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

Published: 31 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, Lewis, Poirot, Heartbeat: if it involves a village, a body and a detective in no hurry to leave, it has probably run here. Today, Tuesday 1 September 2026, the day runs to nine programme titles across twenty-one slots, with Classic Emmerdale and Classic Coronation Street each getting four outings apiece through the morning and afternoon. Primetime is built around a two-hour Vera at 8pm, with the last of four Heartbeat instalments closing out the early evening at 6:55pm beforehand, then Lewis at 10pm and Poirot closing the night at 11:50pm. Midsomer Murders is on today too, but in the afternoon rather than the evening, and there’s no film.

ITV3 Schedule: Tuesday 1 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete ITV3 schedule for Tuesday 1 September 2026, on Freeview 10.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on ITV3 today

Overnight, George and Mildred plays out at 2am (series 1, episode 3), then teleshopping fills the schedule from 2:30am through to 6am.

The classic sitcom returns with a fresh pair of half-hours at 6am and 6:35am (series 1, episodes 9 and 10), before the day’s first archive soap block: Classic Emmerdale at 7:05am and 7:35am, then Classic Coronation Street at 8:05am and 8:40am, all dating from 2009. Poirot takes the late-morning slot from 9:10am with a feature-length case built around a murder victim found with a love letter on him, and Heartbeat opens at 11:30am with the first of two consecutive series 13 episodes, the second following at 12:35pm.

A feature-length Midsomer Murders case, drawn from an early series, fills mid-afternoon from 1:40pm. The archive soaps come round again from 3:35pm: two more Classic Emmerdale episodes at 3:35pm and 4:05pm, then two more Classic Coronation Street at 4:40pm and 5:15pm. Heartbeat closes out early evening with its second consecutive pair, at 5:50pm and 6:55pm, before Vera takes the 8pm hour for a two-hour case, Lewis follows at 10pm, and Poirot rounds off the night from 11:50pm. Eight of today’s twenty-one slots belong to the two archive soap strands alone.

ITV3 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the ITV3 primetime line-up for tonight, Tuesday 1 September 2026.

Heartbeat — ITV3, 6:55pm

The second half of tonight’s Heartbeat pair, following “State of Mind” at 5:50pm. “Down to Earth” (series 13, episode 10) finds Aidensfield’s police drawn into a row between neighbours over a dead cow, while Vernon’s latest money-making idea goes wrong.

Vera — ITV3, 8pm

Tonight’s centrepiece and the only two-hour slot on the schedule. “Dark Angel” (series 7, episode 2) pulls DCI Vera Stanhope into an old, unresolved case after a body turns up in a river. Brenda Blethyn’s rumpled detective remains ITV3’s most dependable primetime draw.

Lewis — ITV3, 10pm

“Magnum Opus” (series 9, episode 2) opens with the death of a college dean and an odd clue left at the scene, one that points towards three further killings still to come.

Agatha Christie’s Poirot — ITV3, 11:50pm

Closing out the night, “The ABC Murders” (series 4, episode 1) is one of the better-known Poirot cases: a killer working alphabetically through victims and towns, leaving an ABC rail guide at each scene.

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 takes the 8pm hour tonight for a two-hour case, with a Heartbeat pair beforehand at 5:50pm and 6:55pm, then Lewis at 10pm and Poirot at 11:50pm. Midsomer Murders is on earlier in the afternoon rather than tonight, and there’s no film. 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’s line-up leans hard on the archive: nine programme titles across twenty-one slots, and eight of those slots belong to Classic Emmerdale and Classic Coronation Street. Around them, Poirot and two Heartbeat pairs fill the morning and afternoon, and a feature-length Midsomer Murders case from an early series takes the mid-afternoon slot. Primetime has a genuine centrepiece for once: a two-hour Vera at 8pm, with the last of the day’s Heartbeat episodes leading in at 6:55pm and Lewis and Poirot filling out the rest of the night through to 2am. There’s no film today. It’s a schedule built for one kind of viewer rather than several, and if cosy detective drama and a double helping of soap nostalgia is what you’re after, today delivers plenty of both.

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