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

Published: 28 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, Saturday 29 August, Channel 5’s evening opens with a comedy retrospective before it turns serious: Tommy Cooper: 30 Funniest Moments holds the 5pm hour, 5 News Weekend has the headlines at 6:55pm, and highlights of stage eight of the Vuelta a España take the 7pm slot, a flat 171km run from Puçol to Xeraco. Andrew, Fergie & the Scandal of SouthYork follows at 8pm, and the night’s main event is 9/11: The Unseen Footage at 9pm, ninety minutes drawing on Reuters archive material that has not aired before. Kinky Boots closes the schedule from 10:30pm. Full times are in the table below.

Channel 5 Schedule: Saturday 29 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Channel 5 schedule for Saturday 29 August 2026, on Freeview 5.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Channel 5 today — the daytime schedule

Saturday’s daytime looks nothing like a weekday on Channel 5. Milkshake! runs from 5:35am through to just after 8am, working through PAW Patrol, Mixmups, Peppa Pig, Milo, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go! and Fireman Sam, before Animal Care Club takes over at 8:10am with a new episode from Lower Moss Wildlife Hospital, followed by The Smurfs, The Creature Cases and Spongebob SquarePants.

The King’s Guard: Serving the Crown opens the factual run at 9:10am, tracing the elite regiments of the Household Division. Westminster Abbey: Behind Closed Doors then holds three hours from 10am, moving through Holy Week preparations, the Abbey gardens and a visit from the Speaker of the House of Commons. The Royals: Uncensored, a new episode, takes 1pm, and Coastal Adventures with Helen, Jules & JB runs two back-to-back episodes from 2pm, closing its run with a jet ski trip round Morecambe and a gyrocopter flight over the Dorset coast.

Passage to India: A Yorkshire Vet Special sends Peter Wright and Rohin Aojula to Punjab at 4pm, before Tommy Cooper: 30 Funniest Moments holds the whole hour from 5pm to just before 7pm.

Channel 5 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Channel 5 primetime line-up for tonight, Saturday 29 August 2026.

Tommy Cooper: 30 Funniest Moments — Channel 5, 5pm

Nearly two hours of routines and one-liners from one of British comedy’s most recognisable performers, running through to just before 7pm and holding the whole of the 6pm hour before the evening news arrives.

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

5 News Weekend covers the headlines at 6:55pm, then Rebecca Charlton presents an hour of highlights from stage eight of the Vuelta a España: a largely flat 171km ride from Puçol to Xeraco, broken only by the climb of the Puerto de Barx roughly 23km from the finish. This is highlights of a stage already raced, not live coverage.

Andrew, Fergie & the Scandal of SouthYork — Channel 5, 8pm

A documentary hour on Sunninghill Park, the Berkshire mansion built as Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s marital home and nicknamed SouthYork, and on the scandals that later attached themselves to it.

9/11: The Unseen Footage — Channel 5, 9pm

Channel 5’s biggest booking of the night. Ninety minutes drawing on Reuters archive material that has not been broadcast before, plus first-hand accounts, tracing the attacks of 11 September 2001 through to the two days of response that followed.

Kinky Boots — Channel 5, 10:30pm

The 2005 comedy drama in which a failing shoe factory is saved by a switch into fetish footwear, with Joel Edgerton as the reluctant new owner and Chiwetel Ejiofor as the drag performer who talks him into it. Just over two hours, running to shortly before 1am.

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?

Saturday 29 August 2026 opens Channel 5 primetime with Tommy Cooper: 30 Funniest Moments at 5pm, then highlights of stage eight of the Vuelta a España at 7pm. Andrew, Fergie & the Scandal of SouthYork takes the 8pm slot, and 9/11: The Unseen Footage is the night’s headline booking at 9pm. Kinky Boots closes the schedule from 10:30pm. 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

Channel 5’s Saturday builds towards one clear event: 9/11: The Unseen Footage at 9pm, ninety minutes of previously unseen Reuters material that earns the space it’s given rather than a slot to half-watch. Everything ahead of it is lighter. Tommy Cooper: 30 Funniest Moments fills the 5pm hour comfortably, and the Vuelta a España highlights at 7pm need no knowledge of the wider race to follow, since stage eight is a flat sprinters’ day rather than a mountain showdown. Andrew, Fergie & the Scandal of SouthYork at 8pm is a routine royal documentary rather than a big swing. Kinky Boots rounds off the night from 10:30pm, the nearest thing to a film on the schedule and a gentler way to end than the documentary before it.

Watch

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