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

Published: 30 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, Monday 31 August 2026, three consecutive episodes of Last of the Summer Wine run from 6pm to 8pm. The Brokenwood Mysteries opens its fifth series at 8pm, New Tricks takes the 10pm hour, and Copper closes out the night at 11:20pm.

Drama Schedule: Monday 31 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Drama schedule for Monday 31 August 2026, on Freeview 20.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Drama today

Monday’s daytime on Drama opens with Call the Midwife at 12:40am (series 12, episode 3), followed by two episodes of 2point4 Children from 2am (series 4, episodes 2 and 3). The British Sign Language edition of The Chelsea Detective airs at 3:10am (series 2, episode 3), and three and a half hours of teleshopping carry the schedule to 7:30am.

The Bill’s “Promised Land” (series 17, episode 24) airs at 7:30am and is repeated at 11:55am, with two Classic Doctors episodes, Classic Holby City and Classic Casualty filling the late morning between the two showings. The channel’s daytime soap archive is back after a day off yesterday: Classic EastEnders runs at 12:55pm and 1:35pm (series 2011, episodes 66 and 67), and Classic Neighbours follows at 2:15pm and 2:45pm (series 1, episodes 61 and 62). Whitstable Pearl and Kingdom hold mid-afternoon, and As Time Goes By closes out the early evening at 5:20pm before three episodes of Last of the Summer Wine lead into primetime. No Jonathan Creek or Birds of a Feather feature today; the latter belongs to That’s TV, not Drama.

Drama tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Drama primetime line-up for tonight, Monday 31 August 2026.

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

Three consecutive episodes of Last of the Summer Wine open the evening, all from Seymour’s series 9 run and shown in broadcast order: Go with the Flow at 6pm, Jaws at 6:40pm, and Edie and the Automobile at 7:20pm. It’s the Yorkshire trio’s usual mix of half-baked schemes and hillside mishaps, run back to back rather than spread across the day.

The Brokenwood Mysteries — Drama, 8pm

Drama opens a new run of The Brokenwood Mysteries at 8pm with series 5, episode 1, Scared to Death. A local agricultural show turns fatal when its organiser collapses following a spin on the ghost train, and what first looks like a straightforward heart attack draws Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd into something far less innocent. It’s a series opener rather than a one-off, so expect the show to settle back into its usual small-town New Zealand rhythm over the following weeks.

New Tricks — Drama, 10pm

New Tricks takes the 10pm hour with series 10, episode 5, Cry Me a River. UCOS reopens the unsolved murder of a pornographer after new DNA evidence surfaces, with Danny Griffin (Nicholas Lyndhurst) tracking down a jazz singer who vanished from the scene after being acquitted of the crime years earlier. Denis Lawson, who joined the regular cast as retired DI Steve McAndrew, is part of the team by this point in the run.

Copper — Drama, 11:20pm

Copper closes the night at 11:20pm with series 1, episode 1, Surviving Death. Tom Weston-Jones stars as Kevin Corcoran, an Irish-American cop working the Five Points slum of 1860s New York, investigating the murder of a young girl that hits closer to home than he expects. The feed labels the episode “New”, but that flags its first outing in this run on Drama rather than a new commission — Copper originally aired in 2012.

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 with three consecutive episodes of Last of the Summer Wine from 6pm to 8pm. The Brokenwood Mysteries opens its fifth series at 8pm, New Tricks follows at 10pm, and Copper 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 solid Monday for the channel: three consecutive Last of the Summer Wine episodes open the evening, The Brokenwood Mysteries starts a new series at 8pm, New Tricks takes the 10pm hour, and Copper closes the night at 11:20pm. No film interrupts any of it — four programmes, back to back.

The trade-off is a daytime schedule built largely from reruns — The Bill’s “Promised Land” shown twice, Classic EastEnders and Classic Neighbours archive strands, and a run of teleshopping before the evening line-up starts. Neither Jonathan Creek nor Birds of a Feather feature today — 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