Thank You Sir Kev and The Celebrity Traitors Finale: TV highlights this week

Amy Winehouse: Back to Black at 20 (Saturday 24/10/26, BBC Two 9.30pm)

Words by Sarah Morgan

Rehab, Love Is a Losing Game, Tears Dry on Their Own, Me & Mr Jones, the title track…

Thanks to a long list of bangers, including those listed above, there’s no wonder Back to Black, Amy Winehouse’s second, and final, studio album is regarded as a modern classic.

For those who bought a copy on its original release, it probably doesn’t feel as if it was 20 years ago when it was launched in the UK. The music still feels fresh too, although the fact that Winehouse always had a retro vibe perhaps means that it’ll never go out of fashion anyway.

On Wednesday, October 21, at the Roundhouse in Camden, London, The Amy Winehouse Band took to the stage in a special celebratory concert hosted by Jo Whiley and led by the album’s producers, Mark Ronson and Saleem Remi, and the singer-songwriter’s longstanding musical director Dale Davis.

Ahead of the performance, Ronson remarked: “I’m honoured to be asked to come celebrate Amy alongside Salaam and some amazing artists worthy of singing her songs. Doing justice to the legacy of Back To Black is the order of the night.”

Those “amazing artists” include Baby Rose, Corinne Bailey Rae, FLO, Jessie Reyez, Jorja Smith, Lianne La Havas, Nia Smith, Sasha Keable, Skye Newman, and Yebba, as well as writer and producer p*nut.

“Funny how time flies,” added Remi. “I can’t believe it’s been 20 years already. I’m excited to see what these ladies bring to their versions of these songs we know and love.”

Back to Black has just been reissued in a series of special formats, which include rare B-sides, unreleased demos and a a performance recorded live in Amsterdam. Fans will no doubt be lapping them up, desperate to get their hands on anything new from their idol, who passed away in 2011, aged just 27.

“It’s crazy that six songs made in a fit of furious musical infatuation would matter so deeply to so many people 20 years later,” says Ronson of his contribution to the LP, before claiming that “Amy was one of one. One-of-a-kind artist. One-of-a-kind spirit. One-of-a-kind soul. Experiencing that level of talent, passion, humour, honesty and love for what she created was a gift.”

Now those of us who couldn’t get a ticket to the Roundhouse gig (or who were there and want to relive it all over again) are getting a chance to see it during an evening dedicated to Winehouse.

It’s undoubtedly the highlight of the night, but there’s plenty more to enjoy too. It’s preceded by Amy Winehouse at the BBC at 8.35pm and followed by the documentary Amy Winehouse In Her Own Words at 10.35pm, which features interviews with the performer that help chart her career from its launch in 2004.

We’re then treated to her sets at Glastonbury in 2007 at 11pm. Finally, Amy Winehouse: A Life in Ten Pictures rounds off the evening at 12am by using candid photographs of her, as well as testimony from friends and family, to tell her story.

It’s a fitting tribute to a star who continues to shine bright.

This City Is Ours (Sunday 25/10/2026, BBC One, 9pm)

Words by Richard Jones

It’s a dilemma regularly faced by the protagonist in family crime dramas – start afresh on the straight and narrow with the people you love, or carry on getting further dragged into a life of felony and atrocity.

That’s exactly where we find Michael Kavanagh (James Nelson-Joyce) when hit BBC series This City Is Ours returns for a second eight-part run tonight.

“Michael is a very complex character; he’s torn between two worlds,” the Liverpudlian actor explains.

“One is with the love of his life, Diana (Hannah Onslow), and with them hopefully starting a family, and then there’s this other side of his life, where he’s involved in crime.”

Picking up from where things were left at the end of the first season, Michael and Diana are more in love than ever when they arrive in their Spanish Happy Town.

However, they are soon dragged back into the world of crime to answer questions around Ricardo’s death, and there’s a new Colombian to deal with – Ricardo’s younger brother Felipe (Álvaro Morte).

In Liverpool, a coup within the Phelan firm sends the business into disarray, and to make matters worse, there’s a new threat on Merseyside – Ozzie Thompson (Shaun Evans).

A newly-released old-school gangster from Ronnie’s past, he is out looking for compensation or revenge, whichever comes first.

Michael keeps a low profile as his investigation into Ricardo’s murder leads him into difficult territory, with no choice but to devise a plan that hinges on Diana’s cooperation, testing her loyalties more than ever before.

As Banksey’s son Freddie forms an unlikely friendship with Ozzie, and the Phelans begin exploring business opportunities with a new supplier, more enemies lurk in the shadows.

Michael may have no choice but to once again join forces with the Phelans, but that goes against everything he has promised to Diana.

