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

Published: 11 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.

Saturday 12 September 2026 is a royal-themed factual double bill. 5 News Weekend at 7:10pm and stage 20 Vuelta a Espana highlights at 7:15pm lead into The Royal Rich List 2026: Who’s Up, Who’s Down? at 8:15pm and The Jobless Prince: What Will Harry Do Next? at 9:45pm, before 1986: Most Shocking Moments closes the night from 11:15pm. Full times are in the table below.

Channel 5 Schedule: Saturday 12 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Channel 5 schedule for Saturday 12 September 2026, on Freeview 5.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Channel 5 today — the daytime schedule

Saturday’s overnight run is factual and true-crime: Fare Dodgers: At War with the Law, GPs: Behind Closed Doors, Castle and The Highland Vet, before Milkshake! takes over from 5:35am with PAW Patrol, Mixmups and Peppa Pig.

Breakfast stays with children’s programming — Milo, then a longer Milkshake! block running Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go!, Fireman Sam and The Adventures of Paddington through to 8am, followed by The Creature Cases, The Smurfs, Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom and Spongebob SquarePants.

Royal-themed factual dominates the rest of the day. The King’s Guard: Serving the Crown at 9:40am leads into two episodes of Inside Windsor Castle: A Royal Residence, then a new The Royals Uncensored at 12:40pm. Two Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild episodes and two of Sam & Ade Go Birding carry the afternoon, before Morecambe & Wise: The Unseen Tapes takes early evening from 5:40pm ahead of tonight’s line-up.

Channel 5 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Channel 5 primetime line-up for tonight, Saturday 12 September 2026.

5 News Weekend — Channel 5, 7:10pm

A short weekend bulletin opens the evening at 7:10pm, running just five minutes ahead of tonight’s sport highlights.

Cycling: Vuelta a Espana 2026 — Channel 5, 7:15pm

Cycling: Vuelta a Espana 2026 brings a new hour of stage 20 highlights from 7:15pm, part of the channel’s nightly coverage of the race.

The Royal Rich List 2026: Who’s Up, Who’s Down? — Channel 5, 8:15pm

The Royal Rich List 2026: Who’s Up, Who’s Down? runs from 8:15pm for an hour and a half, counting down the ten wealthiest members of the royal family and how each of them makes their money.

The Jobless Prince: What Will Harry Do Next? — Channel 5, 9:45pm

Straight after comes The Jobless Prince: What Will Harry Do Next?, a 9:45pm documentary weighing up the Duke of Sussex’s career options with input from PR specialists, businesspeople and royal insiders.

1986: Most Shocking Moments — Channel 5, 11:15pm

1986: Most Shocking Moments closes the night from 11:15pm, revisiting the controversies and scandals that defined the year.

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 12 September 2026 opens with 5 News Weekend at 7:10pm, followed by stage 20 Vuelta a Espana highlights at 7:15pm. The Royal Rich List 2026: Who’s Up, Who’s Down? takes 8:15pm, and The Jobless Prince: What Will Harry Do Next? follows at 9:45pm. 1986: Most Shocking Moments closes the night from 11:15pm. 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

Saturday swaps the usual sport-into-factual pattern for a run of royal-themed documentaries. Stage 20 of the Vuelta a Espana gets its nightly highlights slot at 7:15pm, short as ever. The Royal Rich List 2026: Who’s Up, Who’s Down? is the one to watch if the finances of the Firm interest you at all — a countdown format, but a reasonably well-sourced one by the genre’s low standards. The Jobless Prince: What Will Harry Do Next? follows straight after at 9:45pm, asking what comes next for the Duke of Sussex with input from PR and business voices rather than tabloid speculation alone. 1986: Most Shocking Moments closes out the night from 11:15pm with a nostalgia-driven look back at that year’s controversies.

Watch

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