Full BBC One listings for Wednesday 28 October 2026, with times in London local time.

BBC One’s night starts at eight, and it ends in a horror film

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

BBC One has put its weight on one slot tonight: the first episode of Celebrity Race Across the World at 8pm. Everything before it is the usual early-evening furniture, and what follows is a good hour of family history and a late film for anyone who stays up. If you only tune in once, make it eight o’clock.

Celebrity Race Across the World is listed as series four, episode one, and a series opener on a Wednesday at 8pm is the BBC telling you where it thinks the audience is. It is an hour long, which gives it room to breathe. It also has the hardest opposition of the night: The Repair Shop is on BBC Two at the same time, NCIS is on 5USA, and Channel 5 has Murder Scene: The Incident Room. None of those are a like-for-like swap, so this is a choice about mood more than about quality. Four stars, and the pick, because opening episodes of a travel format are where the casting and the route get set.

The 9pm slot goes to Who Do You Think You Are?, and tonight’s subject is Ruth Jones, in what the schedule marks as series 17, episode three. The series has run to 125 episodes, and that longevity is the case for it: a format that has lasted this long rarely needs defending. It is a sturdy hour to follow the 8pm opener. Over on BBC Two, Spotlight has Part 1 of a report on a Belfast murder, so viewers who want something harder at nine have an obvious alternative. Four stars, and it would be the pick on a night without the series opener.

Before all that, EastEnders at 7.30 is episode 172. The soap has reached 7,512 episodes in total, which says a good deal about how firmly it holds the half hour. The One Show comes before it at seven. Neither needs a pitch. EastEnders gets three stars as a reliable fixture rather than an event.

The surprise is at the bottom of the listings. After BBC News at Ten and a ten-minute BBC London bulletin, The Monkey starts at 22:40 and runs for 90 minutes. It is a 2025 supernatural horror film directed by Oz Perkins, with Theo James, Tatiana Maslany and Elijah Wood in the cast. Putting a horror film this late, three days before Halloween, is a sensible bit of scheduling, and the only question is stamina on a work night. The same slot offers Newsnight on BBC Two for anyone who prefers to wind down. Three stars: a decent late-night gamble, and an easy one to record rather than stay up for.

Daytime is the BBC’s familiar mix of quizzes, property and antiques. Pointless is on at 17:15 and Bridge of Lies at 16:30, and the evening news arrives at six. There is nothing there that needs a mention beyond the table below.

The short version: eight for the race, nine for the family tree, and 22:40 only if you are the sort who likes a scare after the news.


Also on TV tonight at 9pm

  • BBC Two: Spotlight
  • ITV1: Carabao Cup: Liverpool v Chelsea (from 7.30pm)
  • Channel 4: Grand Designs
  • Channel 5: Cause of Death
  • BBC Four: The Planets
  • ITV2: Big Brother
  • ITV3: Midsomer Murders (from 8pm)
  • ITV4: Sharpe (from 7.20pm)
  • E4: Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA
  • More4: Our Tiny Islands

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


Frequently asked questions

What’s on BBC One tonight?

On Wednesday 28 October 2026, BBC One shows The One Show at 7pm, EastEnders at 7.30pm, Celebrity Race Across the World at 8pm, Who Do You Think You Are? at 9pm, BBC News at Ten at 10pm and BBC London at 10.30pm. That is 6 of 7 programmes in primetime; the full schedule is on this page.

Is there a film on BBC One tonight?

Yes: The Monkey (2025) at 10.40pm.

What time does BBC One’s evening start?

The evening schedule starts with BBC News at Six at 6pm.