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

Published: 22 August 2026

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, Sunday 23 August 2026, the channel leans hard into cosy procedural mode: a Hetty Wainthropp Investigates double opens primetime at 6pm, Sister Boniface Mysteries takes the 8pm slot, Silent Witness digs into a skeleton found set in concrete across a two-hour-plus case from 9pm, and New Tricks closes the night at 11:15pm.

Drama Schedule: Sunday 23 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Drama schedule for Sunday 23 August 2026, on Freeview 20.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Drama today

Sunday’s daytime opens overnight with The Last Detective at 12:10am (series 4, episode 3), followed by a New Tricks repeat at 1:45am (series 12, episode 4) and the British Sign Language edit of The Chelsea Detective at 2:50am (series 1, episode 4). Teleshopping then fills the gap from 4am until 7:10am, when The Bill takes over for five episodes on the trot, series 17 episodes 14 to 18, carrying the schedule from breakfast through to midday. Call the Midwife follows with two episodes from midday (series 12, episodes 1 and 2), and the 1996 TV movie Catherine Cookson’s The Girl, starring Jonathan Cake and Mark Benton, then fills the whole of the afternoon from 2:40pm right through to 6pm.

Worth flagging: unlike a typical Saturday on this channel, tonight’s primetime isn’t broken up by a film at all. Five archive and returning drama series carry the entire evening between them, the format Drama’s built its whole identity on.

Drama tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Drama primetime line-up for tonight, Sunday 23 August 2026.

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates — Drama, 6pm

Patricia Routledge’s amateur sleuth and her reluctant young assistant open the evening (series 3, episode 5), the gently paced Northern mystery format Drama has built much of its daytime and early-evening schedule around.

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates — Drama, 7pm

A second case follows straight after (series 3, episode 6), giving Hetty and Geoffrey a full hour of screen time before the channel’s newer material takes over for the rest of the night.

Sister Boniface Mysteries — Drama, 8pm

The crime-solving forensic nun takes the 8pm slot (series 3, episode 3), one of the more dependable modern acquisitions Drama runs alongside its older archive staples.

Silent Witness — Drama, 9pm

The night’s biggest item: at 9pm the Lyell team open an investigation after a skeleton turns up encased in concrete (series 23, episode 7). It’s a two-hour-and-quarter case, easily the longest single block of the evening, and it anchors the whole night’s viewing.

New Tricks — Drama, 11:15pm

Once Silent Witness wraps at 11:15pm, an archive UCOS case from series 8 (episode 1) closes out Drama’s evening.

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 opens primetime with a Hetty Wainthropp Investigates double from 6pm, then Sister Boniface Mysteries takes the 8pm slot. Silent Witness runs from 9pm for two hours and a quarter, investigating a skeleton found set in concrete, and New Tricks closes out the evening at 11:15pm. 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 leans further into that comfort-viewing identity than most evenings: five archive and returning drama series carry the whole night with no film breaking things up. A Hetty Wainthropp Investigates double opens from 6pm, Sister Boniface Mysteries takes 8pm, Silent Witness anchors the night from 9pm with its longest case of the week, and New Tricks closes out at 11:15pm.

The trade-off is a daytime schedule built almost entirely from reruns, three hours of teleshopping before 7am, and a single long TV-movie block swallowing most of Sunday afternoon. Regular viewers put up with both because the evening mysteries are reliably well chosen.

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