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

Published: 26 August 2026

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: Thursday 27 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete That’s TV schedule for Thursday 27 August 2026, on Freeview 56.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on That’s TV today

Thursday’s small hours keep the usual shape without repeating what came before: Benidorm opens the night just after midnight at 12:25am, Minder follows at 12:50am, then a comedy run of Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Man About the House and The Kenny Everett Video Show carries through to just past 3am. A That’s 60s clip strand and a Nearest and Dearest double sit either side of 4am before Shop with Shop Unlimited’s teleshopping block takes over from 5am until 8am.

The daytime is a straight run of single episodes rather than one sitcom stripped across the morning. Rising Damp opens at 8am, Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em follows at 8:30am, then You Rang, M’Lord? at 9:10am, Bread at 10:15am, Steptoe and Son at 10:50am and Oh, Doctor Beeching! at 11:30am. Rising Damp gets a second, different episode at 12:05pm.

The afternoon holds to a single run rather than doubling back on the morning: Goodnight Sweetheart at 1:05pm, an hour-long When the Boat Comes In from 1:45pm and Minder’s second showing of the day at 2:45pm. Just Good Friends airs at 3:50pm, and Birds of a Feather closes out the pre-primetime run at 5:30pm.

That’s TV tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the That’s TV primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 27 August 2026. The evening opens with a brief clip strand, That’s 60s — Best Music Live!, five minutes of archive 1960s performance footage at 6pm, before the sitcoms take over.

Rising Damp — That’s TV, 6:05pm

Rigsby has a fit of conscience after a new lodger with religious leanings sets to work on him, and decides to atone for a lifetime of small sins. Leonard Rossiter carries it, with Frances de la Tour and Don Warrington playing off him as usual.

Steptoe and Son — That’s TV, 6:40pm

Harold drags Albert across the Channel to tour the old First World War battlefields, only for his father to start a row with an American tourist. Harry H Corbett and Wilfred Brambell are on typically combustible form.

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? — That’s TV, 7:15pm

A dinner out with Thelma ends badly for Bob, who’s arrested for drink-driving and ends up in the cells alongside Terry, picked up separately for causing trouble at a football match. The pair hatch a plan to swap blood samples between them. Rodney Bewes and James Bolam lead, with Brigit Forsyth as Thelma.

Minder — That’s TV, 7:55pm

Arthur scents a decent commission when a former convict asks for help tracking down the proceeds of a heist carried out fourteen years earlier, only to discover that bank vaults aren’t the fortress he assumed. George Cole leads, with Rula Lenska, Maurice Denman and Max Wall among the guest cast.

Benidorm double bill — That’s TV, 9pm & 9:30pm

That’s TV goes right back to the start of Benidorm’s run for a double bill. In the opener, Janice is coming round to the idea of Chantelle’s pregnancy while Madge won’t hear a word about the dangers of baking on a sunlounger all day, and Donald and Jacqueline put on brave faces when Kelly reveals she’s engaged to Mateo. The follow-up sends Madge into an excruciating mix-up with Donald and Jacqueline, has Troy flirting his way through a few too many drinks with Mateo, and finds the Oracle showing off at pool while Janice eyes up Susie with suspicion. Johnny Vegas and Sheila Reid anchor both halves, with Siobhan Finneran also featuring in the first.

Shameless — That’s TV, 9:55pm

Carl and Chesney bolt after the party and end up holed up on a remote Welsh farm, taken in by a woman nobody quite trusts, and matters worsen once word reaches them that they’re now the chief suspects in Bonehead’s death. Back home, their vanishing act pushes Ian into a showdown with Jimmy over what really happened, while Liam works a community scheme into cover for digging up evidence.

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

Robin ends up in hospital, leaving Chrissy to run his poker night in his place, and her shaky grip on the rules puts the flat’s rent money on the line. Richard O’Sullivan is joined by Paula Wilcox.

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

Jeremy is laid low with flu, so Miss Courtney steps in to run the class, and the students set about inventing home remedies to get him back on his feet.

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

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?

Birds of a Feather runs to 6pm, then a five-minute clip strand, That’s 60s, before Rising Damp at 6:05pm, Steptoe and Son at 6:40pm and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? at 7:15pm carry the early evening. Minder takes the 7:55pm slot, then a Benidorm double bill runs at 9pm and 9:30pm. Shameless is at 9:55pm, Man About the House has its primetime showing at 10:55pm, and Mind Your Language closes the night at 11:25pm, with no late Benidorm repeat tonight. 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. Thursday’s daytime is less repetitive than the channel can be: instead of stacking one sitcom across several hours, single episodes of Rising Damp, Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, You Rang M’Lord?, Bread and Steptoe and Son rotate through the morning, most of them shows most British viewers have already seen several times over.

The evening keeps its usual shape but with a genuine surprise buried in it. Sitcoms carry the early slots into Minder at 7:55pm, before handing over to the night’s real event: a Benidorm double bill going all the way back to the start of the run at 9pm, followed immediately by the second episode at 9:30pm. Shameless holds its 9:55pm slot, Man About the House gets its single primetime outing at 10:55pm, and Mind Your Language closes out the night at 11:25pm with no repeat to follow.

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