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

Published: 13 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.

Monday 14 September 2026 is back to the channel’s normal shape after Sunday’s live NFL doubleheader — there’s no game tonight on Channel 5 or 5Action. Amazing Railway Adventures with Nick Knowles opens the evening at 6pm, Traffic Cops follows at 7pm, then new episodes of Police Interceptors and Forever Home take the 8pm and 9pm slots. A Murder: Suspect No.1 double bill closes the night from 10pm. Full times are in the table below.

Channel 5 Schedule: Monday 14 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Channel 5 schedule for Monday 14 September 2026, on Freeview 5.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Channel 5 today — the daytime schedule

Monday’s overnight run opens with Cops and a short Entertainment News on 5 update, then Cruise TV with LoveitBookit takes the 1am hour. Two editions of The Wonderful World of Chocolate follow from 2am, and a Cruising with Susan Calman double bill (carrying the Visually Signed access service) runs the graveyard slot from 2:50am. A further Wonderful World of Chocolate pair from 4:30am leads into a second Entertainment News on 5 bulletin, before Milkshake! takes over from 5:35am with PAW Patrol, Mixmups, Peppa Pig and Tweedy & Fluff.

Breakfast stays with children’s programming — Milo, then a second Milkshake! block featuring Peppa Pig and Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom, running through to 9:15am.

Jeremy Vine takes the late-morning slot, and Storm & Alexis fills the run-up to lunchtime. 5 News at Lunchtime opens the afternoon, followed by Matt Allwright and the film Dial… For Murder. Castle and a short Love Nature segment close out the afternoon ahead of the 5pm news and tonight’s line-up.

Channel 5 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Channel 5 primetime line-up for tonight, Monday 14 September 2026.

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

Nick Knowles heads to Peru this week, riding the rails toward Machu Picchu from Lake Titicaca. The format hasn’t shifted since the series began: scenery, a bit of history, and Knowles chatting to whoever he ends up sitting next to.

Traffic Cops — Channel 5, 7pm

Derbyshire’s roads supply tonight’s drama, including a suspected cloned car among the usual run of stops and pursuits. The strand still leans on dashcam footage and officers talking through what happened after the event.

Police Interceptors — Channel 5, 8pm

A new episode has officers in Northamptonshire chasing down a man on an e-bike who’s brandishing a machete, alongside a separate cloned-plates inquiry. Seventeen series in, the format hasn’t needed to change: pursuit units, cameras fixed to dashboards, and not much narration required.

Forever Home — Channel 5, 9pm

Amy Nuttall stars in this new thriller about a woman who starts to doubt what she really knows about her partner, and about the first wife he lost two decades earlier. It’s a slower, stranger hour than the crime-and-motorway programmes surrounding it, and better for the contrast.

Murder: Suspect No.1 — Channel 5, 10pm–11:35pm

Two episodes run back to back to close the night, effectively one long case rather than two separate stories. The first follows Hull detectives investigating a fatal beating, with a young woman held as a person of interest; the second turns to the death of 49-year-old Jonathan Hutty, where three suspects come under scrutiny.

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?

No sport tonight — Monday 14 September 2026 is back to the channel’s regular line-up. Amazing Railway Adventures with Nick Knowles opens at 6pm, Traffic Cops follows at 7pm, and new episodes of Police Interceptors and Forever Home take the 8pm and 9pm slots. A Murder: Suspect No.1 double bill runs from 10pm to 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

Monday hands the schedule back to Channel 5’s default shape, and it’s a stronger night for it than Sunday’s sport was. Forever Home at 9pm is the pick: Amy Nuttall carries a slow-building thriller that earns its hour rather than padding it out. Police Interceptors before it does exactly what it always does, and Traffic Cops at 7pm covers similar ground an hour earlier. The Murder: Suspect No.1 double bill from 10pm asks for a two-hour sit, but the two cases hang together well enough to justify running them back to back rather than splitting them across separate nights.

Watch

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