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

Published: 2 September 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, Thursday 3 September, Channel 5 keeps its live snooker to the afternoon rather than the evening. The Snooker British Open’s day four session from Cheltenham runs from 12:30pm to 5:30pm, and the live evening session moves over to 5Action from 6:45pm. Channel 5’s own evening opens with highlights of stage 12 of the Vuelta a España at 7pm, then closes out a run: Benidorm Is Murder reaches its finale at 9pm. Full times are in the table below.

Channel 5 Schedule: Thursday 3 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Channel 5 schedule for Thursday 3 September 2026, on Freeview 5.

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Channel 5 today — the daytime schedule

Thursday’s daytime on Channel 5 opens overnight with The Highland Vet at 3:20am and Yorkshire with Jane McDonald at 4:15am, before Milkshake! takes over the channel from 5:15am and holds it into mid-morning.

Entertainment News on 5 has a short bulletin at 9:05am ahead of Jeremy Vine, which runs for two hours and fifteen minutes from 9:15am. Storm & Alexis takes 11:30am.

From 12:30pm, the schedule clears for live sport: the Snooker British Open‘s day four afternoon session from Cheltenham runs through to 5:30pm, with Shaun Murphy defending his title against a field that includes Judd Trump, Zhao Xintong and John Higgins, before 5 News with Dan Walker hands the evening back to the regular schedule. The evening session of the same tournament moves to 5Action, not Channel 5, from 6:45pm. Day four is the last of the earlier rounds — Channel 5’s listing for tomorrow is already billed as the quarter-finals.

Channel 5 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Channel 5’s live sport is done for the day by 5:30pm, so the evening belongs to a series signing off. Here’s the primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 3 September 2026.

Benidorm Is Murder — Channel 5, 9pm

Benidorm Is Murder reaches its finale. A guest at a lock-in at the tavern turns up dead, the doors are locked, and Dennis has to work out who did it before suspicion lands on him. John Hannah leads the cast, and this is a crime drama borrowing the resort’s name rather than any relation to the ITV sitcom of the same setting.

The Yorkshire Vet — Channel 5, 8pm

An hour ahead of the finale, The Yorkshire Vet returns with a new case list: a sunburnt breeding bull, a nervous encounter with a python, and a beagle needing surgery on an ear lump.

Killer at the Crime Scene — Channel 5, 10pm

Straight after, Killer at the Crime Scene examines a fatal shooting near a North London playground, tracing the case through gang rivalries and mistaken identity.

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

The evening opens at 7pm with highlights, not live action, from stage 12 of the Vuelta a España: a mountain stage finishing at Calar Alto, home to Europe’s largest astronomical observatory.

Car Pound Cops has a Skye-set case at 6:25pm, and the night closes with the documentary Killed by Our Daughter: The McCullough Murders at 11:05pm.

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?

Thursday 3 September 2026 keeps its live snooker in the daytime rather than the evening. The Snooker British Open’s day four session from Cheltenham runs from 12:30pm to 5:30pm, and the live evening session moves to 5Action from 6:45pm. Channel 5’s own evening opens with highlights of stage 12 of the Vuelta a España at 7pm, then The Yorkshire Vet at 8pm. Benidorm Is Murder closes out its run at 9pm, and Killer at the Crime Scene follows at 10pm. Killed by Our Daughter: The McCullough Murders closes 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

Channel 5’s Thursday keeps its live sport where it belongs, in the afternoon, rather than letting it swallow the evening. The Snooker British Open’s day four session from Cheltenham is done by 5:30pm — the last of the earlier rounds before tomorrow’s quarter-finals — and it’s 5Action, not Channel 5, that carries the live evening session afterwards. That frees the evening for a series signing off: Benidorm Is Murder reaches its finale at 9pm, backed by a new Yorkshire Vet before it and a solid true-crime run after, with an hour of Vuelta a España mountain-stage highlights to open.

Watch

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