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

Published: 18 September 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. Saturday 19 September 2026 leans straight into that reputation: three Midsomer Murders episodes run through the afternoon and into primetime, Vera takes the 10pm slot, and Inspector Morse closes the night from 11:50pm.

ITV3 Schedule: Saturday 19 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete ITV3 schedule for Saturday 19 September 2026, on Freeview 10.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on ITV3 today

Overnight, Scott and Bailey and The Royal lead into George and Mildred, then Teleshopping from 2:30am.

Inspector Morse holds the breakfast slot for over four hours from 6am, running two feature-length episodes back to back. Two Wycliffe episodes follow through mid-morning, then live racing from Ayr takes over from 12:45pm and runs into the afternoon, ahead of the first of three Midsomer Murders episodes at 4pm.

ITV3 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the ITV3 primetime line-up for tonight, Saturday 19 September 2026.

Midsomer Murders — ITV3, 6pm

The second of three Midsomer Murders outings today, continuing straight on from the 4pm episode with a fresh case for Barnaby’s team (series 23, episode 4).

Midsomer Murders — ITV3, 8pm

A third episode opens a new series run and moves the format into primetime proper (series 24, episode 1).

Vera — ITV3, 10pm

Brenda Blethyn’s detective takes over once the Midsomer run finishes, working a case on the Northumberland coast (series 9, episode 2).

Inspector Morse — ITV3, 11:50pm

The night closes with an older case for John Thaw’s Morse and Kevin Whately’s Lewis, running past midnight (series 5, episode 5).

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.

That long-run scheduling shows up starkly in the data. Across 48 days we logged 933 ITV3 slots drawn from just 26 different programmes, with Heartbeat alone accounting for 138 of them — the most concentrated schedule on Freeview. For a nostalgia channel that is arguably the product working as intended; the full figures are in our study of repeats on UK television.

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?

Three Midsomer Murders episodes run through the afternoon into primetime at 6pm and 8pm, Vera follows at 10pm, and Inspector Morse closes the night from 11:50pm. 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

The channel has never pretended to be about new television, and Saturday plays fully into its cosy-crime reputation. Inspector Morse holds the breakfast slot for over four hours, and live racing from Ayr fills much of the early afternoon.

The evening is built around a proper Midsomer Murders run: three episodes from 4pm through to the end of primetime, Vera taking the 10pm slot once Barnaby’s team finish up, and Inspector Morse closing the night from 11:50pm. It’s a schedule built for detective-drama regulars happy to settle in for the long haul.

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