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: Friday 14 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete That’s TV schedule for Friday 14 August 2026, on Freeview 56.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

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. Shop with Shop Unlimited holds the channel until 8am, when Rising Damp takes over at 8:15am, a new tenant’s sudden collapse after Miss Jones’ cooking plunging the household into premature mourning. Duty Free at 8:50am sees Amy fending off the attentions of a visiting celebrity, before Never the Twain at 9:20am pits its two rival antique dealers against each other for the same shop assistant’s affections. On the Buses at 9:50am hands Stan the canteen and, worse, hands Olive the cooking. Bread at 10:20am, Steptoe and Son at 10:55am, with the rag-and-bone men chasing a quick profit on cut-price lead, and Oh, Doctor Beeching! at 11:25am carry the morning through to lunchtime.

Rising Damp returns at 12:05pm with Miss Jones back from her own dismal Spanish holiday, baby in tow, before Man About the House at 12:35pm sees Chrissy take over Robin’s poker game with predictably shaky results. Goodnight Sweetheart airs at 1:05pm, then When the Boat Comes In at 1:40pm finds Billy caught trying to break into the coal yard as the strike drags into a second month. Minder at 2:45pm turns Terry and Arthur into reluctant tobacco smugglers, Just Good Friends at 3:50pm has Penny facing dinner with Vince’s parents while waiting on a pregnancy test, and the afternoon winds down with a second Man About the House at 4:25pm and a repeat of Bread at 4:55pm.

That’s TV tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the That’s TV primetime line-up for tonight, Friday 14 August 2026.

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

A quick archive slot before the sitcoms take over properly: quarter of an hour of clips lifted from decade-old music programmes, chosen for how well they hold up rather than any particular theme beyond the decade itself.

Rising Damp Xmas 1975 — That’s TV, 6:15pm

This vintage festive special catches Rigsby convinced his lodger has tracked down exactly the kind of present he’s always wanted, only for reality to catch up with him before the excitement wears off. Leonard Rossiter’s misplaced confidence carries most of the half hour.

Steptoe and Son — That’s TV, 6:45pm

A trip to the pictures is the flashpoint: Harold means well taking his father along, but Albert has no interest in the film and turns the outing into a headache before the titles have finished rolling. Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H. Corbett’s father-son bickering is as sharp as ever.

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

Bob’s attempt to broaden Terry’s social circle lands them at a dinner party neither is really dressed for, and the evening goes wrong in the way these things usually do for him. James Bolam and Rodney Bewes remain one of British sitcom’s sharper double acts, decades on.

Minder — That’s TV, 7:55pm

Arthur’s wine supplier gets mugged and the takings vanish, and somehow Arthur ends up the prime suspect rather than the victim. Terry has to do the legwork to clear his boss’s name in an episode that leans harder on plot than the show’s usual light scrapes.

Benidorm — That’s TV, 9pm

A festival-driven alcohol ban gives the Solana’s guests something new to complain about, and naturally nobody has much intention of observing it. Sam, meanwhile, spots a chance to turn a profit while Joyce is out of the picture.

Shameless — That’s TV, 9:55pm

Ian’s fury at discovering Liam has been skipping school points straight at Danny, who has been quietly trying to track down his own absent, violent father. Paddy’s attempt to get clean gives Mimi plenty to worry about in the same hour.

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

Robin brings a stray dog home without much of a plan, and Chrissy is unimpressed from the moment she claps eyes on it. A minor plot for a comedy that usually runs on bigger domestic misunderstandings.

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

Jeremy hands in his notice for a job that pays better, only to find the grass isn’t quite as green as promised. A tidy, self-contained closer for the classroom sitcom’s late slot.

Benidorm — That’s TV, 11:55pm

A straight repeat of the 9pm episode, back to back with itself either side of Shameless and the late-night sitcoms. Anyone who missed the alcohol-ban storyline first time round gets a second chance just after midnight.

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 6:45pm, 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 10:55pm 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. Friday’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 6:45pm 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 Friday.

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