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

Published: 3 September 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. Tonight’s best fact isn’t flagged anywhere in the listings: the 6:10pm Rising Damp is the pilot episode, repeating the 12:05pm showing earlier in the day. It’s free to air on Freeview, Sky, Freesat and Virgin Media, with no subscription and no app of its own. Once the early evening sitcoms clear, Benidorm into Shameless is the strongest pairing of the night. Full times for every programme are in the table below.

That’s TV Schedule: Friday 4 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete That’s TV schedule for Friday 4 September 2026, on Freeview 56.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on That’s TV today

Friday opens with Benidorm just after midnight, then Minder, Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, Man About the House and The Kenny Everett Video Show carry the small hours before the archive clip strand That’s 60s – Best Music Live! drops in at 3:20am. Two Nearest and Dearest episodes back to back from 4am run into The Yorkshire Steam Railway: All Aboard at 4:50am, then a teleshopping stretch from 6am — cruise holidays, then a folding mobility scooter, then cruise holidays again — which holds until the sitcoms resume at 8am.

From there it’s a straight run of classic material with no theming beyond the usual back catalogue: Rising Damp and Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em through breakfast, You Rang, M’Lord?, Bread, Steptoe and Son and Oh, Doctor Beeching! into late morning, then Rising Damp again at 12:05pm — its 1970s pilot episode, which repeats this evening at 6:10pm. The afternoon carries Man About the House, Goodnight Sweetheart, the 1970s Tyne-set drama When the Boat Comes In at 1:40pm, Minder again at 2:45pm, Just Good Friends, and a second Man About the House and a Bread repeat of the 10:10am episode before Birds of a Feather closes out early evening at 5:30pm.

Unlike some days, there’s no seasonal coincidence or long-running strand filling the afternoon — just the channel’s usual stack of half-hour sitcoms, one after another, until the evening line-up takes over at 6pm.

That’s TV tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the That’s TV primetime line-up for tonight, Friday 4 September 2026.

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

That’s 60s – Best Music Live! takes the 6pm slot — a ten-minute package of archive clips from 1960s music shows, not a live broadcast despite the title.

Rising Damp — That’s TV, 6:10pm

At 6:10pm, it’s Rising Damp — the pilot episode, in which tight-fisted landlord Rigsby needs talking round before he’ll let a new lodger move into the room his last tenant has just given up, with Ruth doing the persuading on behalf of a friend. The same episode aired earlier today at 12:05pm.

Steptoe and Son — That’s TV, 6:40pm

The 6:40pm hour belongs to Steptoe and Son.

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

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? takes over at 7:15pm. The sitcom picks up years after the original series, with Terry newly out of the army and finding that Bob’s settled, engaged life has left the two old friends with less in common than they used to have.

Minder — That’s TV, 7:55pm

At 7:55pm, it’s Minder — Terry looks out for a widow who runs a garage, keeping her scheming relatives off her business, while Arthur has his sights set on landing a Rolls-Royce. It’s the same episode ITV4 showed this morning at 8:05am.

Benidorm — That’s TV, 9pm

The 9pm hour belongs to Benidorm.

Shameless — That’s TV, 10pm

Shameless takes the 10pm slot. Paul Abbott’s Manchester estate drama follows Frank Gallagher and his sprawling, chaotic family, swinging between grim reality and dark comedy in roughly equal measure.

Man About the House — That’s TV, 11pm

At 11pm, it’s Man About the House. The 1970s sitcom follows chef Robin sharing a flat with Chrissy and Jo, an arrangement their landlord George Roper can never quite stop worrying about.

Mind Your Language — That’s TV, 11:30pm

The 11:30pm hour belongs to Mind Your Language.

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?

It’s a straight classic-sitcom run from 6pm: That’s 60s – Best Music Live! (a ten-minute archive-clips package, not an actual live broadcast) opens the hour, then Rising Damp, Steptoe and Son, and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? at 7:15pm, before Minder takes the 7:55pm slot. Benidorm follows at 9pm, then Shameless at 10pm. Man About the House gets one more outing at 11pm, and Mind Your Language closes the night at 11:30pm. The 6:10pm Rising Damp is the pilot episode — Ruth talking Rigsby into renting out his vacant room — and repeats the 12:05pm showing; Bread does the same trick, repeating its 10:10am episode at 4:55pm. Minder and Man About the House also air more than once today, but with a different episode each time. 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 afternoon is a straight run of 1970s and 1980s sitcoms with no particular theme, running from breakfast through to Birds of a Feather at 5:30pm, When the Boat Comes In providing the one period-drama break in the middle of the day.

The evening opens with three sitcoms back to back, Rising Damp into Steptoe and Son into Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, before Minder takes the 7:55pm slot — the same story ITV4 ran this morning at 8:05am, Terry protecting a widowed garage owner while Arthur chases a Rolls-Royce. That 6:10pm Rising Damp is worth singling out: it’s the pilot episode, with Ruth talking Rigsby into letting his spare room to someone she knows, and it’s the same episode that opened the day at 12:05pm. Benidorm at 9pm is the strongest patch of the night, with Shameless close behind at 10pm. Man About the House gets a single primetime showing at 11pm, and Mind Your Language closes the night at 11:30pm. Rising Damp and Bread are the day’s true repeats, each showing the identical episode twice; Minder and Man About the House also air more than once today, but with a different episode each time.

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