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

5Star is Channel 5’s reality and factual-entertainment channel, built on the landlord, tenant and bailiff documentaries that made its daytime reputation, plus imported true-story series and Piers Morgan’s nightly opinion slot. It’s part of the Paramount-owned Channel 5 stable and free to watch on Freeview 32. Tonight, Friday 7 August 2026, two episodes of Home and Away open the evening at 6pm and 6:30pm, the second of them new, then GPs: Behind Closed Doors at 7pm and Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts at 8pm lead into a run of hospital and emergency-service factual shows that carries through to midnight. Channel numbers for every platform are in the table further down.

5Star Schedule: Friday 7 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete 5Star schedule for Friday 7 August 2026, on Freeview 32.

What’s on 5Star today

The small hours open with Entertainment News on 5 just after midnight, then the film Total Recall from 12:25am. Cold Case Killers, Police Interceptors and Car Pound Cops follow in turn, and a second Entertainment News on 5 bulletin at 3:50am closes out the overnight run before Teleshopping takes the schedule through to 7am. Shop: Must Have Ideas and eFOLDi Mobility Scooters then cover the two half-hours before the daytime schedule proper begins.

Friday’s daytime leans hard on the landlord-and-bailiff strand the channel is best known for. Two episodes of Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun run from 8am, Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords follows at 10am, and three episodes of Traffic Cops carry the schedule from 11am to 2pm. Police Interceptors then runs three episodes back to back from 2pm to 5pm, before Shoplifters: Caught Red Handed at 5pm hands over to Home and Away and the evening line-up.

5Star tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the 5Star primetime line-up for tonight, Friday 7 August 2026.

Home and Away — 5Star, 6pm and 6:30pm

Two episodes, and only the second is new. The 6pm showing has spirits high at the Surf Club fundraiser while Levi makes an effort and Remi finds his form again. The new 6:30pm episode has Remi and Tane setting ground rules, Levi collecting a pity invitation, and Jo stepping in.

GPs: Behind Closed Doors — 5Star, 7pm

Jitka arrives with back pain severe enough that she has taken tramadol a friend gave her, which is the part the surgery is most concerned about.

Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts — 5Star, 8pm

A three-year-old with a cut lip may need specialist facial surgeons in Sheffield, and a consultant works out whether Les has had a stroke.

999: Critical Condition — 5Star, 9pm

The series two opener, following a major trauma unit. Daniel is brought in with a brain bleed that could go either way.

A&E After Dark — 5Star, 10pm

Hull Royal Infirmary on a night shift, and a young man arrives with stab wounds serious enough to shake the staff. The bleakest hour of the night.

Trauma Room One — 5Star, 11pm

More of the same territory to close, for anyone still watching after five straight hours of it.

What kind of shows are on 5Star

Landlord, tenant and bailiff documentaries

This is where 5Star has its own patch. Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords and its spin-off Extreme Nightmare Tenants follow eviction specialists and rogue-landlord investigations, while Call the Bailiffs: Time to Pay Up! turns the same doorstep tension towards unpaid debt. No other British free-to-air channel gives this much schedule space to the subject.

Reality, true-story and consumer documentary

Skin A&E, Dirty Home Rescue and Scam City: Don’t Get Caught Out! cover the rest of the factual output, and imports such as Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly Australia bring in versions of formats British viewers already know from the domestic originals.

Opinion, news and chat

Piers Morgan Uncensored gives 5Star a nightly dose of studio argument, a YouTube-native format repurposed for a terrestrial evening slot since the 2025 deal.

Sitcom reruns

Friends is the channel’s long-serving gap-filler, though these days it tends to surface in the small hours rather than in the morning blocks it once held.

How to watch 5Star

Channel numbers

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

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

Streaming online

5Star streams live and free at channel5.com and via the 5 app (formerly known as My5, before Channel 5’s 2025 rebrand unified its linear and streaming services under one name) on smart TVs, iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire TV. You’ll need a free account, which costs nothing to set up. Many 5Star programmes also turn up on demand, though not every title stays available indefinitely.

5Star +1 and sister channels

5Star+1 plays the same schedule an hour behind, which is useful on a channel that so often runs three episodes of the same series in a row. It’s on Sky (228), Virgin Media (326) and Freesat (141). There’s no +1 slot for 5Star on Freeview, so Freeview viewers who miss the start of something have to pick it up on demand.

5Star sits alongside two other channels in the Paramount-owned Channel 5 family. 5USA, on Freeview 33, carries US crime dramas and imported procedurals. 5Action, on Freeview 21, focuses on action films and adventure series. All three, plus the main Channel 5, stream together through the 5 app.

Frequently asked questions

What channel is 5Star on Freeview?

5Star is on Freeview channel 32. It’s also on Sky (128), Virgin Media (126) and Freesat (131), all free with no subscription.

What’s on 5Star tonight?

Two episodes of Home and Away open the evening at 6pm and 6:30pm, then GPs: Behind Closed Doors at 7pm and Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts at 8pm lead into a run of medical and emergency-service factual shows: A&E After Dark at 9pm, Ambulance: Code Red at 10pm and Skin A&E at 11pm. Full listings are in the schedule table above.

Can I watch 5Star online for free?

Yes. It streams live at channel5.com and through the 5 app (formerly My5); you’ll need a free account. Many programmes also appear on demand afterwards.

Verdict

Friday drops the film slot altogether and hands the whole evening from 7pm to midnight over to hospital and ambulance factual shows: GPs: Behind Closed Doors, Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts, A&E After Dark, Ambulance: Code Red and Skin A&E, back to back. It’s a heavier dose of the format than 5Star usually schedules in one sitting, and viewers who find one of these shows watchable will likely sit through several.

The two episodes of Home and Away that open the night are the standard weeknight fixture, with the 6:30pm instalment the new one. Dependable rather than essential, but rarely a bad way to spend an evening if medical documentary is your thing.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | Channel 5 TV Guide | Freeview Channel Guide