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

That’s TV runs almost entirely on British television’s back catalogue: sitcoms from the 1970s and 1980s, a bit of period drama, archive music clips, and a long teleshopping stretch before breakfast. It’s free to air on Freeview, Sky, Freesat and Virgin Media, with no subscription and no app of its own. Tonight’s strongest pairing, Benidorm into Shameless, arrives once the early evening sitcoms have cleared. Full times for every programme are in the table below.

That’s TV Schedule: Saturday 29 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete That’s TV schedule for Saturday 29 August 2026, on Freeview 56.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on That’s TV today

Saturday opens with Benidorm at 12:25am and Minder at 12:55am, then Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Man About the House and The Kenny Everett Video Show see out the small hours before the clip strand That’s 60s – Best Music Live! drops in at 3:15am. A Nearest and Dearest double either side of 4am runs into Shop with Shop Unlimited’s teleshopping block, which holds the schedule from 5am to 8am.

Steptoe and Son then takes over in bulk: six episodes back to back from 8:05am to 11:20am. Rising Damp follows with a run of its own, five episodes carrying the late morning into early afternoon, from 11:20am through to 1:55pm.

Man About the House takes the whole afternoon after that: eight episodes running back to back from 1:55pm to 5:55pm, when the last one clears the way for the evening’s centrepiece.

That’s TV tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the That’s TV primetime line-up for tonight, Saturday 29 August 2026.

Just Good Friends Christmas Special — That’s TV, 5:55pm

The evening’s real anchor arrives before primetime officially starts. This festive edition of the 1980s sitcom runs a full two hours, holding the entire 6pm slot and most of the 7pm hour too. Penny looks back over her on-off history with Vince, the will-they-won’t-they engine of the original series stretched into one extended outing.

Minder — That’s TV, 7:55pm

Minder picks up the moment the Christmas special clears at 7:55pm. There is a fireplace Arthur reckons he can turn a few quid on, and a bookmaker of doubtful character that Terry gets landed with looking after. The second job costs Terry a romance he had been getting somewhere with.

Benidorm double bill — That’s TV, 9pm & 9:25pm

Two episodes run back to back to open the sharpest hour of the night. At 9pm the Garveys are back at the Solana with Madge’s new boyfriend Mel in tow; twenty-five minutes later Martin and Kate are lumbered with babysitting duties while Mel springs a surprise of his own on Madge.

Shameless — That’s TV, 9:55pm

Shameless follows straight after with a rare quieter turn for the Gallagher household: Liam strikes up a friendship with a Second World War veteran for a school project, a change of pace from the show’s usual chaos.

Man About the House — That’s TV, 10:55pm

The sitcom’s ninth outing of the day, and its only primetime one. Robin has a go at the landlord’s homemade beer, then finds himself blowing into a breathalyser partway through a driving lesson.

Mind Your Language — That’s TV, 11:35pm

The night closes with Mind Your Language: Danielle fakes an engagement to put off an unwanted admirer, one of the sitcom’s stock plots from its original run.

What kind of shows are on That’s TV

Sitcoms from the 1970s and 1980s

This is the bulk of the channel. Rising Damp, Steptoe and Son, Man About the House, Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Just Good Friends and Mind Your Language cycle through daytime and early evening on a near-constant loop. There’s no theming to speak of: they’re familiar half-hours filling the space between the shopping strands and whatever the channel has lined up for the evening.

Crime and drama reruns

Minder does most of the heavy lifting on the crime and drama side, often turning up more than once in a day. Benidorm and Shameless, both decades younger than the rest of the schedule, hold primetime.

Music and variety nostalgia

The archive clip strand billed as That’s 60s drops in several times a day, live performance footage from 1960s music shows and a leftover from when the group ran full decade-themed music channels. Longer compilations such as Ronnie Barker: The Very Best Of turn up as one-off hours.

Teleshopping

Roughly 5am to 8am, given over to mattresses and garden multitools. A free channel with no subscription income has to fill the small hours with something that pays for itself.

How to watch That’s TV

Channel numbers

Here’s where to find That’s TV across the main UK platforms:

Virgin Media’s number shifts more often than the others, so your on-screen guide is the definitive source if it doesn’t match.

Streaming online

There’s no That’s TV app, no catch-up service and no live stream of its own, which puts it a long way behind Channel 4 or ITV. You watch it as it goes out, through a Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media or Freesat box or smart TV. A Freeview Play-enabled television will find and tune the channel for you with no extra setup.

That’s TV regional and sister channels

That’s TV belongs to That’s Media, whose chief executive, Daniel Cass, built the group out of local television licences: around 20 of them, awarded under Ofcom’s Local Digital Television Programme. That’s Manchester, That’s Solent and That’s Glasgow all opt out for local news and community programming for part of the day, then simulcast the national schedule for the rest.

That’s TV 2 works the same archive on a separate schedule. The group also tried standalone channels themed to the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s; several were folded back into the main service or closed outright earlier in 2026, which is why the 60s music show now appears as a filler strand rather than a channel in its own right.

Frequently asked questions

What channel is That’s TV on Freeview?

Channel 56 nationally, or 80 in Greater Manchester. That’s TV 2 is on 65, and the local opt-out versions sit on 7 or 8 depending on where you live.

What’s on That’s TV tonight?

Man About the House’s long afternoon run ends just before 6pm, handing over to a two-hour Just Good Friends Christmas Special that holds the schedule to 7:55pm. Minder takes over from there, then a Benidorm double bill leads into the night’s best patch at 9pm and 9:25pm. Shameless follows at 9:55pm, Man About the House has its one primetime slot at 10:55pm, and Mind Your Language rounds off the evening at 11:35pm. The table above has the full day.

Is That’s TV free to watch?

Yes, on every platform that carries it. Ad breaks during programmes and teleshopping before breakfast are how it pays for itself.

Verdict

That’s TV is comfort viewing and makes no pretence otherwise. Saturday’s daytime runs to the channel’s usual pattern: after the overnight shorts and the early teleshopping block, Steptoe and Son and Rising Damp each get a long unbroken run before Man About the House takes over the entire afternoon, eight episodes back to back, most of them shows most British viewers have already seen several times over.

The evening breaks from that pattern with the two-hour Just Good Friends Christmas Special, which pushes Minder later than usual and compresses the rest of the night into a tighter run. A Benidorm double bill at 9pm and 9:25pm is still the strongest patch of the schedule, with Shameless following straight after at 9:55pm. Man About the House gets a single primetime showing at 10:55pm, and Mind Your Language closes the night at 11:35pm.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | Freeview Channel Guide | Talking Pictures TV Guide | Films on TV This Week