Full BBC Two listings for Saturday 31 October 2026, with times in London local time.

BBC Two opens a new run of Celebrity Race Across the World at half past four

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

The best news on BBC Two today arrives in the afternoon, not the evening. Celebrity Race Across the World begins its fourth series at 4.30pm with a full hour for the first episode, and it is the only series opener on the channel’s day. For a show that earns its audience by the week, starting on a Saturday teatime is a confident choice. Four stars, and the pick of the day.

Straight after it, at 5.30pm, comes Battle of Britain, a 1969 film directed by Guy Hamilton with Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer and Robert Shaw in the cast. It runs 130 minutes and is the long film the afternoon has been building towards. It is also a war film in a slot that most channels would give to a quiz. Three stars, mainly for its place in the day: a thoughtful run from a travel competition into a period war picture.

The evening itself is football. Live Serie A at 7.40pm brings AC Milan against Internazionale for 130 minutes, which takes in the whole of primetime until 9.50pm. Anyone not interested in Italian football has an obvious problem, because BBC Two has nothing else on in those hours. It faces ITV1’s 7.30pm show and a spread of comedy elsewhere, but for a derby-sized match the live slot is the point. Three stars; the grade is the scheduling, not the match, which nobody can promise.

What follows is the evening’s best idea. Top of the Pops: Biggest Hits 1996 runs for an hour at 9.50pm, and then at 10.50pm there is Oasis: Live at the City of Manchester Stadium for 75 minutes. Put together they make a decent argument for staying in for a pair of music hours, the first a chart look-back and the second a full concert. The programme is one of the most durable names in British music television, with more than 2,200 episodes behind it. The concert gets four stars: a band at full volume is exactly what a Saturday night schedule should end on. The Top of the Pops hour gets three.

Earlier, the film choices are worth knowing. Sense and Sensibility (1995), directed by Ang Lee, starts at 1.20pm and runs 135 minutes with Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant. It is a strong afternoon booking and gets four stars. Odette (1950) at 10.30am, with Anna Neagle and Trevor Howard, is a 110-minute morning option.

For younger viewers the morning is Halloween-flavoured: Bro’s in Control opens its fifth series at 7.25am with Fright Night!, Blue Peter has its Halloween Spooktacular at 8.35am, and Stage Stars: Halloween follows at 8am. Gardeners’ World takes an hour at 9.30am.


Also on TV tonight at 9pm

  • BBC One: Wisdom of the Crowd (from 8.30pm)
  • ITV1: The Voice UK (from 8.30pm)
  • Channel 4: New: The F Ward
  • Channel 5: Britain’s Killer Hurricane of 1990 (from 7.45pm)
  • BBC Four: Miss Marple (from 8.30pm)
  • ITV2: Suicide Squad
  • ITV3: Midsomer Murders (from 8pm)
  • ITV4: Live: ITV Racing Live (from 8pm)
  • E4: Celebrity Gogglebox
  • More4: 24 Hours in A&E

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


Frequently asked questions

What’s on BBC Two tonight?

On Saturday 31 October 2026, BBC Two shows Live: Serie A Football at 7.40pm, Top of the Pops at 9.50pm and Oasis: Live at the City of Manchester Stadium at 10.50pm.

Is there a film on BBC Two tonight?

No. BBC Two has no films in its evening schedule on Saturday 31 October 2026.

What time does BBC Two’s evening start?

The evening schedule starts with Live: Serie A Football at 7.40pm.