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

Published: 17 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. Tonight, Friday 18 September 2026, is a normal weeknight with no live sport. Police Interceptors opens primetime with episodes at 6pm and 7pm, and Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders takes the 8pm slot before Face/Off airs from 9pm, breaking for a five-minute Entertainment News on 5 update at 10pm before resuming at 10:05pm. The X-Files closes the night at 11:50pm.

5Action Schedule: Friday 18 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete 5Action schedule for Friday 18 September 2026, on Freeview 33.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on 5Action today

Friday’s overnight hours open with Rescue 999: Seconds to Save a Life at 12:35am, then Outback Truckers at 1:35am and a pair of Trucking Hell episodes carry the schedule to 3:45am, when a short Entertainment News on 5 bulletin leads into three hours of Teleshopping. Cruise TV with LoveitBookit fills both breakfast slots, 7am and 8am, the second one a new episode.

Cops has the 9am slot, then two Police Interceptors episodes run from 9:30am to 11:30am ahead of Gunfight at the OK Corral, which carries on past a brief Entertainment News on 5 update at 12:30pm and resumes five minutes later. Chief Crazy Horse takes over from 2:05pm, again broken by a short bulletin at 3:10pm, before Traffic Cops picks up at 4pm and Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders hands over to this evening’s schedule at 5pm.

5Action tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

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

Police Interceptors — 5Action, 6pm and 7pm

Two episodes open the evening: a knife-crime investigation and a spot of dubious driving at 6pm, then a Transit van pursuit and a puzzle over an abandoned car key at 7pm.

Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders — 5Action, 8pm

PC Will Hunter chases down a driver who bails out on foot, only to discover the man left his phone behind in the abandoned car.

Face/Off — 5Action, 9pm

Nicolas Cage and John Travolta swap identities via facial-transplant surgery in John Woo’s 1997 actioner, still one of the odder high-concept thrillers to get a regular terrestrial outing. Tonight’s screening is interrupted by a five-minute Entertainment News on 5 update at 10pm, resuming at 10:05pm.

The X-Files — 5Action, 11:50pm

The opening part of a three-part story sends Mulder and Scully to Africa, where an ancient discovery raises the possibility that life on Earth didn’t originate here.

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?

No live sport tonight. Police Interceptors opens at 6pm and 7pm, then Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders takes the 8pm slot before Face/Off airs from 9pm, pausing for a five-minute Entertainment News on 5 update at 10pm and resuming at 10:05pm. The X-Files closes the night at 11:50pm. 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 the channel running to its normal template rather than handing the evening to live sport. Police Interceptors opens at 6pm and 7pm, Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders takes the 8pm slot, and Face/Off runs from 9pm, broken briefly by an Entertainment News on 5 update at 10pm before resuming at 10:05pm.

The X-Files sees the schedule out at 11:50pm. Daytime runs the usual mix of factual and recovery programming: Rescue 999: Seconds to Save a Life and Trucking Hell overnight, Cruise TV with LoveitBookit through breakfast, then Gunfight at the OK Corral and Chief Crazy Horse carrying the late morning into the afternoon.

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