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

Published: 21 August 2026

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, Saturday 22 August 2026, just seven programme titles fill thirteen scheduled slots, and Midsomer Murders alone accounts for four of them. Primetime itself is only three items spread across nearly six hours: two different series 17 episodes of Midsomer Murders at 6:20pm and 8:15pm, then Vera at 10:10pm. There’s no film on ITV3 tonight.

ITV3 Schedule: Saturday 22 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete ITV3 schedule for Saturday 22 August 2026, on Freeview 10.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on ITV3 today

Saturday’s daytime line-up is unusually concentrated: just seven titles cover the whole thirteen-slot day, and four of the thirteen slots are Midsomer Murders. Overnight is quiet — a single George and Mildred episode (series 1, episode 10) at 1:45am, a short Unwind with ITV wellbeing segment at 2:15am (series 4, episode 291), then three and a half hours of teleshopping through to 6am.

Breakfast and the morning belong to A Touch of Frost, run back to back across three separate airings: series 11, episode 1 at 6am, series 5, episode 3 at 8:05am, and series 5, episode 4 at 10:05am, taking the channel through to 12:10pm. The Darling Buds of May then runs a pair of episodes, series 3, episodes 3 and 4, at 12:10pm and 1:20pm, before Midsomer Murders takes over the schedule for the rest of the day. Two afternoon cases, series 16, episodes 4 and 5, air at 2:30pm and 4:25pm; the channel then moves straight into the series 17 pair that opens primetime at 6:20pm, so Midsomer Murders effectively owns the afternoon and early evening in one long stretch before handing over to Vera at 10:10pm.

ITV3 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Tonight’s ITV3 primetime is short but heavyweight: just three programmes fill nearly six hours, back to back with no gaps.

Midsomer Murders — ITV3, 6:20pm

Series 17 opens with a case set among sideshow performers: an artist is killed by a rigged roulette wheel at a travelling festival, and DCI Barnaby has to work out which act had the motive.

Midsomer Murders — ITV3, 8:15pm

The second episode of the pair follows straight on. A pub landlady collapses and dies mid-performance during a magic show, and the cause turns out to be no accident of stagecraft.

Vera — ITV3, 10:10pm

Brenda Blethyn’s detective closes out the night. A body turns up on a remote Northumberland island, and what looks at first like an accident becomes a case Vera can’t let go of.

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?

Two different Midsomer Murders episodes back to back at 6:20pm and 8:15pm, then Vera at 10:10pm. Just three programmes fill the whole primetime run. Times are in the 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 about as concentrated as the schedule gets: seven programme titles cover the entire thirteen-slot day, with A Touch of Frost running three episodes straight through breakfast and the morning, and Midsomer Murders alone taking four of the day’s slots, from an early-afternoon pair through to the two episodes that open primetime. There’s no film on the schedule today. The evening itself is just three items across nearly six hours — Midsomer Murders twice, then Vera — which suits a channel built on depth rather than variety. It’s a schedule 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 slot from mid-afternoon onwards and still follow what’s going on.

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