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

Published: 21 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. Tuesday 22 September 2026 leans straight into that reputation: a long Heartbeat run carries the schedule into primetime, Vera holds 8pm, and Downton Abbey and Scott and Bailey close out the night from 10pm.

ITV3 Schedule: Tuesday 22 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete ITV3 schedule for Tuesday 22 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 Unwind with ITV and Teleshopping from 2:30am.

Wild at Heart opens the day properly at 6am, followed by a Classic Emmerdale and Classic Coronation Street pairing apiece through breakfast. Inspector Morse then holds the late-morning slot for close to two and a half hours from 9:10am, before a long Heartbeat run, broken up by The Royal, Wild at Heart and repeat Classic Emmerdale and Classic Coronation Street episodes, carries the schedule through the afternoon and into early evening ahead of tonight’s line-up.

ITV3 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the ITV3 primetime line-up for tonight, Tuesday 22 September 2026.

Heartbeat — ITV3, 6:55pm

The Yorkshire police drama closes out its daily run in this slot, one more instalment from a series ITV3 rarely leaves off the schedule for long.

Vera — ITV3, 8pm

Brenda Blethyn’s rumpled Northumberland detective takes the evening’s main drama slot for this ninth-series case, one of ITV3’s most dependable Tuesday-night draws.

Downton Abbey — ITV3, 10pm

Julian Fellowes’ period drama picks up partway through series two, when the war is still reshaping life at the house.

Scott and Bailey — ITV3, 11:10pm

The Manchester-set detective partnership closes the schedule, continuing through its second series.

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?

A Heartbeat episode runs into primetime from 6:55pm, then Vera holds 8pm. Downton Abbey follows at 10pm, and Scott and Bailey closes the night from 11:10pm. 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 tonight plays fully into its cosy-crime reputation. Inspector Morse holds the late-morning slot, and a long Heartbeat run threads through the afternoon and into early evening.

Primetime is a single Vera episode from 8pm, before Downton Abbey takes over at 10pm and Scott and Bailey closes the night from 11:10pm. It’s a schedule built for detective-drama regulars happy to settle in for the evening rather than chase a fresh launch.

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