What Time Is Only Connect On? BBC Two Mondays, the NI Slot and Series 22's 34 Episodes

Week of 26 October 2026 — Monday 26 October's match is Episode 16, Meat and Two Veg v Creepy Crawleys, at 8pm on BBC Two. Episode 17, Frenemies v Merseyside Eyes, is at 8pm on Monday 2 November. Checked on Saturday 24 October against BBC Two's schedule and the BBC episode pages.

Bottom line: Only Connect is on BBC Two on Mondays at 8pm, and each episode runs 28 minutes. Northern Ireland gets it on a different night, and iPlayer has it once Monday's showing has gone out.

What time is Only Connect on tonight?

Only on Mondays. The slot is 8pm to 8.30pm on BBC Two, sitting in the middle of the channel's Monday quiz run: Mastermind at 7.30pm, Only Connect at 8pm and University Challenge at 8.30pm. BBC Two's listing for Monday 28 September has exactly that order.

So if it's a Tuesday and you're looking for it, you won't find a new one on TV. Our guide to BBC Two's Monday quiz night covers all three shows in the block.

Is Only Connect on at a different time in Northern Ireland?

Yes, and it catches people out. The BBC's episode page lists the Monday 8pm showing as BBC Two "except Northern Ireland". For episode 12, it adds a Wednesday 7.30pm broadcast on BBC Two Northern Ireland.

University Challenge has the same split, with its NI showing on a Thursday instead. Our University Challenge times guide has that one. Either way, iPlayer carries the episode UK-wide from Monday night.

Can I watch Only Connect on BBC iPlayer?

Yes. The episode page for 28 September said it would be available "shortly after broadcast", which meant Monday night rather than the next morning. There's no early release before the TV showing.

That matters if you like to play along without spoilers. Our weekly quiz results page lists matches by team name only and never reproduces the puzzles.

How long is this series of Only Connect?

34 episodes, the BBC's own count on the episode page. That's six more than each of the previous five series, which all ran to 28. Wikipedia's series table describes the new layout as a 16-team double-elimination draw with expanded quarter-finals and a third-place match.

We did the calendar maths. Series 22 started on 13 July, and episode 12 on 28 September makes it twelve episodes on twelve straight Mondays. Keep that rhythm with no breaks, and episode 34 would land on Monday 1 March 2027.

That's a best case, not a promise. Last series ran 28 Mondays in a row, from 21 July 2025 to the final on 26 January 2026, but BBC Two's festive schedule can still take a Monday out.

Which Only Connect teams have played so far?

Sixteen teams, all of whom have now appeared at least once. Since episode 9, the listings show teams returning in a set pattern: the four teams from each pair of first-round matches are drawn against each other again. We've mapped it from TVmaze's episode list and the BBC's "next episode" link.

The BBC bills episode 12 as "another knock-out round". We haven't listed scores, because we couldn't find two independent sources carrying them yet.

How does Only Connect work?

Two teams of three, four rounds. First comes Connections, where teams uncover up to four clues and work out what links them; fewer clues means more points. Sequences asks for the fourth item in a chain of four.

The Connecting Wall is the famous one: 16 clues to sort into four groups of four, with two and a half minutes on the clock and a maximum of 10 points. Teams play it separately, so neither sees the other's wall. Missing Vowels closes the show on the buzzers, with points lost for wrong answers.

Victoria Coren Mitchell has presented it since the first episode in September 2008. It began on BBC Four and moved to BBC Two in September 2014, and it's made by Remarkable Television and recorded in Cardiff.

Who won the last series of Only Connect?

The Pitchers: Alexia Jarvis, Paddy Pamment and Jonathan Gibson. They beat the 5ks in the Series 21 final, broadcast on 26 January 2026. The Thrifters and the Four Opinions won the two series before that.

Questions readers ask

Is Only Connect on every Monday?
While a series is running, yes, at 8pm on BBC Two outside Northern Ireland. Our weekly UK quiz schedule notes any Monday when BBC Two moves it.

Is Only Connect the same as the New York Times Connections game?
No, though the Connecting Wall came first, in 2008. Connections launched in June 2023, and the likeness has been discussed in the press since.

What other quizzes are on during the week?
Weekdays run from Countdown in the afternoon to Pointless at teatime. Our day-by-day list of UK quiz shows has the full week, and the UK Quiz Guide collects the rest. If you stay with the TV after the quizzes, our sister site's night-by-night soap guide picks up at 7pm.

Sources

• BBC: Only Connect, Series 22, Six Sevens v Risk Takers (episode 12 of 34, 28 minutes, Monday 20:00 BBC Two except Northern Ireland, Wednesday 19:30 BBC Two Northern Ireland, next episode Two Hearts v Makeweights)
• BBC Two schedule, Monday 28 September 2026 (Mastermind 19:30, Only Connect 20:00, University Challenge 20:30)
• TVmaze: Only Connect episode list (Series 21 and 22 match titles and dates)
• Wikipedia: Only Connect (format, history, champions, Series 22 tournament format)
• BBC Two schedule, Monday 26 October to Monday 2 November 2026 (Only Connect 20:00 on Monday 26 October and Monday 2 November; read on Saturday 24 October)

By the UK Quiz On Air desk · Updated 23 October, 11.19pm BST