Journalistic testimony, dark courtroom history and primetime comedy closure shape Wednesday viewing
Midweek television leans into reflection tonight, blending true crime testimony, courtroom retrospection and series finales across comedy and documentary. It is a schedule that moves between psychological depth and lighter narrative resolution, with factual programming doing much of the emotional heavy lifting.
Here is what stands out on UK screens this evening.
A journalist’s long shadowed archive
Charmed By the Devil, 9pm, Sky Crime
True crime storytelling often hinges on distance. This documentary does the opposite.
When Doug Gretzler was imprisoned in 1973 after a 20‑day killing spree in the United States, he granted extensive access to journalist Laura Greenberg. What followed was an extraordinary body of recorded testimony, more than 350 prison visits and hundreds of hours of conversation, forming one of the most intimate journalist‑subject archives in criminal reporting.
The film is shaped around those recordings, examining motive, psychology and the uneasy relationship between observer and perpetrator. It is less interested in spectacle, more focused on what prolonged proximity to violent crime does to the act of reporting itself.
Sitcom secrets reach their conclusion
Can You Keep a Secret?, 9pm, BBC One
After a run built on blackmail, deception and misdirection, the Dawn French and Mark Heap comedy reaches its closing chapter.
The finale leans into the show’s eccentric tone, with Heap’s supposedly deceased William providing much of the episode’s humour, including a running gag involving spoonfuls of dry cocoa powder. The narrative works to gather its loose threads, suspicious deaths, hidden identities and long held secrets, into a deliberately tidy conclusion.
It remains comedy driven more by character oddness than plot urgency.
Revisiting a cultural courtroom storm
Michael Jackson: The Trial, 9pm, Channel 4
The third instalment of this documentary series continues its examination of the 2005 trial that dominated global media attention.
Using archive footage, testimony and previously unseen material, the episode follows the prosecution’s case construction. It revisits earlier allegations from the 1990s alongside witness accounts that shaped the legal narrative at the time.
The programme sits within Channel 4’s broader trend of retrospective cultural investigations, re‑examining high profile cases through contemporary documentary framing.
Surgical precision under pressure
Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death, 9pm, Channel 5
Channel 5’s medical documentary closes its run with cases that underscore both the fragility and resilience of modern healthcare.
Tonight’s episode follows complex neurosurgery, including a procedure requiring surgeons to access a patient’s brain to separate a tumour from surrounding nerves. The series has consistently balanced clinical detail with patient perspective, and the finale maintains that tone.
It is demanding viewing at times, though grounded in the extraordinary capability of surgical science.
Spy comedy reaches its climax
Black Ops, 9.30pm, BBC One
The giddy espionage satire closes its series run amid carnival chaos.
Dom and Kay’s accidental entanglement in high level conspiracy escalates toward a finale set against the backdrop of Notting Hill Carnival. The show has always thrived on contrast, rookie incompetence set against institutional secrecy, and the concluding episode leans fully into that comic tension.
Romance, nerves and Valentine’s anticipation
First Dates: Be My Valentine, 10pm, Channel 4
With Valentine’s Day approaching, Channel 4’s dating format delivers a themed special.
Returning reality personalities and first‑time diners share the restaurant floor, including a paramedic pairing and a self‑confessed pop superfan searching for connection. As ever, the programme balances awkwardness with sincerity, built around first impressions rather than manufactured drama.
Streaming and watching UK TV from anywhere
With factual crime, comedy finales and documentary programming spread across BBC, Channel 4, Sky and on‑demand platforms tonight, viewing continues to extend beyond scheduled broadcast.
BBC iPlayer, Channel 4 streaming and Sky’s digital services allow audiences to move between live and catch‑up viewing across devices. For viewers outside the UK, access can become restricted by regional licensing.
Secure VPN services are often used to maintain continuity with UK subscriptions abroad. LibertyShield provides encrypted UK connections across phones, tablets and smart TVs, alongside a 48‑hour free trial that allows short‑term access around specific programmes or travel windows.
Wednesday night takeaway
Tonight’s television leans heavily on reflection.
Journalistic testimony revisits violent history. Courtroom narratives resurface. Surgeons confront life altering stakes. Alongside it all, comedy and dating formats provide tonal balance.
It is midweek viewing shaped by perspective as much as plot.