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TV tonight: Sheridan Smith and Michael Socha’s gritty casino drama

Sheridan Smith and Michael Socha star in The Cage, a gritty casino drama, plus more TV highlights for tonight

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Editorial Team
April 26, 2026
3 min read
The Cage Sunday, 9pm, BBC One For his stress-inducing follow-up to gritty police drama The Responder, cop turned screenwriter Tony Schumacher shifts his focus to a chintzy Liverpool casino. Sheridan Smith and Michael Socha star as workers who realise they are both recklessly skimming from the business. She is a stressed single mum trying to keep the family home and he is a semi-recovering addict struggling with gambling, intoxicants and loan sharks. Can they trust each other? The show’s title nods to the cashier’s cage where money and chips are exchanged but Schumacher is clearly more interested in the crushing circumstances trapping his flawed but relatable characters. Graeme Virtue Secret Garden 7pm, BBC One Quiet as a mouse ... Secret Garden on BBC One. Photograph: BC/Plimsoll Productions To the secluded Wye valley in Wales, where Robin and his family live in a cottage “nestled in a sea of green”. Ironically for a wildlife cameraman, there’s plenty of it in Robin’s own backyard, only more hidden, from tiny hibernating dormice to badgers, buff-tailed bumblebees and “trees haunted by tawny owls”, all captured with spectacular photography. Ali Catterall Cruising to the Ends of the Earth 8pm, Channel 4 Unapologetically maximalist, this new travel show promises breathtaking sites and ships. Very big ships. In the first episode, we climb onboard the giant Diamond Princess in Yokohama to sail past jaw-dropping Japanese landscapes. Alongside majestic scenery there are shades of Cruising With Jane McDonald: an ancient sake barrel ceremony comes across like a provincial bingo callout. Priya Elan The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer 7pm, Channel 4 Expect intimate revelations in the tent as the latest Celebrity Bake Off showstopper demands a doughy, floury rendering of the participants’ most memorable date. The celebs are Roman Kemp, Sarah Beeny, Maxine Peake and someone who really shouldn’t struggle at all with this assignment, Chicken Shop Date’s Amelia Dimoldenberg. Phil Harrison Harry Wild 8pm, U&Drama Switch on and switch off ... Harry Wild on U&Drama. Photograph: Szymon Lazewski/AcornTV This campy Irish murder-of-the-week drama makes Murder, She Wrote look highbrow. If you really want to switch off, though, there are probably few better shows on television. This week, a tip from her granddaughter leads Harry (Jane Seymour) and Fergus (Rohan Nedd) to investigate the disappearance of two ballroom dancers. Hannah J Davies Your Song 9pm, Channel 4 The mawkish karaoke competition in the vein of The Piano heads to London this week. It’s yet more punters performing songs “that really tell their story” (read: let the producers crowbar in emo backstories). These include a 90-year-old who got his voice back after a stroke by singing Sinatra and a dad/son duet on a meaningful lullaby. Alexi Duggins Live sport London Marathon, 8.30am, BBC One Tigst Assefa returns after winning in 2025 in a women-only world record time. Championship Football: Coventry v Wrexham, 11.30am, ITV1 At Coventry Building Society Arena. Women’s Champions League Football: Arsenal v Lyon, 3pm, BBC Two The first leg of the semi-final.

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Editorial Team

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