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: Wednesday 12 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete That’s TV schedule for Wednesday 12 August 2026, on Freeview 56.

What’s on That’s TV today

Weekdays on That’s TV drop the weekend’s marathon blocks for a single-episode rhythm, one show roughly every half hour rather than repeats of the same title stacked together. The teleshopping strand Shop with Shop Unlimited holds the channel until 8am, when a short burst of That’s 60s – Best Music Live! hands over to Rising Damp at 8:15am, Rigsby chasing new lodger Marilyn only to find she keeps a python as a pet. Duty Free at 8:45am, Never the Twain at 9:15am, On the Buses at 9:45am, Bread at 10:15am, Steptoe and Son at 10:55am and Oh, Doctor Beeching! at 11:30am carry the morning through to lunchtime.

Rising Damp comes back at 12:05pm for a different episode entirely: Rigsby tries to unsettle new lodger Alan with a made-up ghost story about a grey lady haunting the house, and ends up rattled himself. Man About the House at 12:35pm, Goodnight Sweetheart at 1:05pm, When the Boat Comes In at 1:40pm and Minder at 2:45pm fill the next couple of hours, before Just Good Friends takes the 3:50pm slot, Man About the House returns at 4:25pm and Bread closes out the daytime run at 4:55pm.

That’s TV tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the That’s TV primetime line-up for tonight, Wednesday 12 August 2026.

That’s 60s – Best Music Live! — That’s TV, 6pm

A short burst of archive clips fills the 6pm slot, footage pulled from 1960s music programmes rather than a single concert or documentary. It rarely runs longer than fifteen minutes and functions as a bridge into the sitcom run proper.

Rising Damp — That’s TV, 6:15pm

Money troubles drive this one: Rigsby splashes out on new furniture to catch the eye of Brenda, the latest lodger to replace Miss Jones, then predictably tries to avoid paying for any of it upfront. Leonard Rossiter carries the episode as the perpetually scheming, perpetually broke landlord.

Steptoe and Son — That’s TV, 6:50pm

Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell return as the rag-and-bone father and son, this time pinning their financial hopes on a batch of cut-price lead. It’s one of the sharper-written entries in the daily rotation.

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? — That’s TV, 7:20pm

Bob and Thelma throw Terry a surprise party meant as a kindness, though blindfolding the guest of honour turns out to be a mistake once he starts making unflattering remarks about people still in the room.

Minder — That’s TV, 7:55pm

A child turns up on Terry’s front step insisting he’s the father, landing Dennis Waterman’s character with a very different kind of case than the ones he usually takes on. Sharon Duce plays the mother, and by the closing scenes Terry has sided with the boy over his own stepfather.

Benidorm — That’s TV, 9pm

Three plots run at once: Joyce heads off to a conference in Barcelona and leaves Sir Henry to cover for her, Liam uses a rare day off to confront a childhood fear of dinosaurs at the local park, and Tiger and Joey talk their way onto the same trip, only to be roped into entertaining the crowds once they get there.

Shameless — That’s TV, 9:55pm

Frank threatens to wreck his own son’s scholarship chances just as Norma tries to make the household look presentable for a visit from his head teacher. Elsewhere, Karen’s decision to sack Jamie backfires when Joe angles for the vacancy, and Patrick grows increasingly wound up by Mimi’s efforts to get him off drugs.

Man About the House — That’s TV, 11pm

Jo has to think about parting with something she values once the rent money goes missing, a slightly more grounded plot than the flat-share sitcom usually runs. Richard O’Sullivan, Paula Wilcox and Sally Thomsett make up the trio at the centre of it.

Mind Your Language — That’s TV, 11:25pm

A baby thrown into the classroom mix sends the language school into disarray, closing out the night on a shorter, gentler note than the hour before it.

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, Bread, Birds of a Feather, 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, often twice in a day, while When the Boat Comes In supplies the one genuinely serious hour in the daytime. Benidorm and Shameless, both decades younger than the rest of it, hold primetime.

Music and variety nostalgia

That’s 60s – Best Music Live! drops in several times a day as a filler strand of archive performance footage, 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?

Steptoe and Son opens the evening at 6:50pm, followed by Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? at 7:20pm and Minder at 7:55pm. Benidorm takes the 9pm slot, Shameless follows at 9:55pm, and the night closes with Man About the House at 11pm and Mind Your Language at 11:25pm. 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. Wednesday’s daytime keeps to a single-episode rhythm, one show roughly every half hour instead of the marathon blocks that fill weekends, built almost entirely on sitcoms British viewers have already seen several times, in some cases before they owned a colour set.

Tonight’s evening run is stronger than most. Steptoe and Son and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? back to back from 6:50pm are two of the best-written sitcoms in the channel’s library, and Benidorm at 9pm into Shameless at 9:55pm gives the night a proper primetime pairing. Benidorm’s repeat just after midnight, once Mind Your Language has closed the schedule, is the one genuine oddity in an otherwise straightforward Wednesday.

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