Easter 2026 on TV and BBC iPlayer, Radio and BBC Sounds
Settle in for a feast of fun for all ages across the Easter Bank Holiday weekend
Looking for something to watch this Easter weekend?
Whether you’re seeking drama, entertainment or family fun, there's something for everyone on iPlayer.
Here's just a selection of the Easter delights...
- Read more: Faith and Hope season returns for 2026
Harry Clark Goes to Rome
Blending warmth, wit and emotional honesty, Harry Clark Goes to Rome follows Harry Clark’s personal journey to re-connect with his Catholic faith in these modern times.
In a one-hour documentary for BBC One and iPlayer, 25-year-old Harry Clark (of BBC Traitors and Pilgrimage: The Road to the Alps fame) embarks on a personal pilgrimage to Rome in search of answers about belief, identity, and what it means to be a “good” Catholic today. He also has an audacious quest to meet one of the most powerful figures in the world - and latest addition to his (spiritual) family; the recently appointed Pope Leo XIV.
- Watch Harry Clark Goes to Rome from Thursday 2 April and add to your iPlayer Watchlist
- More: Harry Clark opens up about his trip to Rome and an audacious quest to meet Pope Leo XIV
Michelle McManus Sings for The Pope
This moving documentary follows Scottish singer and broadcaster Michelle McManus on the most profound spiritual journey of her life. The hour-long programme follows the former Pop Idol winner as she embarks on an emotional pilgrimage from Glasgow to Rome to sing a new hymn, inspired by Pope Francis's call to care for the planet.
The documentary shares the extraordinary moment she sings the hymn in front of Pope Leo XIV, Francis's successor, in the Palace of Castel Gandolfo, the Pope’s summer residence.
Written by Rev John L. Bell of Scotland’s Iona Community for the 60th anniversary of SCIAF (Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund), ‘Because’ is a spiritual anthem born from Laudato Si', Pope Francis’s landmark encyclical urging humanity to protect creation.
Pilgrimage - The Road to Holy Island
BBC Two and iPlayer’s annual Easter Pilgrimage is back for an eighth series as seven well-known personalities of different faiths and beliefs set off on a spectacular route across the wild landscapes of North East England. In Pilgrimage: The Road to Holy Island, the group follow a remarkable 390km network of trails through the heart of the North East England, which celebrate early Celtic Christian saints while exploring their own beliefs and learning more about each other along the way.
Taking part in this unique journey are Ashley Banjo, practising Christian and leader of dance troupe Diversity; Hermione Norris, Spooks and Cold Feet actor, who believes the divine can be found in all living things; Tasha Ghouri, TV personality and atheist; Hasan Al-Habib, stand-up comedian and observant Muslim; Jayne Middlemiss, radio presenter, who self-describes as spiritual; Ashley Blaker, comedian, previously ultra-Orthodox and now a non-practising Jew; and Patsy Kensit, actor and self-proclaimed "à la carte" Catholic.
Easter Morning Service from Ripon Cathedral
A triumphant celebration of the resurrection of Jesus begins at 10am on Easter Sunday, with music, readings and prayers, from the gothic splendour of Ripon Cathedral in the heart of rural North Yorkshire.
The service begins in the cathedral’s Saxon crypt (the oldest in England), where the Dean of Ripon, the Very Revd John Dobson, reflects on the transforming moment of that first Easter morning, when Jesus overcame the powers of sin and death, giving hope and the promise of eternal life. In her sermon, the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt Revd Anna Eltringham, will explore how the events of the Resurrection continue to challenge and inspire.
Urbi et Orbi
Live from Rome at 11am, Pope Leo delivers his first Easter Message and Blessing - Urbi et Orbi – to the City and to the World.
Petroc Trelawny sets the scene on this historic day.
Songs of Praise
To celebrate the resurrection of Christ on Easter Day, Pam Rhodes joins the community of Redruth Baptist Church in Cornwall for a remarkable endeavour – raising the Carn Brea cross. Beginning in 1976 a huge 30ft cross has stood as a beacon over the Cornwall landscape every Easter and Pam is joining the team to celebrate its 50th year.
Race Across The World
Race Across the World returns to iPlayer and BBC One for its sixth series on 2 April 2026, as five intrepid teams embark on the journey of a lifetime, racing more than 12,000km across Europe and Asia, the largest continental area on earth.
