Full BBC Four listings for Thursday 29 October 2026, with times in London local time.

BBC Four spends its Thursday night on two films, and both are worth the sitting

See also: What's on tonight across all channels | Wednesday's TV guide

BBC Four’s primetime is almost entirely given over to cinema tonight: The Guns of Navarone at 8pm, Halloween at 10.30pm, and a documentary hour to open the evening. If you want a film night without paying for one, this is the channel to pick, and The Guns of Navarone is the better of the two for a full evening’s commitment.

The Guns of Navarone, 8pm

The 1961 film from J. Lee Thompson runs 150 minutes, the longest programme in primetime by a distance. The cast is Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle and James Robertson Justice, which is a lot of weight for one picture. It is a war and adventure film. BBC One has The Celebrity Traitors against it, and the other channels have NCIS, Casualty 24/7 and The Yorkshire Vet. None of those asks for two and a half hours of anyone’s attention, and that is the point. Four stars, and the pick.

Halloween, 10.30pm

John Carpenter’s 1978 film with Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, P. J. Soles and Nancy Kyes lands two days before Halloween night. It runs 90 minutes and finishes at midnight, and sitting it directly after a 150-minute war film makes for a long night. It will have fewer rivals than it deserves: the opposition at 10.30 is Newsnight, Question Time and a run of regional news. Four stars on its own merits. If you are choosing only one, take the earlier film and record this.

Battlefield Britain at 7pm

Battlefield Britain is a documentary series with one series and eight episodes to its name. It is the least pressured part of the evening and a fair way to warm up, though it faces The One Show and NCIS at the same time. Three stars: a decent hour, not a reason to rearrange the evening.

Overnight

The overnight and daytime hours are given to Timewatch, Secrets of Skin, Gareth Edwards’s Great Welsh Adventure and The Planets, followed by the channel’s own continuity strand for most of the day. Secrets of Skin and The Planets have each aired on four days in the window, and Gareth Edwards’s Great Welsh Adventure on seven. None of it needs your attention.


Also on TV tonight at 9pm

  • BBC One: The Celebrity Traitors (from 8pm)
  • BBC Two: Live: UEFA Women’s Champions League Football (from 7.30pm)
  • ITV1: Long Lost Family
  • Channel 4: Titanic: Building the World’s… (from 8pm)
  • Channel 5: The Yorkshire Vet (from 8pm)
  • ITV2: Big Brother
  • ITV3: Vera (from 8pm)
  • ITV4: Benidorm
  • E4: Gogglebox
  • More4: Our Yorkshire Pub Rescue with Jon Richardson

Every channel tonight, side by side · Films on TV tonight · Tomorrow’s TV


Frequently asked questions

What’s on BBC Four tonight?

On Thursday 29 October 2026, BBC Four shows Battlefield Britain at 7pm, The Guns of Navarone at 8pm and Halloween at 10.30pm.

Is there a film on BBC Four tonight?

No. BBC Four has no films in its evening schedule on Thursday 29 October 2026.

What time does BBC Four’s evening start?

The evening schedule starts with This is BBC Four at 6.58pm.