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, Thursday 6 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: Thursday 6 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete ITV3 schedule for Thursday 6 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 12:50am, a George and Mildred episode and a short Unwind with ITV wellbeing filler take the schedule past 2am, and teleshopping fills the gap from 2:30am until George and Mildred returns properly at 6am with two episodes back to back. A double bill of Classic Emmerdale runs from 7:05am, then two episodes of Classic Coronation Street from 8:10am lead into a pair of early Suchet cases from Agatha Christie’s Poirot. Heartbeat holds the late morning with two episodes from 11:30am, Midsomer Murders takes its only afternoon outing at 1:35pm with an early Barnaby case, The Blacktrees Prophecy, and the schedule then repeats the pattern in reverse: Classic Emmerdale twice from 3:35pm, Classic Coronation Street twice from 4:40pm, and Heartbeat twice more ahead of the evening.

ITV3 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the ITV3 primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 6 August 2026.

Heartbeat — ITV3, 6:55pm

The evening’s run-in is a second Heartbeat of the day, series 11’s twenty-second episode, with Mike coming to a schoolgirl’s rescue after a teenage crush turns unwelcome and David trying his hand at ventriloquism on the side. It’s the sort of gentle, low-stakes hour ITV3 uses to bridge daytime and its main event.

Vera — ITV3, 8pm

Brenda Blethyn’s DCI Vera Stanhope takes the headline slot with series 6’s second case, in which a young man’s remains turn up in caves with a reputation for illicit teenage gatherings. Vera doesn’t get a nightly berth on ITV3, so an outing in the 8pm slot rather than shunted later is worth noting on its own.

Grantchester — ITV3, 10pm

Series 5 continues with Will and Ellie’s first date, a trip to the cinema cut short when a brutal murder pulls Mrs C into the investigation alongside Geordie.

Grantchester — ITV3, 11pm

A second episode of the same series follows straight after: a young man found dead and naked out on the Fens leads Will and Geordie to a Cambridge research project experimenting with mind-altering drugs. Running two episodes back to back gives the evening a rare momentum for a channel that usually spreads its dramas thinner.

Trial and Retribution — ITV3, 11:50pm

The night closes with the second part of Paradise Lost, series 10’s sixth instalment, as Walker brings in Milton to help the investigation, a decision that only complicates things further. A late slot for a series built on slow-burn, multi-part cases.

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: an early-afternoon Midsomer Murders case from the Nettles era, an 8pm Vera repeat, 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 Thursday 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