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

Published: 7 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.

Tuesday 8 September 2026 brings nightly Vuelta a Espana highlights into the usual factual run. Nick Knowles opens with the railways at 6pm, stage 16 highlights follow at 7pm, then Motorway Cops at 8pm and a new episode of The Game at 9pm carry primetime through to 10pm. Full times are in the table below.

Channel 5 Schedule: Tuesday 8 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Channel 5 schedule for Tuesday 8 September 2026, on Freeview 5.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Channel 5 today — the daytime schedule

Overnight hours run the usual factual repeats: A&E: Crash Scene Emergency, GPs: Behind Closed Doors, Castle and The Highland Vet, before Milkshake! takes over from 5:35am with PAW Patrol, Mixmups, Peppa Pig and Tweedy & Fluff.

Jeremy Vine holds the mid-morning slot from 9:15am, as it has done since inheriting it from The Wright Stuff, followed by the drama Storm & Alexis at 11:30am. Matt Allwright and My Husband’s Killer Affair take the early afternoon, then Castle and a short Love Nature slot lead into the evening bulletin at 5pm.

The schedule runs straight through into Amazing Railway Adventures with Nick Knowles at 6pm, ahead of this evening’s cycling highlights.

Channel 5 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Channel 5 primetime line-up for tonight, Tuesday 8 September 2026.

Amazing Railway Adventures with Nick Knowles — Channel 5, 6pm

Nick Knowles swaps the tool belt for a rail pass in this travelogue series, riding scenic lines around the world and meeting the people who live along them. Episode 2 keeps to the format that’s carried the show through several series now: landscape, local history, and Knowles trying his hand at whatever the region is known for. It’s undemanding early-evening viewing rather than appointment television.

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

Stage 16 of the Vuelta gets the nightly highlights treatment, condensed into an hour for anyone who missed the live broadcast. Expect breakaways, a mountain finish and a commentary reel rather than blow-by-blow coverage. It’s been a reliable September fixture, though purists will still prefer the full live feed elsewhere.

Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders — Channel 5, 8pm

Traffic officers pull over speeding drivers across the motorway network in this long-running fly-on-the-wall series, now well past its tenth outing. Tonight’s edition, the seventh of the current run, mixes routine stops with at least one case that escalates into something more serious. Dashcam footage and officer commentary carry the format, much as they have since series one.

The Game — Channel 5, 9pm

Jason Watkins returns as Huw Miller, the retired detective still trying to rebuild a quiet life with his wife after surviving a knife attack at the hands of an imprisoned serial killer. This penultimate episode of the four-part second series sees that killer start tormenting Huw’s family from behind bars, pushing him toward a choice he doesn’t want to make. Robson Green also returns; the run concludes next Wednesday.

The Day The Queen Died: Minute by Minute — Channel 5, 10pm

This documentary reconstructs 8 September 2022 hour by hour, drawing on historians, journalists and former royal staff to trace the day from the first signs of concern at Balmoral to the announcement that evening. It also covers Operation London Bridge, the decades-old contingency plan rehearsed for exactly this event. Airing on the actual anniversary gives tonight’s repeat more weight than the usual late slot carries.

Police: Night Shift 999 — Channel 5, 11:35pm

Gloucestershire Police provide the access for this late-night strand, following officers through whatever a shift brings. Nothing here departs from the formula that’s kept the series going for four seasons: bodycam footage, radio traffic and officers narrating their own decisions in the moment.

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?

Tuesday 8 September 2026 opens with Amazing Railway Adventures with Nick Knowles at 6pm, then nightly Vuelta a Espana highlights at 7pm. Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders follows at 8pm, and a new episode of The Game airs at 9pm. The Day The Queen Died: Minute by Minute and Police: Night Shift 999 close the night. 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

Tuesday’s Channel 5 mixes sport into the usual factual run. Nick Knowles’s railway series opens at 6pm, then stage 16 highlights from the Vuelta a Espana slot in at 7pm ahead of Motorway Cops and a new episode of The Game. Nothing here is appointment television, but the evening holds together better than most midweek nights on this channel. The Day The Queen Died: Minute by Minute is the one title with any real weight, revisiting the day itself rather than just marking the anniversary.

Watch

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