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

Published: 27 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, Friday 28 August, 5 News with Dan Walker hands over to Motorhoming with Merton & Webster at 6pm, then an hour of stage seven highlights from the Vuelta a España at 7pm, a mountain leg finishing at the Aramón Valdelinares ski resort. Alexander Armstrong in Sri Lanka follows at 8pm, then Heat closes out its Australian bushfire drama with a two-hour finale from 9pm. When TV News Goes Horribly Wrong closes the night from 11:05pm. Full times are in the table below.

Channel 5 Schedule: Friday 28 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Channel 5 schedule for Friday 28 August 2026, on Freeview 5.

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Channel 5 today — the daytime schedule

Milkshake! opens Friday’s schedule at 5:35am and runs three and a half hours through breakfast, working through PAW Patrol, Mixmups, Peppa Pig, Tweedy & Fluff and the rest of the strand, closing out with a first outing for The Real Pup Squad at 9:05am.

Jeremy Vine takes over at 9:15am for two hours and a quarter, the channel’s longest-running weekday strand, before Storm & Alexis picks up the mid-morning slot at 11:30am. 5 News at Lunchtime breaks in at 12:45pm ahead of Matt Allwright, who spends ninety minutes from 12:50pm on consumer complaints and money-saving advice.

The afternoon turns to drama: Deadly Girls Trip, a US TV movie, fills 2:20pm, and Castle repeats at 4pm, before the short strand Love Nature closes out the schedule at 4:55pm, ahead of 5 News with Dan Walker at 5pm.

Channel 5 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Channel 5 primetime line-up for tonight, Friday 28 August 2026.

Motorhoming with Merton & Webster — Channel 5, 6pm

Suki and Paul carry on their tour of the Dales (series 2, episode 5), stopping at the Tan Hill Inn, sitting in on a sheepdog training session and taking in the Ribblehead Viaduct.

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

Rebecca Charlton presents an hour of highlights from stage seven of the Vuelta a España. The riders cover 149.8km of mountain terrain, setting off at Vall d’Alba and climbing to finish at the Aramón Valdelinares ski resort. This is highlights, not live coverage.

Alexander Armstrong in Sri Lanka — Channel 5, 8pm

Armstrong gets close to a cobra before heading north into Tamil country, where he joins a team clearing landmines left behind by three decades of civil war (episode 3).

Heat — Channel 5, 9pm to 11:05pm

Heat wraps up its four-part run tonight with a two-hour double bill rather than a single episode. The 9pm hour resolves what really happened to Tom and finds Kip owning up to a marijuana patch in the shed, before Steve spots smoke building on the horizon. The concluding hour, straight after at 10pm, turns into a search for Tom as the bushfires close in on the group — the series finale, not a repeat.

When TV News Goes Horribly Wrong — Channel 5, 11:05pm

Channel 5’s clip show closes the night with a run-through of broadcasting mishaps from the world of TV news, in a programme running close to two hours.

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?

Friday 28 August 2026 opens primetime at 6pm with Motorhoming with Merton & Webster, followed by Vuelta a España stage seven highlights at 7pm. Alexander Armstrong in Sri Lanka takes the 8pm slot, then Heat closes its Australian bushfire drama with a two-hour concluding double bill from 9pm. When TV News Goes Horribly Wrong closes primetime from 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

There’s no film on Channel 5 tonight, and no new series launches either — every primetime title is a returning strand. Motorhoming with Merton & Webster opens gently at 6pm, and the Vuelta a España hour at 7pm is highlights of stage seven rather than live racing, so it needs no prior knowledge of the route to follow. Alexander Armstrong in Sri Lanka at 8pm is a solid mid-series outing. The real event of the night is Heat’s finale: the 9pm and 10pm episodes run as one two-hour block that closes out the Australian bushfire drama, and it’s worth setting aside the full two hours rather than dropping in halfway. When TV News Goes Horribly Wrong rounds off the evening from 11:05pm with a broadcasting-blooper compilation of its own, running close to two hours.

Watch

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