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, Thursday 20 August 2026, 5Star carries the only Home and Away on Freeview: a repeat opens the evening at 6pm, followed by the new episode at 6:30pm. GPs: Behind Closed Doors and Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts take the 7pm and 8pm hours, and the rest of primetime stays with 5Star’s usual run of factual strands rather than a film — there’s nothing from the movie library on tonight.

5Star Schedule: Thursday 20 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete 5Star schedule for Thursday 20 August 2026, on Freeview 32.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on 5Star today

Thursday’s overnight run opens with Cold Case Killers (series 3, episode 1) at 12:45am, before two episodes of Police Interceptors follow back to back at 1:45am and 2:35am (series 5, episodes 1 and 2). A single episode of Friends (series 9, episode 23) airs at 3:25am, Entertainment News on 5 has a short update at 3:45am, and Teleshopping then holds the schedule from 4am through to 7am.

Daytime opens with two shopping strands, Shop: Must Have Ideas at 7am and eFOLDi Mobility Scooters at 7:30am, before two back-to-back episodes of Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun run from 8am to 10am (series 14, episodes 67 and 68). Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords takes the 10am hour (series 5, episode 8), then three episodes of Traffic Cops fill 11am to 2pm and three of Police Interceptors follow from 2pm to 5pm. Car Pound Cops (series 2, episode 4) closes out the afternoon at 5pm, before Home and Away opens the evening below.

5Star tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the 5Star primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 20 August 2026.

Home and Away — 5Star, 6pm

5Star opens the night with the previous episode (series 39, episode 127), and it’s worth remembering this run doesn’t sit on the main Channel 5 channel at all — 5Star is the only place to catch Home and Away on Freeview.

Home and Away — 5Star, 6:30pm

Half an hour later comes the genuinely new instalment (series 39, episode 128), moving the Bay’s storylines on properly rather than replaying ground already covered.

GPs: Behind Closed Doors — 5Star, 7pm

Series 8 reaches its 34th episode, with cameras back inside a busy general practice for another set of consultations.

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

Series 6, episode 12 follows staff at a Barnsley hospital’s A&E department as demand for beds outstrips what’s available.

A&E After Dark — 5Star, 9pm

Series 5, episode 8 shifts to the overnight shift, with a motorcyclist admitted after a serious road collision among the cases treated.

Ambulance: Code Red — 5Star, 10pm

Series 2, episode 20 follows crews scrambled to a dual carriageway crash, with two air ambulances called out to reach the scene.

Skin A&E — 5Star, 11pm

Series 7, episode 3 closes the night with a veteran seeking treatment for a condition affecting his eyelids.

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?

It’s Thursday, so the evening opens with Home and Away — a repeat at 6pm, then the new episode at 6:30pm, both on 5Star rather than the main Channel 5 channel, which doesn’t carry the soap tonight at all. GPs: Behind Closed Doors and Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts take the 7pm and 8pm hours, then A&E After Dark, Ambulance: Code Red and Skin A&E fill the rest of primetime through to midnight. There’s no film in tonight’s line-up. The schedule table above has the exact times for each.

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

Thursday pairs Home and Away with a full run of 5Star’s own factual strands rather than a film. The soap is on 5Star rather than the main Channel 5 channel tonight — this is the only place to catch it on Freeview — with a repeat at 6pm and the new episode at 6:30pm, before GPs: Behind Closed Doors and Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts carry the 7pm and 8pm hours. A&E After Dark, Ambulance: Code Red and Skin A&E then see out the rest of the evening.

It’s a lighter premiere night than usual: the 6:30pm Home and Away episode is the only genuinely new instalment, with the rest of primetime built from returning documentary strands. The daytime schedule sticks to the channel’s landlord and traffic-cop staples — Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun, Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords, Traffic Cops and Police Interceptors — filling the hours before Home and Away opens the evening.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | Channel 5 TV Guide | Freeview Channel Guide | Films on TV This Week