Quiz TV Today, Friday 18 September: Pointless Starts Series 36 at 5.15pm, The Chase at 5

Five quiz hours, three channels, and a brand-new series starting at teatime. Here is Friday 18 September on UK quiz TV.

The gist: Pointless begins a new series tonight, one day after the old one finished. The Chase and Tipping Point keep their usual teatime hour on ITV1. There is no BBC Two quiz block on a Friday — that is a Monday thing.

Is Pointless a new series tonight?

Yes. The BBC's own episode page files tonight's 5.15pm show as Series 36, episode 1 of 46 — the first of a fresh run. Thursday's episode was number 47 of 47 and closed Series 35, so the changeover took exactly one night with no gap week in between.

Alexander Armstrong presents, and Lucy Porter is in the co-host's chair again. That makes three nights running for Porter: Wednesday's episode 46, Thursday's finale, and tonight's series opener. Series 36 runs one episode shorter than the one it replaces. Our Pointless guide has the iPlayer details.

What time is The Chase on tonight?

5pm to 6pm on ITV1, with Tipping Point in front of it from 4pm. Both go up on ITVX after broadcast rather than before it, which is the opposite of how the soaps work on the same channel. The full picture is in our Chase viewing guide.

One quirk of the Friday grid: Pointless starts at 5.15pm, a quarter of an hour into The Chase. If you want both, one of them is a catch-up job.

Are tonight's ITV teatime quizzes new episodes?

We cannot confirm it either way yet, and we would rather say so than guess. ITV's published guide gives a time and a title for the 4pm and 5pm slots but no series number, so there is nothing to check against on the morning of broadcast.

What we do know is the pattern. Every weekday slot this week has turned out to be an archive episode once ITVX filed it afterwards: The Chase under Series 18, Tipping Point under Series 13. Wednesday's pair were the clearest case, with production years of 2024 and 2023 on the ITVX pages. Series 19 of The Chase launched on 7 September, and not one episode of it has reached the 5pm slot since. We log what turns up in the week's results page.

What is on at 9pm on ITV1?

Beat the Chasers, from 9pm to 10pm. It is the head-to-head spin-off, and it is the only quiz on any of the four main channels after 6pm tonight.

Who is in Dictionary Corner on Countdown today?

Marcus Brigstocke, for a fifth consecutive show. Colin Murray hosts with Rachel Riley on the letters and numbers and Susie Dent in the dictionary chair. It is episode 60 of Series 94, out at 2.10pm on Channel 4, and Channel 4 repeats the previous day's episode at 5.50am if you missed one.

When is the next BBC Two quiz night?

Monday. Mastermind at 7.30pm, Only Connect at 8pm and University Challenge at 8.30pm, all on BBC Two, all new. Our Monday night guide explains how the three fit together, and the next week line-up has the teams and the subjects for 21 September. For the week just finishing, see this week's schedule.

Questions readers ask

Is Countdown on every weekday? Yes, at 2.10pm on Channel 4, Monday to Friday, with an early-morning repeat the next day.

Can I watch tonight's Pointless before it airs? No. Pointless goes to iPlayer after transmission, unlike EastEnders, which drops at 6am.

Does football move the quizzes tonight? No. ITV1's next live match is Saturday lunchtime, so nothing shifts on Friday evening. Our sister site has tonight's soap times if you are planning the whole evening.

Sources

• BBC One schedule, 18 September 2026 and the Pointless Series 36 episode 1 page
• ITV TV guide, ITV1, 18 September 2026
• Channel 4 TV guide, 18 September 2026
• TVmaze UK schedule, 18 September 2026 (Countdown episode number and billing)

By the UK Quiz On Air desk · Updated 18 September, 9.15am BST