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

Published: 29 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 30 August 2026, Patricia Routledge’s Hetty Wainthropp Investigates runs twice back to back at 6pm and 7pm. Sister Boniface Mysteries follows at 8pm, a two-part Silent Witness case holds the 9pm hour, and New Tricks closes out the night at 11:20pm.

Drama Schedule: Sunday 30 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Drama schedule for Sunday 30 August 2026, on Freeview 20.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Drama today

Sunday’s daytime on Drama runs through a familiar rotation rather than any Saturday-only strand. Overnight brings a Peter Davison outing of The Last Detective at 12:10am (series 4, episode 4) and a Nicholas Lyndhurst-fronted New Tricks case at 1:45am (series 12, episode 6), before the British Sign Language edition of The Chelsea Detective airs at 3am (series 2, episode 2) and two hours of teleshopping carry the schedule to 7:10am.

Five episodes of The Bill then run in sequence from 7:10am to midday (series 17, episodes 19 to 23), taking in the two-part Leopard and Tolerance storylines. Two episodes of Call the Midwife hold the early afternoon from midday (series 12, episodes 3 and 4), and the TV movie Catherine Cookson’s The Cinder Path — an early role for Catherine Zeta-Jones — fills three hours twenty minutes from 2:40pm through to 6pm. There’s no soap archive strand in today’s schedule, and no Jonathan Creek or Birds of a Feather either; the latter belongs to That’s TV, not Drama, today.

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. ITV1’s Sunday evening does carry Emmerdale and Coronation Street tonight, a shuffled midweek pairing rather than the norm — but that’s a different channel’s schedule. On Drama, the double bill of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates leads straight into the evening’s run of Sister Boniface Mysteries, Silent Witness and New Tricks.

Drama tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Drama primetime line-up for tonight, Sunday 30 August 2026.

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates — Drama, 6pm

Patricia Routledge’s amateur sleuth opens the evening (series 3, episode 8), looking into a German resident at a retirement home who believes his fellow residents have turned against him.

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates — Drama, 7pm

A second helping straight after (series 3, episode 9): a forgetful clock repairer asks Hetty to track down a valuable old timepiece he suspects a dodgy client has made off with.

Sister Boniface Mysteries — Drama, 8pm

The scent-obsessed head of a well-known fragrance dynasty turns up dead in his study (series 3, episode 4), and the cycling, wine-brewing nun-detective has to work out which of his rivals wanted him gone.

Silent Witness — Drama, 9pm

The Greater Good runs as a two-part story shown back to back tonight, not a one-off — two hours twenty minutes carrying through to 11:20pm. Thomas examines the body of a soldier who died during a training exercise, and traces of what looks like a nerve agent turn a routine post-mortem into something much bigger (series 23, episode 9).

New Tricks — Drama, 11:20pm

Denis Lawson guest stars as UCOS reopens a three-decade-old Soho murder (series 10, episode 5), after a DNA test proves the victim’s supposed daughter isn’t related to him at all.

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 the evening with a double bill of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates at 6pm and 7pm, then Sister Boniface Mysteries at 8pm. A two-part Silent Witness case runs from 9pm, and New Tricks closes the night at 11:20pm. 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 mysteries and procedurals filled out with newer acquisitions solid enough to hold their own against the archive material. Tonight is a tidy Sunday for the channel: Patricia Routledge’s Hetty Wainthropp Investigates runs twice back to back, Sister Boniface Mysteries takes the 8pm slot, and a two-part Silent Witness case carries the evening through to 11:20pm, when New Tricks takes over. No film interrupts any of it — five different programmes, back to back.

The trade-off is a daytime schedule built almost entirely from reruns — five episodes of The Bill, two of Call the Midwife, and a run of teleshopping and archive TV movies before the evening line-up even starts. There’s no soap archive strand at all today, and neither Jonathan Creek nor Birds of a Feather feature — the latter belongs to That’s TV, not Drama. 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