on the Isle of Skye, where Benedict’s grandfather served as a World War Two Royal Navy submariner. Bear teaches him how to rappel down a sheer cliff face, and together they brave a freezing waterfall. Then, Benedict must complete the challenge alone in order to earn his extraction from the wilderness.

Along the way, we hear how surviving a terrifying carjacking in Africa as a teenager left Benedict determined to make the most out of life.

★★★★ NH

Best box set on TV tonight

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

The Power of the Dog, 10 pm, BBC Two

In one of his most complex but complete performances, Benedict Cumberbatch towers over all in Jane Campion’s stunning Gothic western. It’s 1920s Montana, and a bullying, viper-like Cumberbatch runs a ranch along with meek brother Jesse Plemons, but finds new targets for his venom when Plemons introduces him to new wife Kirsten Dunst and her willowy son Kodi Smit-McPhee.

A story of uneasy masculinity, repression, revenge and familial spite, but those toxic elements are counterbalanced by simply stunning vistas (New Zealand filling in for the US), in a film that proves Campion (The Piano, Portrait of a Lady) has lost none of her power to awe.

★★★★ NP

Live Sport

• Premier League: West Ham United v Chelsea (Kick-off 4.30 pm), Sky Sports Main Event

If you watch just one thing on TV tonight…

Don't miss World on Fire on TV tonight.

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

Happy viewing!