Comprehensive Easter TV and Radio Programming Guide

Mo. Basuony

Published: April 4, 2026 3:35 PM ET

A sung eucharist will be broadcast live from Canterbury Cathedral on Easter Day. It will be led by the Dean, the Very Revd David Monteith, at 8.10am on Radio 4.

Filmogaz.com presents a Comprehensive Easter TV and Radio Programming Guide. The rundown covers Maundy Thursday through Easter Monday.

Television highlights

Television schedules mix documentaries, classic films, and live services. Broadcasters carry special programmes across Holy Week and Easter Day.

Maundy Thursday, 10.40pm, BBC1 — Harry Clark Goes to Rome. The documentary follows Harry Clark in Rome and the Vatican.
Repeat: Easter Day, BBC1, 9am — Harry Clark Goes to Rome.
Good Friday, 10.25am, BBC2 — King of Kings (1961). Tab Hunter stars as Jesus.
Holy Saturday, 9.55am, BBC2 — The Greatest Story Ever Told. Max von Sydow and Charlton Heston feature.
Easter Day, 10am, BBC1 — Easter Sunday Service from Ripon Cathedral. Led by the Very Revd John Dobson, it features Widor’s Mass for Two Choirs. The Rt Revd Anna Eltringham will deliver the sermon.
11am, BBC1 — Urbi et Orbi, the Pope’s traditional Easter blessing from Rome.
1.30pm, BBC1 — Songs of Praise at Redruth Baptist Church. Pam Rhodes covers the raising of the Carn Brea cross, a 30-foot structure in place since 1976.
9pm, BBC2 — Pilgrimage: The Road to Holy Island (1/3). Seven public figures walk a trail across north-east England to explore Celtic saints.

Radio highlights

Radio output ranges from live liturgies to new classical premieres. Stations present reflective and musical programming for Holy Week.

Maundy Thursday, 9.45am, R4 Extra — Daily Service. The Archdeacon of York, the Ven. Liz Hassall, recorded at Bishopthorpe Palace with the Ebor Singers.
Maundy Thursday, 4pm, R3 — Composer of the Week. Donald Macleod explores Hildegard of Bingen and Isabella Leonarda; the series concludes on Friday.
Maundy Thursday, 7.30pm, R3 — Radio 3 in Concert. Tenebrae and the Britten Sinfonia perform Sir James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross. The concert was recorded on 28 March at St Martin-in-the-Fields.
Maundy Thursday, 9.45pm, R3 — The Essay. Anna Linstrum’s scenes from the life of Hildegard are performed by Juliet Stevenson.
Good Friday, 9.45am, R4 Extra — Daily Service. The Archbishop of York leads a service recorded at Bishopthorpe Palace with the Ebor Singers.
Good Friday, 1pm, R3 — Classical Live. A recording of Bach’s St Matthew Passion features King’s College Choir, the BBC Singers, and the Academy of Ancient Music.
Good Friday, 1.30pm, World Service — Heart and Soul: Grief, God and the Chatbot. Megan Garcia met the Pope and asked him to pray for her son Sewell. Sewell died in 2024 aged 14.
Good Friday, 3pm, R4 — Good Friday Meditation. Rhidian Brook reflects on the day Jesus died.
Good Friday, 4.30pm, R4 — Life Changing. Emma Webber recounts her son Barnaby’s death in the 2023 Nottingham attacks. Barnaby was 34 and Emma campaigns for an inquiry.
Good Friday, 6-9pm, R2 — Easter Reflections. Canon Kate Bottley reflects on loss, hope, and faith in the Easter story.
Good Friday, 7pm, R3 — Classical Live. Music for Good Friday by Wagner, Poulenc, and Duruflé. Performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Bach Choir at King’s, Cambridge.
Holy Saturday, 5.45am, R4 — Lent Talks. Professor Luke Bretherton concludes the series with a personal reflection on power and community.
Holy Saturday, 10.30pm, R3 — New Music Show. The world première of Tansy Davies’s The Passion of Mary Magdalene was recorded in London with the Dunedin Consort.
Easter Day, 5.43am, R4 — Bells on Sunday from Ripon.
Easter Day, 6.05am, R4 — Heart and Soul. A former Isis recruit reflects on radicalisation, regret, and redemption.
Easter Day, 6.35am, R4 — Sunrise Service. The Revd Grace Thomas meets the Rt Revd John Arnold at the Laudato Si’ Centre, Salford.
Easter Day, 7am, R4 Extra — Poetry Extra. Daljit Nagra selects Psalms read by Jeremy Irons, first broadcast in 2019.
Easter Day, 12pm, R3 — Private Passions. Michael Berkeley talks with Francis Spufford.
Easter Day, 1.30pm, R3 — Music Map. Sara Mohr-Pietsch explores Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture and related plainchant influences.
Easter Day, 5pm, R3 — The Early Music Show. Hannah French examines plainchant for Easter and its derived compositions.
Easter Day, 6pm, R3 — Choral Evensong. From the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, with music by Charles Wood and Elgar.
Easter Day, 7.45pm, R3 — Words and Music: Aspects of the Divine. Readings and reflections on the transcendent.
Easter Day, 10pm, R4 — Archive on 4. Kenneth Williams: Said the actor to the bishop, featuring Bible extracts. The recordings include the Rt Revd James Jones and first aired in 2025.
Easter Day, 23.25, R4 — Organ Stops. A team rescues and restores abandoned church pipe organs. The programme features 95-year-old organist Blanche Beer and first aired in 2022.
Monday, 7.30pm, R3 — Radio 3 in Concert. Mysteries and Miracles from the Tallis Scholars, with works by Tallis, Victoria, Gabrieli, Judith Weir, and Arvo Pärt.
Monday, 4.30pm, R4 — Great Lives. Beverley Knight profiles Sister Rosetta Tharpe, a gospel pioneer of rock and roll.