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

Updated: 23 August 2026

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 opens with When Motorways Go Horribly Wrong at 5:35pm, running almost to 7pm and taking most of the early evening before 5 News Weekend. Cycling coverage follows at 7pm with stage two of the Vuelta a España, then Inside Four Seasons: Park Lane at 8pm and Rich House, Poor House at 9pm. A second, separate “Goes Horribly Wrong” strand closes out the night: When Honeymoons Go Horribly Wrong at 10pm, followed by Britain’s Worst Weather Disasters at 11:30pm. Full times are in the table below.

Channel 5 Schedule: Sunday 23 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Channel 5 schedule for Sunday 23 August 2026, on Freeview 5.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Channel 5 today — the daytime schedule

Sunday’s timetable is built almost entirely around Milkshake!, which runs from 5:35am with Peppa Pig and PAW Patrol on rotation before handing over to Milo for ten minutes at 6:15am. A second, longer Milkshake! block then runs to 8:10am with Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go!, Fireman Sam and Tim Rex in Space. Animal Care Club and The Smurfs both bring new episodes from 8:10am, followed by The Creature Cases and series one’s 21st episode of The Patrick Star Show.

Entertainment News on 5 breaks in just after 9am, ahead of a near two-hour outing for Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, which occupies most of the late morning. Happy Campers: The Caravan Park brings series five’s eighth episode at 11:10am, then Cruising with Susan Calman runs back to back at 12:05pm and 1:05pm. Hippo Watch with Steve Backshall does the same from 2:05pm, and Stockholm with Michael Portillo takes the 4:05pm slot before When Motorways Go Horribly Wrong opens the evening at 5:35pm.

Channel 5 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Channel 5 primetime line-up for tonight, Sunday 23 August 2026.

When Motorways Go Horribly Wrong — Channel 5, 5:35pm

The evening opens early with this run of dashcam mishaps and hard-shoulder near-misses, and it holds the schedule for the best part of an hour and a half, effectively owning the whole run-up to the 6pm and 7pm hours before the news.

5 News Weekend — Channel 5, 6:55pm

A five-minute bulletin ahead of the evening’s cycling coverage.

Cycling: Vuelta a España 2026 — Channel 5, 7pm

Stage two highlights, with Rebecca Charlton presenting. The riders leave the forecourt of the Prince’s Palace in Monaco and cross into France for a hilly 214.3km run to Manosque — a long day in the saddle this early in the race. Highlights, not a live feed.

Inside Four Seasons: Park Lane — Channel 5, 8pm

Series two’s fourth episode follows a Texan couple planning their wedding at a Four Seasons property in Hampshire — a reminder that the strand isn’t confined to the Mayfair hotel its title comes from.

Rich House, Poor House — Channel 5, 9pm

Series 11’s third episode puts another pair of households through the usual swap: a week living on the other family’s budget, then a joint reckoning with what they’ve learned about each other.

When Honeymoons Go Horribly Wrong — Channel 5, 10pm

A separate strand from the early-evening motorways programme, despite the shared format: the fourth episode of a run built on holidays that went badly wrong from the moment the confetti settled.

Britain’s Worst Weather Disasters — Channel 5, 11:30pm

Series one’s second episode closes out the night, running to roughly 12:50am.

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?

Sunday 23 August 2026 opens primetime early with When Motorways Go Horribly Wrong at 5:35pm, which runs through to 5 News Weekend at 6:55pm. Vuelta a España stage two highlights follow at 7pm, then Inside Four Seasons: Park Lane at 8pm and Rich House, Poor House at 9pm. A second, unrelated “Goes Horribly Wrong” strand takes over at 10pm with When Honeymoons Go Horribly Wrong, before Britain’s Worst Weather Disasters closes the night at 11:30pm. 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

There’s no single flagship tonight, but the schedule has a shape to it once you notice the bookends. Two “Goes Horribly Wrong” instalments, one built around motorways and one around honeymoons, sit either side of the evening’s more considered material: cycling highlights from the Vuelta’s second stage, a hotel-industry documentary that turns out to be about a wedding in Hampshire rather than Mayfair, and a fresh instalment of the long-running wealth swap format Rich House, Poor House. None of it demands appointment viewing, but Rich House, Poor House is the one worth prioritising if time is short — the format still does more with its central swap than either of the “Horribly Wrong” strands manage with their archive-clip approach.

Watch

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