UK TV picks: Ellie White and Natasia Demetriou's sketch show returns to BBC Two

The Guardian has published its TV recommendations for British viewers for the evening of 21 October. The main pick is the BBC Two sketch show Ellie & Natasia, created by comedy performers Ellie White and Natasia Demetriou. It airs at 10pm.

The guide says the show is back for a second series and that the opening episode has not a single weak sketch. Returning characters are joined by new ones. Scenes include lifestyle influencers shopping at Asda, hipsters in an overpriced trinket boutique, and Mary Poppins at a gynaecological appointment. Guest stars include Steve Coogan, Sian Clifford and Jamie Demetriou.

Other programmes

At 8pm on BBC One, The Repair Shop: Beyond the Barn continues as a slight variation on the familiar restoration format. This time the team goes on road trips, and the most notable item is a Ukrainian tsymbaly, a hammered dulcimer, owned by a woman from Cornwall.

On Sky Arts at 8pm, the contest Portrait Artist of the Year 2026 returns. This series' celebrity sitters are Olympic skeleton athlete Matt Weston, poet Nikita Gill, and film director and actor Dexter Fletcher.

BBC Four shows Asteroids: Spark of Life at 8pm, in which Denis Lawson tests a theory that asteroids sparked life on Earth rather than only wiping it out. At 9pm on Channel 4, Kevin McCloud returns to Grand Designs to see whether a 2017 project, Britain's first self-heating home, paid off. At 10pm Channel 4 starts The Experiment, a new social experiment hosted by Mat Fraser and Sophie Morgan.

Film and sport

A live-action remake of Moana (2026, directed by Thomas Kail) is on Disney+, with Dwayne Johnson as Maui and Catherine Laga'aia in the lead role.

For football fans, TNT Sports 2 shows the Champions League match Como v Manchester United at 5pm, followed by Aston Villa v Viking. TNT Sports 1 has Bayern Munich v Arsenal at 7pm.