The route carves through eight distinctive countries: Italy, Greece, Türkiye, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia – each bringing its own language, culture and climate. In the most extreme race to date, conditions swing from 30-degree Mediterranean heat to subarctic temperatures of –20°C. And they’ve got to do it all on a budget of less than £26 per person per day.
Doctor Who
Two ‘lost’ episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960’s will be made available for viewers on BBC iPlayer on Good Friday.
The two episodes; The Nightmare Begins and Devil’s Planet were from the third series entitled The Daleks’ Master Plan. Written by Terry Nation, the series starred William Hartnell as the Doctor and Peter Purves as Steven Taylor. It also featured Nicholas Courtney as Bret Vyon, Adrienne Hill as Katarina, and Kevin Stoney as Mavic Chen.
- Read more: ‘Lost’ Doctor Who episodes coming to BBC iPlayer on Good Friday
- Watch Doctor Who and more in The Whoniverse on BBC iPlayer
Secret Garden
After seven decades exploring the world’s wildest places in search of exotic animals and plants, Sir David Attenborough turns his attention to Britain’s gardens. We may not realise it, but it turns out that our backyards are home to thousands of species.
Over five episodes - set in five very different gardens across the UK - Sir David reveals the lives of the often charming, occasionally daring, always secretive animal characters that inhabit the hidden world right on our doorsteps. Theirs is no cosy existence - even in these beautiful and seemingly genteel surroundings the rules of the wild still apply.
From pine martens in the Western Highlands to dormice in south Wales, swallows in the Lake District to otters in Oxfordshire and blue tits in Bristol, the series reveals not just a rich and surprising diversity of life but also how each species finds its own way to live alongside us.
And through meeting the gardeners that have created these wild oases, we discover how our nation of animal lovers and gardeners can do their bit to save struggling species. Eighty per cent of Britons have access to a garden, and together they cover an area greater than all of our national nature reserves combined - so what we do in our own backyards has an impact not only on the animals that live there, but also on whole populations.
You’ll never look at your garden in the same way again.
The Young Offenders
Conor and Jock are back together after a disastrous brush with the law saw them spend jail time on two different continents.
After a chance opportunity allows Jock to escape back from Colombia to Cork, the lads slip back into their old ways quickly, wreaking havoc everywhere but still only wanting the best for themselves and their families.
Easter 2026 on Radio and BBC Sounds
Good Friday
A week of Radio 3’s Classical Live, in which Linton Stephens foregrounds specially-made recordings of music from composers undertaking ‘spiritual journeys’, reaches a culmination on Good Friday from 1pm with a performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion - one of the most deeply moving expressions of the human, emotional aspect of the Easter story and one of the most profound articulations of faith in the classical music repertory.
There's Good Friday Meditation on BBC Radio 4 from 3pm, as author and broadcaster Rhidian Brook explores the events leading up to the death of Jesus, reimagining them in today's context.
And the Reverend Kate Bottley hosts a reflective show on BBC Radio 2 from 6pm with soulful music and inspiring guests.
Easter Sunday
The Reverend Kate Bottley celebrates Easter Sunday from 6am on BBC Radio 2 with some live music from Nottingham singer-songwriter Jerub. Harry Clark also joins to reflect on his recent journey to Rome, in a quest to meet the new Pope. Plus, Richard Coles shares a special Pause For Thought.
Reverend Grace Thomas meets with the bishop of Salford at the Laudato Si' Centre in Salford for Sunrise Service from 6.35am and Sunday Worship sees the Most Rev. and Rt Hon. Sarah Mullally, the Archbishop of Canterbury, delivers her first Easter sermon in the role in the live Eucharist from Canterbury Cathedral from 8.10am.
Swarzy hosts a special hour celebration for Easter Sunday on BBC Radio 1Xtra from 10am, playing the best uplifting gospel music. Swarzy will play well known classics, some of the newest hits, and will feature specially recorded music from Philippa Hanna and Israel Houghton and Becca Folkes.
And BBC Radio 4Extra Daljit Nagra selects a programme from the BBC's poetry archives to mark Easter Sunday with The Pslams at 7am, 12pm and 6pm.
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