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

Published: 11 September 2026

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. Saturday 12 September 2026 is a western-into-films evening: Bite the Bullet runs into the early evening before Vera Cruz takes over at 6:35pm, split by a five-minute Entertainment News on 5 bulletin at 7:35pm. Cops has a short slot at 8:30pm ahead of Face/Off at 9pm, split by the same strand at 10pm, and an X-Files rerun closes out the night at 11:45pm.

5Action Schedule: Saturday 12 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete 5Action schedule for Saturday 12 September 2026, on Freeview 33.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on 5Action today

Saturday’s overnight hours run on the usual factual mix: Behind Bars: World’s Toughest Prisons at 12:40am, Outback Truckers at 1:40am and two Trucking Hell episodes at 2:40am and 3:40am, before an Entertainment News on 5 bulletin at 3:55am and three hours of teleshopping from 4am. Cruise TV with LoveitBookit fills both breakfast slots, 7am and 8am.

Police Interceptors then runs three episodes from 9am to 11am, followed by four Highway Thru Hell episodes from just before noon through to 3pm. Bite the Bullet takes over at 3:55pm, breaks briefly for an Entertainment News on 5 bulletin at 4:55pm, and resumes at 5pm, running the schedule up to tonight’s primetime.

5Action tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the 5Action primetime line-up for tonight, Saturday 12 September 2026.

Vera Cruz — 5Action, 6:35pm

Vera Cruz begins at 6:35pm, paused for a five-minute Entertainment News on 5 bulletin at 7:35pm and resuming at 7:40pm.

Cops — 5Action, 8:30pm

A short Cops episode fills 8:30pm (series 37, episode 32), ahead of tonight’s second film.

Face/Off — 5Action, 9pm

Face/Off starts at 9pm, again broken by a five-minute Entertainment News on 5 bulletin at 10pm and resuming at 10:05pm.

The X-Files — 5Action, 11:45pm

An X-Files rerun closes the night at 11:45pm (series 6, episode 15).

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?

Vera Cruz opens the evening at 6:35pm, paused briefly for a news bulletin at 7:35pm. Cops has a short slot at 8:30pm, then Face/Off takes over at 9pm, again broken by a news bulletin at 10pm. The X-Files closes the night at 11:45pm. 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 leans more on films than the usual cop-show template. Vera Cruz opens the evening at 6:35pm and Face/Off takes the 9pm slot, both broken by a brief Entertainment News on 5 bulletin partway through rather than running straight.

The X-Files rerun gives the night a scripted close at 11:45pm. Daytime runs the channel’s usual mix of teleshopping and vehicle-recovery documentaries, with Police Interceptors and a four-episode Highway Thru Hell run carrying the schedule from mid-morning into early afternoon.

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