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

Channel 5 is the UK’s third commercial terrestrial broadcaster, free to air and funded by advertising, and it streams live and on demand through My5. Below: tonight’s full schedule, the shows the channel is built on, its channel numbers on every platform, and how to watch online.

Tonight is a straight run of Channel 5’s crime and policing staples. Traffic Cops opens primetime at 7pm, Street Cops: Catching the Yobs brings a new episode at 8pm and Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law follows with a new instalment at 9pm, before Police Interceptors: Taking Down the Shoplifting Gangs and a second helping of Traffic Cops close out the evening. Full times are in the table below.

Channel 5 Schedule: Monday 17 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Channel 5 schedule for Monday 17 August 2026, on Freeview 5.

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Channel 5 today — the daytime schedule

Monday’s a weekday timetable, and it shows from the start. Overnight repeats run through until Milkshake! takes over from 5:35am, carrying the channel through to just after 9am with a double run of Peppa Pig among its usual mix. Jeremy Vine picks up the mid-morning slot at 9:15am and holds it for over two hours, followed by Storm & Alexis at 11:30am ahead of the lunchtime bulletin.

5 News at Lunchtime breaks up the schedule just before 1pm, then Matt Allwright runs the early afternoon. An Affair to Die For takes the 2:20pm hour, Castle repeats at 4pm and a short Love Nature film leads into 5 News with Dan Walker at 5pm. Cyprus: Jewel of the Med closes out the daytime run at 6pm, just ahead of primetime.

Channel 5 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

It’s a weekday line-up built almost entirely on Channel 5’s policing and enforcement strand, running from early evening through to gone midnight. Here’s what’s actually on, in order.

Cyprus: Jewel of the Med — Channel 5, 6pm

The travelogue strand turns its attention to Cyprus for episode four, taking in the island’s beaches and near-guaranteed sunshine and touching on why it pulls in around four million visitors a year. Gentle, scenic viewing to close out the afternoon.

Traffic Cops — Channel 5, 7pm

A suspected cloned car draws the attention of officers, and when it’s finally stopped four people scatter on foot, one of them already known to police for ramming a patrol car weeks earlier. Standard fare for the long-running series, but a decent chase all the same.

Street Cops: Catching the Yobs — Channel 5, 8pm

Tonight’s episode is new, series two’s fourth outing, and it’s worth catching. PC Ellie chases down a teenager on a high street before officers turn up a studded baseball bat hidden nearby, while a separate team in Northampton moves in on a suspected drug dealer with a warrant. Two threads, one hour, and neither short of incident.

Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law — Channel 5, 9pm

Also new tonight: investigators in London go after a woman said to owe more than £2,300 in unpaid fares, cornering her at Chadwell Heath station over what the show calls “short faring”. It’s a smaller-scale story than the headline number suggests, and that’s rather the point of the series, following the people whose job it is to chase down the details.

Police Interceptors: Taking Down the Shoplifting Gangs — Channel 5, 10pm

A repeat of the third of this four-part run. Officers in Burnley target persistent shoplifters, including two brothers whose thieving has become a habit, and the episode builds towards a dawn raid as police close in.

Traffic Cops — Channel 5, 11:05pm

The night ends where it began. A motorcyclist with a violent record refuses to stop and puts other drivers at risk trying to shake off pursuit, while elsewhere a trap on the A1 catches out a group of suspected drug dealers.

Popular shows on Channel 5

Drama

The Fortune is the channel’s newest drama, a four-part psychological thriller with Eleanor Tomlinson. The Madame Blanc Mysteries is the long-runner to track if cosy crime is more your thing: Sally Lindsay plays an antiques dealer turned amateur sleuth, with the whole thing set in the south of France.

Factual and documentary

The Yorkshire Vet has run for well over fifteen series since 2015. It follows the team at Skeldale Veterinary Centre in Thirsk, and Peter Wright has been the anchor throughout, though by now the supporting cast of vets is familiar enough that it watches more like an ensemble drama than a documentary.

Police Interceptors has aired without a break since 2008, riding along with specialist road traffic units, cameras in the cars and helicopters overhead. Motorway Cops and the other road-policing titles follow the same format.