London-born actress Onslow believes there is one strong theme running through this second run. “For me, series two is all about consequences,” she says.

“The consequences of people’s decisions and how your past will always sneak back up, how you can’t run away from what you’ve done and the decisions that you’ve made, how you can go in one direction with your life, or you can go in the other, but it’s your choices that ultimately define you. In this series, we really see that come into play.

“What (Creator and Lead Writer) Stephen Butchard has done is just incredible, and I don’t think viewers will expect what’s coming, none of us really knew where the scripts were going.

“We had all these predictions, but none of them were right!”

Returning to the cast alongside Nelson-Joyce and Onslow are Jack McMullen as Jamie Phelan, Mike Noble as Banksey, Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Cheryl Crawford, and Julie Graham as Elaine Phelan, the widow of Sean Bean’s murdered gang leader Ronnie.

Glaswegian Graham, who is no stranger to crime dramas, having appeared in Taggart, Shetland, Midsomer Murders and Silent Witness down the years, explains what sets This City Is Ours apart.

“It’s a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat story about family, succession, betrayal, love, family, all the good stuff, all the big stuff!

“It carries on from series one, but it’s much bolder, and there are lots of twists and turns.”

Thank You Sir Kev (Monday 26/10/2026, BBC One, 8pm)

Words by Richard Jones

Sir Kevin Sinfield is a real-life superhero.

At the beginning of the month, the former rugby league star, who had a glittering 18-year playing career at Leeds Rhinos and with England and Great Britain, delivered the the Super League trophy ahead of the Grand Final in front of 70,000 cheering fans at Old Trafford.

He arrived after completing another epic fundraising challenge in memory of his friend and former teammate Rob Burrow CBE, and in aid of the thousands of others suffering from motor neurone disease (MND).

Sir Kevin had ran seven ultra marathons in seven days – stopping at all 12 English Super League clubs along the way.

And as he stood on the pitch at the Theatre of Dreams, he said: “Rob would be so proud of everyone who’s cared and showed the love.

“It’s been a wonderful thing to be part of for seven years and we’ll see so many great people and families today, we’ve just got to keep helping.”

Since 2020, the Oldham-born star, who turned 46 last month and works as England rugby union men’s skills and kicking coach, has helped raise more than £13million for MND charities. Thank You Sir Kev tells his inspiring story.

It all began in 2020, when Sinfield ran seven marathons in seven days to raise money to help Rob, who had been diagnosed with MND the year before.

He aimed to raise £77,777 ­– in honour of Burrow’s No.7 shirt – for Rob and his family. But in just seven days, he had raised more than £2million.

It was the first of seven astonishing challenges that Kevin took on over the next six years, and as well as raising millions of pounds, he has also increased awareness around MND which 5,000 people in the UK suffer from.

This documentary, made by BBC Breakfast, reflects on what motivates Sir Kev, and features interviews with family, friends, people who live with and are affected by MND, and people he has inspired on his journey.

Former England rugby union captain Lewis Moody and ex-Ipswich Town and Sunderland footballer Marcus Stewart who both suffer from MND, talk about the difference he has made to them.

And Rob’s wife Lindsey reminds viewers that: “As Rob used to say, everyone needs a friend like Kev”.

On October 7, Sinfield became only the second rugby league player ever to be knighted for services to the sport.

After being presented with his medal by Prince William at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, Kevin said his late friend Rob would be “laughing” but “enormously proud”.

Typically humble, he also said he would find it hard getting used to the title ‘Sir Kevin’, adding, “I don’t think I ever will.”

Although Sinfield has stated his recent challenge will be his last (on those shores at least), he has said he would now like to take the 7 in 7 concept to Australia and New Zealand in 2027 to “ensure that collaboration is taking place between nations that are working incredibly hard to try and find a cure and to look after families better”.

“I have always said I am committed to this cause for life.”

Not only is Sir Kev an inspiration to people in this country, he is a global icon, and bona fide hero.

Blue Lights (Tuesday 27/10/26, BBC1, 9pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

It’s become a cliché to say that a drama’s setting is like an extra character, but for Blue Lights, which is now on fourth acclaimed series, it’s true. One reason it stands out from the many other police dramas on our screens is that its set in Northern Ireland, and explores the unique challenges that presents.

As Katherine Devlin, who plays cop Annie Conlon, says: “The heart and soul of Blue Lights is Belfast, Northern Ireland and the people who live there.

“While the show may feature riots, investigations and moments of high tension, its emotional core lies in the quieter scenes, and in the conversations in the locker rooms and shared moments like eating a traybake in a patrol car. It’s also about the bonds and friendships that grow between colleagues.

