Mountain survival, Michelin‑level pressure and primetime reality spectacle shape Tuesday night viewing
Tuesday night television leans into competition, both physical and culinary, with a primetime schedule built around endurance, skill and emotional pressure. From mountain climbing novices to professional kitchen veterans, tonight’s viewing centres on people pushed beyond comfort, sometimes willingly, sometimes otherwise.
Here is what stands out across UK screens.
Strangers, altitude and instant friction
The Summit, 9pm, ITV1
Reality television rarely wastes time manufacturing tension, yet The Summit hardly needs encouragement.
Twelve strangers, none of whom have climbed before, are dropped into the New Zealand wilderness and tasked with reaching a mountain peak. The physical challenge is clear, but the social one quickly takes over. Alliances form, patience frays and group dynamics begin to dictate survival as much as stamina.
Hovering above it all is a watchful helicopter presence, part logistical support, part psychological pressure. The “leave no one behind” rule ensures that individual weakness becomes collective consequence.
It is part adventure series, part social experiment, with the bickering almost as central as the climb itself.
Professional kitchens reopen their doors
MasterChef: The Professionals, 8pm, BBC One
Few cooking competitions carry the same culinary weight as this one.
The Professionals returns with its familiar format, opening with a skills test designed to unsettle even experienced chefs. This time the challenge comes from 2016 winner Gary Maclean, now national chef of Scotland, setting a high technical bar from the outset.
There is also a judging shift. Matt Tebbutt joins Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti, bringing a slightly different dynamic to the tasting table as contestants present signature dishes under intense scrutiny.
Precision, composure and recovery under pressure remain the currency of survival.
Drag Race spectacle escalates
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs the World, 9pm, BBC Three
Competition of a very different flavour arrives on BBC Three.
The international spin‑off revives its Snatch Game format, here reworked with a pageant theme. Celebrity judges Kimberly Wyatt and Ashley Roberts join the panel, alongside Jade, Alan Carr and Michelle Visage, reinforcing the show’s blend of parody, performance and personality theatre.
As ever, success hinges on wit as much as presentation.
Real‑world emergency response
999: What Happened Next, 10pm, Channel 4
Channel 4 pivots toward factual policing with a programme built around real incidents and their aftermath.
Tonight’s cases range from a father fleeing with his son after a supermarket altercation to a deeply unsettling home invasion involving an elderly victim. Through bodycam footage, interviews and reconstruction, the series traces how emergency services respond once initial calls are made.
It remains sobering viewing, grounded in procedural reality rather than dramatics.
Adoption hopes and family ties
Trying, 10.40pm, BBC One
The adoption sitcom continues its gentle emotional rhythm with a double bill.
Nikki and Jason set their hopes on adopting a child named Princess, though complications quickly emerge around separating siblings. Alongside that storyline, a bereavement pulls Jason back to Cornwall, reconnecting him with unresolved personal history.
The series continues to balance humour with grounded emotional stakes.
Film picks
Alice, Darling, 9pm, Film4
Anna Kendrick steps away from comedic roles in a psychological drama centred on coercive control. A lakeside trip between friends becomes the setting for emotional unravelling as signs of manipulation surface.
Queer, 11pm, BBC Two
Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of William Burroughs’ work delivers a visually rich, emotionally restless story of obsession and unreciprocated desire, anchored by a striking central performance.
Live sport
Football leads tonight’s live sport coverage.
West Ham vs Manchester United airs at 7pm on TNT Sports 1, part of a midweek Premier League round spread across TNT channels through to Thursday.
Streaming and watching while travelling
With reality television, live football and on‑demand drama spread across ITV, BBC and TNT platforms tonight, viewing habits continue to shift toward app‑based streaming across multiple devices.
ITVX, BBC iPlayer and TNT’s digital services make it straightforward to follow live and catch‑up programming on phones, tablets and smart TVs. For viewers travelling outside the UK, access can become restricted due to broadcast licensing.
Secure VPN connections are often used to maintain access to existing subscriptions abroad. LibertyShield offers encrypted UK server access across devices, alongside a 48‑hour free trial that suits shorter trips or single‑event viewing windows, allowing audiences to keep pace with their usual TV line‑up wherever they are.
Tuesday night takeaway
Tonight’s television is built around challenge.
Physical endurance in remote landscapes. Technical mastery in professional kitchens. Emotional resilience in adoption journeys. Competitive performance under studio lights.
It is a schedule driven less by spectacle alone, more by how people respond when pressure is applied.