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

Published: 24 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, Tuesday 25 August 2026, the evening is built from two three-episode sitcom blocks back to back: Last of the Summer Wine runs from 6pm to 8pm, then ‘Allo ‘Allo! takes over until 9:40pm. New Tricks follows at 9:40pm, and Idris Elba’s Luther closes the night at 11pm with the opening episode of the show’s fifth and final TV series.

Drama Schedule: Tuesday 25 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Drama schedule for Tuesday 25 August 2026, on Freeview 20.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Drama today

Tuesday’s daytime opens overnight with Lovejoy at 12:40am (series 2, episode 6), followed by Sister Boniface Mysteries at 1:50am (series 2, episode 5) and the British Sign Language edit of The Chelsea Detective at 2:50am (series 1, episode 6). Teleshopping fills the gap from 4am to 7:20am, when The Bill takes the breakfast slot (series 17, episode 20), followed by a Classic Doctors double at 8:10am and 8:45am. Classic Holby City airs at 9:20am (series 8, episode 42), Classic Casualty follows at 10:40am (series 27, episode 31), and The Bill repeats its breakfast episode again at 11:40am.

Early afternoon belongs to the archive soaps: Classic EastEnders at 12:40pm and 1:20pm, then Classic Neighbours at 2pm and 2:35pm. Both are daytime repeats, not tonight’s real soaps — with live football taking over ITV1 this evening, the current Emmerdale and Coronation Street episodes are off air entirely, and it’s EastEnders on BBC One, Hollyoaks on E4 and Home and Away on 5Star carrying the soap slots instead. Whitstable Pearl airs at 3:05pm (series 3, episode 1), Kingdom follows at 4:10pm (series 1, episode 3), and As Time Goes By closes out the afternoon at 5:15pm with “Branching Out” (series 3, episode 6), leading straight into the evening’s Last of the Summer Wine run.

Worth flagging: there’s no film in primetime tonight either. Two three-episode sitcom runs and two returning crime dramas carry the whole evening between them, the format Drama’s built its whole identity on.

Drama tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

No two-hour mystery tonight. The whole evening is shaped around two back-to-back three-episode sitcom blocks before the night settles into a returning crime drama, on Freeview 20.

Last of the Summer Wine — Drama, 6pm to 8pm

Three series 8 episodes (2, 3 and 4) run straight through from 6pm, 6:35pm and 7:20pm. Roy Clarke’s Yorkshire trio potter and bicker their way through the Dales in the format’s usual gentle, event-free style, and stacking three half-hours together makes for an easy, low-stakes start to the evening.

‘Allo ‘Allo! — Drama, 8pm to 9:40pm

The second block picks up straight after, with series 5 episodes 23, 24 and 25 at 8pm, 8:35pm and 9:10pm. René’s café, the disguised airmen and the increasingly tangled resistance plots keep the wordplay and double-crossing going for a full 100 minutes without a break.

New Tricks — Drama, 9:40pm

UCOS gets the 9:40pm slot with series 8, episode 2. Sandra, Jack, Brian and Gerry work a cold case with the format’s familiar mix of procedural grind and office sniping — reliable rather than flashy, and the reason the strand has lasted as long as it has.

Luther — Drama, 11pm

Luther closes the night at 11pm with the opening episode of series 5 — the show’s fifth and, as it turned out, final TV run. Idris Elba’s DCI John Luther is joined by Ruth Wilson’s Alice Morgan and Wunmi Mosaku as new recruit DS Catherine Halliday, with Hermione Norris introduced as a psychiatrist whose case pulls Luther back into old, dangerous habits. It’s an unflagged opener, so anyone catching it fresh is starting the run from the beginning.

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 two back-to-back sitcom blocks: three episodes of Last of the Summer Wine from 6pm, then three episodes of ‘Allo ‘Allo! from 8pm. New Tricks follows at 9:40pm, and Luther opens its fifth and final series 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 lighter weeknight than usual for the channel: three Last of the Summer Wine episodes open the evening from 6pm, three ‘Allo ‘Allo! episodes take over from 8pm, New Tricks follows at 9:40pm, and Luther opens its fifth and final series at 11pm. No film interrupts any of it.

The trade-off is a daytime schedule built almost entirely from reruns, over three hours of teleshopping before 7:20am, and archive soaps at lunchtime that have nothing to do with tonight’s real soap slots. With live football taking over ITV1 this evening, that’s EastEnders on BBC One, Hollyoaks on E4 and Home and Away on 5Star rather than Emmerdale or Coronation Street, both off air entirely tonight. 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