She adds: “It’s those moments and interactions that reveal the complexity, vulnerability and humanity of the characters. That’s when they really see each other.”

Her on-screen colleague Siân Brooke, who plays Grace, agrees. She says: “The key themes of the show this series are human kindness and the theme of home and what that means to people. The writers are clever in how they weave elements of what’s happening in the real world with storylines from series one through to four and connect the dots.

“The writers don’t shy away from the seriousness of recent events in Northern Ireland. They’ve humanised those stories and taken a tough job such as policing and given it a heart too. They also don’t tell you what to think. The viewer has both sides of the story.”

As well as the writers, the cast are keen to praise lead director Angela Griffin, who first found fame on the other side of the camera as an actress in shows including Coronation Street and Waterloo Road.

Martin McCann, aka Stevie Neil, says: “Angela brings an enormous amount of heart and empathy to the job. She understands these characters with real tenderness, and she creates an environment where you feel able to bring something of yourself to the role.

“For Angela, the story is everything, and the character within that story is everything. She understands that you can have all the action in the world, but if you don’t care about the people at the centre of it, none of it matters. That understanding has been hugely valuable to the series.”

And of course, the cast themselves deserve their fair share of the credit for making the show so gripping – and as we’ve now reached the penultimate episode of the current run, the tension is growing.

Tonight, Sandra (Andi Osho) looks for help as she tries to expose Gerry’s secrets, while Tommy (Nathan Braniff) and Shane (Frank Blake) inch closer to exposing the drug pipeline.

Meanwhile, Grace is following her instincts, but in doing so, is there a risk that she’ll put Annie in danger?

Celebrity Race Across the World (Wednesday 28/10/26, BBC One, 8pm)

Words by Sarah Morgan

Celebrity challenge shows… there are so many of them around these days that some tend to either blend into one, or be instantly forgotten.

But there are those that stand out from the crowd. Strictly Come Dancing is one (even if some of the supposedly famous faces taking part are now less well known than the dancers they’re paired with) and The Celebrity Traitors.

The latter has, once again, been a ratings juggernaut for the BBC, with viewers lapping up the fun, games, antics and traumas of the participants. However, the latest run reaches its conclusion this week, so if you’re already wondering how to fill the gap in your life it will leave behind, don’t worry because the Beeb has a ready-made replacement – Celebrity Race Across the World.

Both the regular version and its spin-off have gone down a treat with viewers. Last year’s famous winners were Roman Kemp and his sister Harleymoon, who crossed the finish line in La Guajira, Colombia, two minutes ahead of runners-up fellow presenter Tyler West and his fiancée Molly Rainford (incidentally, they met while taking part in Strictly in 2022).

Broadcaster Anita Rani and her father Bal finished six hours later, with actor Dylan Llewellyn and his mother Jackie having dropped out earlier due to a lack of funds.

Roman described the experience, which featured a trip in a 4×4, a boat ride and a foot race up a cliffside, which came after a 3,666-mile journey across the largely untouched Caribbean and Pacific coast of Central America, as inspiring “the most adrenaline, most emotion I’ve ever had.”

The four teams who can expect a similar rollercoaster ride this time around are Brit award-winning singer-songwriter Ella Eyre and her childhood friend Nana, veteran sports broadcaster Jeff Stelling and his son Matt, siblings Princess and Junior Andre (the children of Katie Price and her former husband Peter Andre) and acclaimed singer, songwriter and musician Sam Ryder, who’ll be accompanied by his best friend and tour manager Kaz.

Their challenge will see them set off on an epic trip of more than 4,500 miles. It starts at the Malayan city of Kuching, and is set to end on the southern tip of Australia in Melbourne. Along the way they will take in the sights and sounds of prehistoric jungles and the heartlands of Borneo; five checkpoints await before the winners can claim victory.

As they have only £26 per person to spend each day, they must be smart with their money while also relying on the kindness of strangers.

“This year’s pairs navigate a journey that lays bare two extremes of today’s world,” says Tim Harcourt, chief creative officer at production company Studio Lambert. “We can’t wait to share how they get on. Contestants give unfiltered and honest reactions to the experiences they face that are as demanding as they are joyful.

“That’s so rare on television and it’s clear audiences love seeing their favourite stars deal with these daring challenges in spectacular worlds.”

We do indeed!

The Madame Blanc Mysteries (Thursday 29/10/26, 5, 9.05pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

It’s not quite Halloween yet, but as The Madame Blanc Mysteries returns for a fifth series, there’s a good reason the characters are counting down the days until Christmas.

Antiques dealer and amateur sleuth Jean White (played by the drama’s co-creator and co-writer Sally Lindsay) is now engaged to Dom Hayes (Steve Edge), and the pair are due to tie the knot on December 24.

