5Action TV Guide: Listings, Schedule & What’s On 5Action Tonight

5Action is Channel 5’s cop-show and action channel, and it has had more names than most channels manage in a decade: Spike at launch in 2015, 5Spike from 2017, merged with the UK’s Paramount Network in 2020, and 5Action since January 2022. Tuesday evening runs three Police Interceptors episodes back to back from 6pm, Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders takes the 9pm slot, Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law moves into 10pm, and The X-Files closes out primetime from 11pm.

5Action Schedule: Tuesday 18 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete 5Action schedule for Tuesday 18 August 2026, on Freeview 33.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on 5Action today

Tuesday’s overnight hour opens with a single edition of World’s Deadliest Weather: Caught on Camera at midnight, series six, before Outback Truckers takes 1am and two separate episodes of Trucking Heavy split the 2am and 3am slots. A short Entertainment News on 5 bulletin at 3:50am hands over to three hours of teleshopping, and Cruise TV with LoveitBookit then holds both the 7am and 8am breakfast slots, the second a new edition.

Winter Road Rescue opens the working morning at 9:10am, series five, before Police Interceptors gets its first outing of the day at 9:45am. Gunsmoke’s thirteenth series arrives at 10:45am, and Five Card Stud runs either side of the midday Entertainment News update into early afternoon.

Warpath fills the slot either side of the 2:55pm news bulletin, then Highway Thru Hell takes 4pm and Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders picks up a fresh case at 5pm, setting up the run of Police Interceptors that opens tonight’s primetime.

5Action tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the 5Action primetime line-up for tonight, Tuesday 18 August 2026.

Police Interceptors — 5Action, 6pm–9pm (three episodes)

Three separate hours of Police Interceptors open the evening, series 16’s first two episodes at 6pm and 7pm followed by a series 20 case at 8pm. It’s the channel’s default opening move on a weeknight and tonight is no exception, cars and vans pulled over across three unconnected shifts rather than one continuous story.

Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders — 5Action, 9pm

Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders takes 9pm for series 4, episode 3, with Inspector Anton Sullivan’s team called to a drink-driving stop before a more serious three-vehicle collision further down the road.

Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law — 5Action, 10pm

Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law holds 10pm for series 2, episode 2, investigators tracking down a suspect accused of running up close to £20,000 in unpaid fares. It’s a change from the run of nights when Highway Thru Hell occupied this slot; that series has shifted to 4pm today and isn’t on again this evening.

The X-Files — 5Action, 11pm

The X-Files closes primetime at 11pm with series 6’s opening case, “The Beginning”, Mulder and Scully tracking a genetically altered creature loose from a government lab.

What kind of shows are on 5Action

Cop shows and roads policing documentaries

This is the channel, really. Police Interceptors, Traffic Cops and Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders between them account for most of the grid, and they are built to an identical template: dashcam and body-cam footage, a narrator over the top, and the officer explaining afterwards what made them look twice. John Thomson narrates one, Jamie Theakston another, Nicky Campbell the third, and that voice is often the quickest way to work out which show you have actually landed on.

Action films and westerns

Older genre cinema fills the afternoons, mostly westerns. Gunsmoke, The Walking Hills and Horizons West come round often, usually split either side of a news bulletin. A full western occasionally makes it into an evening slot, but not often.

Heavy recovery and trucking documentaries

Highway Thru Hell, Trucking Hell and Outback Truckers cover the same job on three continents: British roadsides, the Australian outback, the Canadian mountain passes. Highway Thru Hell is the best of them and 5Action seems to know it, since it tends to get a decent evening slot rather than being buried overnight.

How to watch 5Action

Channel numbers

Here’s where to find 5Action across the main UK television platforms:

5Action is free on all of the above platforms, with no subscription required. Virgin Media and Freesat numbers can vary slightly by region and box, so your on-screen guide is the definitive source if these don’t match.

Streaming online

5Action streams live and free through 5, Channel 5’s combined broadcast and streaming platform, at channel5.com and via the 5 app on smart TVs, iOS, Android and Amazon Fire TV. The service was known as My5 until Channel 5 merged its linear channels and catch-up library into the single “5” brand in March 2025. A free account is all you need, and recent episodes of shows like Police Interceptors and Highway Thru Hell are generally available to catch up on afterwards.

5Action sister channels

5Action sits under Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited, itself part of Paramount Skydance Corporation, alongside three siblings. 5USA runs American crime dramas and imported US series, so it is far more scripted than anything here. 5Star does reality and true crime, personality-led where 5Action is all dashcam and recovery trucks. Channel 5 is the flagship and takes the group’s biggest dramas, documentaries and 5 News; the other three pick up the specialisms it does not have room for.

Frequently asked questions

What channel is 5Action on?

Freeview 33, Sky 150 (Sky Q) or 165 (Sky Glass and Sky Stream), Virgin Media 150 in HD or 187 in SD, and Freesat 132.

What’s on 5Action tonight?

Three episodes of Police Interceptors run back to back from 6pm, Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders takes 9pm, and Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law follows at 10pm. The X-Files closes out the night from 11pm. Full times are in the schedule table above.

Is 5Action free to watch?

Yes, completely free to air with no subscription, though it carries advertising and teleshopping strands throughout the schedule, particularly during the day.

Can I watch 5Action online for free?

Yes. It streams live at channel5.com and through the 5 app, the platform formerly known as My5. A free account is all that’s required.

Verdict

Tonight is a straight run of the channel’s house formula: three Police Interceptors episodes from 6pm, Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders at 9pm, then Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law taking the 10pm slot that Highway Thru Hell has held on recent nights. None of it is essential, but it does what 5Action always does, competently and without surprises.

The X-Files at 11pm is the one break from the roads-and-pursuits template, series six’s opening case closing the night with old-fashioned scripted drama rather than another dashcam. Worth staying up for if the rest of the evening hasn’t held your attention.

Related: Channel 5 TV Guide | Freeview Channel Guide | Films on TV This Week