The countryside strand is the channel’s calling card. Reuben Owen: Life in the Dales and A Yorkshire Farm rotate through the schedule across the year rather than every night, so which one is on depends on the week. Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly with Graeme Hall rounds out the animal side.

Daytime favourites

Milkshake! has held its spot every morning for over twenty years, surviving more than one change of ownership in the process. Jeremy Vine inherited the mid-morning slot from The Wright Stuff and has not let go of it since.

How to watch Channel 5

Channel numbers

My5 — watch online for free

Channel 5 streams live and on demand through My5 at channel5.com and the My5 app, which runs on smart TVs, phones, tablets and the usual streaming boxes. There’s no subscription, though you’ll see adverts. A free account unlocks catch-up, where most shows stay up for 30 days and a few longer as boxsets. My5 also carries the wider Paramount stable, so Comedy Central, MTV, BET and CBS titles sit alongside the Channel 5 stream.

The Channel 5 family of channels

Four sister channels run alongside the main service, all free to air on Freeview and carried on Sky and Virgin:

5Star is the entertainment sibling, heavy on reality and acquired US shows. Freeview 32, Sky 128.

5USA runs American drama, crime and procedurals. Freeview 21, Sky 141.

5Action is the home for films, action drama and motorsport. Freeview 33, Sky 150.

5Select is the odd one out, a grab-bag of factual, documentary and lifestyle that doesn’t fit the main channel’s primetime. Freeview 50, Sky 153.

All four live inside My5 too, so streamers get the whole family in one place.

Frequently asked questions

What channel number is Channel 5 on Freeview?

Channel 5 is on channel 5 on Freeview. If you have a Freeview HD receiver or an HD-capable television with a built-in Freeview HD tuner, Channel 5 HD is on channel 105. Both carry the same national broadcast.

What channel is Channel 5 on Sky?

Channel 5 is on channel 105 on Sky, which applies to Sky Q, Sky Stream and Sky Glass. As of March 2026, the SD version of Channel 5 on satellite has been removed. Channel 105 is the only place to find it on Sky, and it broadcasts in HD.

What channel is Channel 5 on Virgin Media?

Channel 5 is on channel 105 on Virgin Media. It is included as standard on all Virgin TV packages and carries advertising.

What channel is Channel 5 on Freesat?

Channel 5 is on channel 105 on Freesat. The SD version was removed in March 2026, so the channel is HD-only on satellite.

What kind of shows is Channel 5 known for?

Channel 5’s schedule is built on British factual and countryside television: The Yorkshire Vet and its Dales farming series, true-crime documentaries and daytime entertainment such as Jeremy Vine. Alongside that sits a growing slate of original British drama, and every morning opens with children’s programming under the Milkshake! banner.

What’s on Channel 5 tonight?

Monday 17 August 2026 opens primetime with Cyprus: Jewel of the Med at 6pm, followed by Traffic Cops at 7pm. Street Cops: Catching the Yobs brings a new episode at 8pm and Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law follows with a new instalment at 9pm. Police Interceptors: Taking Down the Shoplifting Gangs repeats at 10pm, and a second Traffic Cops rounds off the night at 11:05pm. Full times are in the schedule table above.

Can I watch Channel 5 online for free?

Yes. Channel 5 streams live and free on My5 at channel5.com and via the My5 app. No subscription is needed, though the service carries advertising. A free account registration is required for catch-up and on-demand content.

Is Channel 5 free?

Yes. Channel 5 is a free-to-air commercial broadcaster. There is no subscription or pay-TV requirement to watch it on Freeview, Freesat, Sky or Virgin Media, and My5 online is also free. The channel is funded by advertising.

Verdict

Monday sticks firmly to Channel 5’s policing identity rather than reaching for variety. Traffic Cops opens and closes the night, with Street Cops: Catching the Yobs and Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law supplying the two new episodes in between, and a Police Interceptors repeat filling the 10pm slot. The 8pm and 9pm hours are the ones worth planning around, since both carry fresh material rather than a rerun. It’s a schedule for viewers who like their television close to the ground, following officers and investigators through ordinary shifts rather than anything scripted.

Watch

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | Channel 5 Schedule | My5 Streaming Guide | Films on TV This Week