ITV3 TV Guide: Listings, Schedule & What’s On ITV3 Tonight

ITV3 is ITV’s drama channel, launched on 1 November 2004 as a home for the broadcaster’s back catalogue of detective series, period drama and classic sitcoms. Midsomer Murders, Vera, Wycliffe, Inspector Morse: if it involves a body in a village and a detective who doesn’t much like being interrupted, it has probably run here. Tonight, Tuesday 4 August 2026, Vera takes the 8pm slot before Grantchester runs two episodes back to back at 10pm and 11pm, and Trial and Retribution closes the schedule at 11:50pm. ITV3 is on Freeview channel 10 and streams free on ITVX.

ITV3 Schedule: Tuesday 4 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete ITV3 schedule for Tuesday 4 August 2026, on Freeview 10.

What’s on ITV3 today

Daytime on ITV3 keeps to its usual detective and soap-repeat rota, and today is a good example. Wycliffe closes out the small hours at 1:25am, teleshopping fills the gap from 2:30am, and George and Mildred opens the proper morning with two episodes from 6am. Classic Emmerdale and a double bill of Classic Coronation Street carry the schedule through to 9:10am, when Agatha Christie’s Poirot runs two early Suchet cases back to back. Heartbeat holds the late morning with a pair of episodes from 11:30am, Midsomer Murders takes its only outing of the day at 1:35pm with the case For Death Prepare, and the afternoon repeats Classic Emmerdale and Classic Coronation Street before Heartbeat returns for two more episodes ahead of the evening.

ITV3 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the ITV3 primetime line-up for tonight, Tuesday 4 August 2026.

Heartbeat — ITV3, 6:55pm

The evening run-up closes with Heartbeat (series 11, episode 18), the second of the day’s two episodes and the last stop before Aidensfield gives way to Northumberland for the night.

Vera — ITV3, 8pm

Vera (series 6, episode 1) opens primetime with Dark Road. A young girl finds the body of Anne-Marie Richards out on the Northumberland moors, and Brenda Blethyn’s detective has to work out who had reason to leave her there. Wild scenery, slow reveals, the usual patient pacing.

Grantchester — ITV3, 10pm

Will’s father has landed himself in trouble in this Grantchester episode (series 4, episode 5), and the phone call he makes drags Geordie into a case that starts with a beating and ends with a body at an ancestral home.

Grantchester — ITV3, 11pm

A second helping of Grantchester follows straight after (series 4, episode 6). Geordie’s daughter Esme gets tangled up in the murder of a teddy boy at a dance hall, and insists she knows nothing about it. Will isn’t convinced.

Trial and Retribution — ITV3, 11:50pm

Trial and Retribution closes the night with the second half of Closure (series 10, episode 4). The investigating officers are under pressure over the lack of progress, and the serial killer they’re chasing appears to be unravelling, with witnesses starting to turn up dead.

What kind of shows are on ITV3

Detective drama and cosy crime

The backbone. Midsomer Murders, Vera, Inspector Morse, Endeavour and Wycliffe cover roughly four decades of British detective television between them, and ITV3 works through them in long runs rather than one-off repeats. You can usually pick a series up mid-week and stay with it.

Period and literary adaptation

The Darling Buds of May, and Agatha Christie’s Poirot when it comes round — David Suchet played the part across thirteen series for ITV between 1989 and 2013. These tend to be scheduled in full-series blocks.

Classic sitcom

George and Mildred and its ITV contemporaries fill the overnight and early-morning slots. Nobody’s setting an alarm for these; they’re on while the day gets going.

How to watch ITV3

Channel numbers

Here’s where to find ITV3 across the main UK television platforms:

Free on all of them, no subscription. Numbers shift regionally, so check your on-screen guide if one doesn’t match.

Streaming online

ITV3 streams live and free through ITVX, at itv.com/watch and via the ITVX app on smart TVs, mobiles, tablets and most games consoles. A free account is all that’s needed, no payment details. The ITVX library also carries individual episodes and full boxsets from the channel, Vera and Poirot included, if you’d rather not wait for a repeat to come round.

ITV3 +1 and sister channels

The +1 channel is less useful than it used to be. Since November 2023 it has broadcast only a reduced overnight window rather than a full hour-behind simulcast, so if you’ve missed the start of something, ITVX catch-up is the better bet.

ITV3 sits alongside ITV1, home to Coronation Street, Emmerdale and the network’s biggest primetime shows, and ITV4, which handles sport, action films and older action series.

Frequently asked questions

What channel is ITV3 on Freeview?

Channel 10, free to air.

What’s on ITV3 tonight?

Vera at 8pm, then two episodes of Grantchester at 10pm and 11pm, and Trial and Retribution from 11:50pm. Full rundown above.

Can I watch ITV3 online for free?

Yes, live through ITVX on the website, the app, and most smart TVs and consoles.

Is ITV3 free to watch?

Yes, and it has been since 2004. There’s advertising, but no subscription fee on any platform.

Verdict

ITV3 has never pretended to be about new television, and today is a good illustration: a single Midsomer Murders outing early in the afternoon, an 8pm slot handed to Vera and the Northumberland moors, then Grantchester running twice and Trial and Retribution carrying the channel past midnight. Depth is the whole proposition. If you already know the channel, you know exactly what a Tuesday like this looks like. If you don’t, it remains one of the easiest ways into British detective drama on Freeview, largely because you can drop in on almost any afternoon or evening and find something halfway through a run.

Related: ITV1 TV Guide | ITV4 TV Guide | What’s On TV Tonight