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. Today, Friday 21 August 2026, 24 scheduled slots run on just 11 programme titles, most of them paired repeats. Primetime opens with a Heartbeat double at 5:50pm and 6:55pm, moves into a Doc Martin double at 8pm and 9pm, then hands the 10pm hour to Lewis before Trial and Retribution closes out the night at 11:50pm. There’s no film on ITV3 tonight.

ITV3 Schedule: Friday 21 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete ITV3 schedule for Friday 21 August 2026, on Freeview 10.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on ITV3 today

Daytime on ITV3 is built almost entirely from repeat pairs today, and the whole 24-slot day runs on just 11 unique titles. Overnight closes out a Trial and Retribution episode (series 11, episode 10) at 12:55am, then a single George and Mildred episode (series 1, episode 9) at 1:55am, a short Unwind with ITV wellbeing slot at 2:20am, and three and a half hours of teleshopping through to 6am.

Breakfast brings the first pair: two more George and Mildred episodes from 6am (series 3, episodes 1 and 2), then a single Classic Emmerdale repeat from the 2009 archive at 7:05am and a Classic Coronation Street pair, also pulled from 2009, from 8:05am. Two Agatha Christie’s Poirot cases (series 3, episodes 10 and 11) fill the mid-morning from 9:10am, and a Heartbeat pair (series 12, episodes 17 and 18) carries the late morning into early afternoon, running 11:30am to 1:35pm. Midsomer Murders (series 2, episode 2) then has the early afternoon to itself from 1:35pm — its only appearance today is this afternoon slot, not tonight’s primetime — before two more Classic Emmerdale repeats from 3:35pm and a further two Classic Coronation Street episodes from 4:40pm carry the schedule into early evening, where the Heartbeat double that opens primetime, “Caped Crusaders” and “Moving Target” (series 12, episodes 19 and 20), begins at 5:50pm.

ITV3 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the ITV3 primetime line-up for tonight, Friday 21 August 2026. There is no film in the schedule, and neither Vera nor Midsomer Murders features tonight — the night runs on two back-to-back doubles either side of Lewis.

Heartbeat double — ITV3, 5:50pm & 6:55pm

Two Heartbeat episodes run back-to-back to open the evening. “Caped Crusaders” (series 12, episode 19) is at 5:50pm, followed straight after by “Moving Target” (series 12, episode 20) at 6:55pm, with a sniper on the loose around Aidensfield.

Doc Martin double — ITV3, 8pm & 9pm

Doc Martin also runs as a paired double tonight: “The Shock of the New” (series 9, episode 2) at 8pm, then “S.W.A.L.K” (series 9, episode 3) at 9pm.

Lewis — ITV3, 10pm

“The Soul of Genius” (series 6, episode 1) opens the sixth series at 10pm and runs a lengthy 110 minutes, so it holds the slot through to 11:50pm.

Trial and Retribution — ITV3, 11:50pm

“Siren” (series 12, episode 1) closes out the night at 11:50pm.

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?

A Heartbeat double at 5:50pm and 6:55pm, then Doc Martin back-to-back at 8pm and 9pm, Lewis at 10pm and Trial and Retribution closing out the night at 11:50pm. Times are in the primetime 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 fair illustration of what that means in practice: two Poirot cases and a run of soap reruns and sitcom repeats through the morning, an early-afternoon Midsomer Murders case, then a Heartbeat double opening primetime before Doc Martin runs back-to-back at 8pm and 9pm, Lewis takes the 10pm hour and Trial and Retribution sees the night out. There’s no film on the schedule today, and neither Vera nor a second Midsomer Murders makes an appearance in primetime. Depth is the whole proposition, and today’s schedule leans on it about as hard as it gets: the entire 24-slot day runs on just 11 programme titles, most of them paired repeats between midnight and primetime. It’s a schedule built for dipping in and out of rather than sitting through start to finish, and one of the easier ways into British detective and country drama on Freeview, since you can land in almost any afternoon or evening slot and still follow what’s going on.

Related: ITV1 TV Guide | ITV4 TV Guide | What’s On TV Tonight | Films on TV This Week