However, Sally points out that despite her impending big day, Jean will have more than wedding-planning on her mind. She says: “We’ll get to the wedding, but there is so much more going on this series.

“We’ve brought back Dom’s daughter Claudie who is now pregnant and there is not a very nice ex-boyfriend called Marco who comes into play. There’s a big story arc. It’s all going on. And it’s still just me and Sue Vincent writing it all.”

And, of course, there are still murders to investigate in the deadly French village of Sainte Victoire. In the opening episode, it’s Mayor Stephanie Arquette who comes to a sticky end when her body is discovered in the historic fountain.

The death comes at a sensitive time for Saint Victoire, as tensions have been building over a controversial redevelopment plan to change the square.

As Jean is drawn into Caron’s (Alex Gaumond) investigation, it initially seems that Stephanie’s death might be linked to her financial dealings and role in the redevelopment. However, Jean can’t help wondering if the key to the mystery lies in the fountain itself. Did someone kill to protect a secret from being unearthed?

Sally reveals that starting the series with this particular case was a deliberate decision by the writers. “I wanted to be quite brutal with this first one just to get us back in the world. This murder is quite gruesome and visceral. It’s in the square so the audience is straight back into Saint Victoire. It’s like we’ve never been away.

“I won’t give anything away, but I’m fascinated by crimes where people have got away with stuff for years and are still walking around free. In drama, we always tie everything up. But that’s not the truth.”

If that sounds a little dark, rest assured that Madame Blanc Mysteries still has plenty of humour, as you’d expect from a show that includes Sue Holderness, Robin Askwith and Paul Chuckle among its regular cast.

The latest run will also include guest appearances from more comedy ringers, including Su Pollard, Lesley Joseph and Sally’s old friend Jason Manford, whose Madame Blanc debut has been a long time coming.

Sally reveals: “Jason’s been saying, ‘When am I going to be in Madame Blanc?’ I’ve known him since he was 17 and I was 24. I said, ‘I keep asking but you’re never free.’ He is the busiest man alive.”

In fact, it seems even now he’s managed to squeeze the show into his schedule, the timing was still tight. Sally laughs: “Jason nailed it. Of course he did.

“I would have also loved him to sing… but we just didn’t have the time.”

The Celebrity Traitors Finale (Friday 30/10/26, BBC1, 8pm)

Words by Rachael Popow

As anyone who has ever watched any iteration of The Traitors will know, it’s a game of deception and detection.

That’s one of the reasons actor Richard E Grant wanted to take part in the series. Before entering the castle, he said: “I think it’s a most brilliant game, where even Stephen Fry’s encyclopaedic knowledge of Sherlock Holmes couldn’t solve the mystery. You can’t have any clue.

“The Traitors are decided by a team of people and Claudia Winkleman, so there’s nothing to go on. Pack mentality prevails, where suspicion turns into accusation.”

So, it came as something of a surprise when in the first episode of the series, he was chosen to be a Traitor and immediately gave the Faithful the biggest clue possible. If you didn’t see it, when comedian Joe Lycett asked him which side he was on, he happily confessed to being a Traitor, with the result he was banished at the first opportunity.

Speaking on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg afterwards, Richard said: “It was a completely catastrophically idiotic thing to do. I can only imagine the faces of the producers looking at each other and mouthing ‘he said what?!’. The strategy of no strategy is the strategy, clearly.”

In his defence, he’s not the only person whose game plan went out of the castle window in the opening episodes.

For example, comedian James Acaster was looking forward to playing as a Faithful. Before the series began, he said: “This is the only time I’ll be able to play it, and I like being in a position of figuring something out rather than having the information the Traitors have.”

Mathematician Hannah Fry had a similar outlook, saying: “I think it would be really fun to be a Traitor, like amazingly fun but I want to enjoy this experience as much as I possibly can for however long it lasts, and I think that I’ll enjoy it more if I get to be a truer, more honest version of myself.”

She’d even come up with spreadsheets and formulas to help her root out the Traitors, which was all for naught when, like James Acaster, she was somewhat reluctantly recruited to join the dark side. Now though, as the final arrives, have any of the Traitors discovered they actually do quite enjoy a bit of backstabbing and treachery? And will anyone else have accidentally given themselves away?

We’re about to find out as Claudia Winkleman introduces the last episode, and as anyone who saw last year’s Celebrity Traitors finale proved, when Alan Carr snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, it’s all very much all still to play for.

We’ll then get some post-match analysis courtesy of The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked, which will feature reactions and interviews with some of the last famous faces standing.

And for anyone who is now wondering where their next helping of Traitors action is coming from, the good news is that the latest series of The Traitors Ireland begins on BBC3 at 10pm.