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

Drama launched on 8 July 2013 and is owned by BBC Studios as part of the UKTV stable alongside Dave, Yesterday and W. It was rebranded U&Drama on 16 July 2024, though most viewers and on-screen guides still call it Drama. Tonight, Saturday 29 August 2026, Darby and Joan takes the 6pm slot before The Brokenwood Mysteries settles in for two hours from 7pm. Wallander takes over the 9pm hour, and Blackshore closes the night at 11pm.

Drama Schedule: Saturday 29 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Drama schedule for Saturday 29 August 2026, on Freeview 20.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Drama today

Saturday’s daytime shape is nothing like a weekday on Drama. There’s no soap archive strand at all today — no Classic EastEnders, no Classic Neighbours — and none of the usual procedural block either. Overnight opens with Lovejoy at 12:40am (series 2, episode 10) and Sister Boniface Mysteries at 1:50am (series 2, episode 9), before the British Sign Language edition of The Chelsea Detective airs at 2:50am (series 2, episode 1) and teleshopping fills the gap to 7:10am.

Four back-to-back episodes of Birds of a Feather then carry the schedule from 7:10am to 9:40am (series 6 and series 2 material mixed in), followed by two episodes of Jonathan Creek at 9:40am and 11am (series 5). The feature-length TV movie Jonathan Creek: Black Canary takes the 12:20pm slot for two hours, and two episodes of New Tricks close out the afternoon at 2:20pm and 3:40pm (series 12).

Worth noting for anyone looking for a soap fix: EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One, so there’s no episode anywhere tonight regardless of channel, and ITV1’s Saturday evening is a run of entertainment shows and a film rather than Emmerdale or Coronation Street, which are weekday-only. Two episodes of Darby and Joan at 5pm and 6pm lead straight into the evening’s run of The Brokenwood Mysteries, Wallander and Blackshore.

Drama tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

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

Darby and Joan — Drama, 6pm

The second of two episodes tonight (series 1, episode 6) finds Jack drawn into a doping accusation against a young athlete, after the earlier 5pm instalment saw the pair sharing a hotel room. Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi lead the amateur-sleuth double act through its odd-couple paces, working the Australian outback setting for all it’s worth.

The Brokenwood Mysteries — Drama, 7pm

A groom-to-be is shot dead on a hunting trip in “Hunting the Stag” (series 1, episode 4), and the two-hour running time gives Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd plenty of room to work through the wedding party’s grudges. New Zealand’s small-town setting keeps this one on the gentler end of Drama’s crime output.

Wallander — Drama, 9pm

Kenneth Branagh returns as the Swedish detective in “Faceless Killers” (series 2, episode 1). A remote farm becomes a crime scene when an older couple are killed there, and the fallout stirs up racially motivated violence in the local community. It’s a bleaker two hours than the cosier mysteries around it, and one of the better-regarded entries in the run.

Blackshore — Drama, 11pm

DI Fia Lucey’s suspicions about her new partner deepen in this second episode (series 1, episode 2), as the case she’s investigating starts to point uncomfortably close to home. The coastal Irish setting gives the show a distinct, damp atmosphere of its own.

What kind of shows are on Drama

Classic BBC and ITV archive drama

The backbone of the schedule is British drama from the last forty-odd years. Jonathan Creek, New Tricks, Lovejoy, Birds of a Feather and Miss Marple all get regular daytime and early-evening outings, most of them first shown on BBC One or ITV. The whole point of the channel is that you can drop in at almost any hour and land on something you half-remember.

Cosy crime and international mysteries

Drama also runs a decent sideline in gentler, often overseas, crime. The Brokenwood Mysteries from New Zealand and Harry Wild from Ireland are the two regulars: puzzle-driven, light on violence, usually tied up within the hour or two.

Newer acquired and prestige drama

The Count of Monte Cristo and The Boy That Never Was are newer, high-profile productions in the schedule alongside all the archive material.

How to watch Drama

Channel numbers

Drama’s channel numbers across the main UK platforms:

Drama is free on all of the above platforms, with no subscription required. Drama+1 on Freeview is a limited-reach service, so availability can depend on your transmitter; your on-screen guide is the definitive source if these don’t match.

Streaming online

Drama streams live at u.co.uk and via the U app on smart TVs, iOS, Android and Freeview Play devices. You’ll need a free U account, and a large on-demand library sits alongside the live stream.

Drama +1 and sister channels

Drama+1 carries the same schedule an hour behind, for catching whatever’s just been missed on the main channel.

Drama sits inside the wider UKTV portfolio, which includes U&Dave for comedy and panel shows, U&Yesterday for history and factual programming, and U&W for factual entertainment, all free-to-air, plus the pay channels U&Alibi, U&Eden and U&Gold. Dave is the nearest alternative on the electronic programme guide for comedy rather than mystery.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s on Drama tonight?

Tonight, Drama runs Darby and Joan at 6pm, then The Brokenwood Mysteries takes the 7pm hour for two hours, Wallander follows at 9pm, and Blackshore closes the night at 11pm. Check the schedule table above for the full day’s listings.

What channel is Drama on Freeview?

Drama is on channel 20 on Freeview, BT TV, TalkTalk TV and YouView. Drama+1 is on Freeview channel 60 as a limited-reach service. Both are free.

What channel is Drama on Sky, Virgin Media and Freesat?

Sky channel 143, Virgin Media channel 116, and Freesat channel 158. Drama+1 is on Sky 243 and Virgin Media 316.

Can I watch Drama for free on U?

Yes. It streams live at u.co.uk and through the U app, with a large on-demand archive alongside it. You’ll need a free U account, but there’s no subscription fee.

Is Drama free to watch?

Yes, completely free to air on every platform, with advertising breaks during and between programmes but no subscription cost.

Verdict

Drama does one thing and does it well: British and international mysteries filled out with newer acquisitions solid enough to hold their own against the archive material. Tonight is a compact Saturday for the channel: two Darby and Joan episodes lead into The Brokenwood Mysteries at 7pm, Wallander takes the 9pm hour, and Blackshore sees the night out at 11pm. No film and no repeat run interrupts any of it — just four different programmes, back to back.

The trade-off is a daytime schedule built almost entirely from reruns, over three hours of teleshopping overnight, and no soap archive strand at all today to break up the Birds of a Feather, Jonathan Creek and New Tricks run. EastEnders doesn’t air on Saturdays anywhere, and ITV1’s evening tonight is entertainment shows and a film rather than Emmerdale or Coronation Street, both weekday-only. Regular viewers put up with Drama’s rerun-heavy daytime because the evening line-up is reliably well chosen.

Related: Freeview Channel Guide | Dave TV Guide | Films on TV This Week