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

Published: 20 September 2026

That’s TV runs almost entirely on British television’s back catalogue: sitcoms from the 1970s and 1980s, a bit of crime 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 runs a straight stretch of classic sitcoms through early evening before Minder at 7:55pm, then Benidorm into Shameless is the strongest pairing of the night. Full times for every programme are in the table below.

That’s TV Schedule: Monday 21 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete That’s TV schedule for Monday 21 September 2026, on Freeview 56.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on That’s TV today

Today opens with Minder just after midnight, then Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em and Man About the House carry the small hours before The Kenny Everett Video Show and the archive clip strand That’s 60s – Best Music Live! from around 3am. A Nearest and Dearest pair leads into a teleshopping run from 6am — cruise holidays, then a folding eFoldi mobility scooter, then cruise holidays again — before Upstairs, Downstairs resumes the schedule proper at 8am.

You Rang, M’Lord? opens the morning at 9:10am, then Bread and Steptoe and Son carry the schedule towards Oh, Doctor Beeching! at 11:25am. Rising Damp and Man About the House lead the early afternoon, then Goodnight Sweetheart and When the Boat Comes In carry lunchtime towards a second Minder episode at 2:40pm. Just Good Friends, another Man About the House and a second Bread episode fill the rest of the afternoon, before Birds of a Feather at 5:30pm leads into the evening line-up below.

That’s TV tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the That’s TV primetime line-up for tonight, Monday 21 September 2026.

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

A short run of archive performance clips from 1960s music shows, one of several slots the channel uses to bridge the sitcom reruns either side of it.

Rising Damp — That’s TV, 6:10pm

Leonard Rossiter’s Rigsby holds down the evening’s first proper sitcom slot, one of the channel’s most-repeated titles.

Steptoe and Son — That’s TV, 6:45pm

Galton and Simpson’s rag-and-bone classic follows straight after, keeping the run of vintage sitcoms unbroken through early evening.

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

The sequel to The Likely Lads gets its slot just ahead of primetime, tracking Bob and Terry’s diverging lives back in Newcastle.

Minder — That’s TV, 7:55pm

Arthur Daley and Terry McCann’s dealings get another outing as the evening moves into its main run, one of the crime dramas the channel leans on most.

Benidorm — That’s TV, 9pm

The Solana resort sitcom airs at 9pm, still the newest material in tonight’s line-up by some distance.

Shameless — That’s TV, 10pm

Paul Abbott’s Chatsworth estate drama follows at 10pm, sitting noticeably darker than most of what surrounds it tonight.

Man About the House — That’s TV, 11:35pm

A late rerun closes out the night, the sitcom having already turned up twice earlier in the day.

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?

Rising Damp, Steptoe and Son and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? carry early evening, leading into Minder at 7:55pm. Benidorm follows at 9pm and Shameless at 10pm, with Man About the House closing out the night 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. Today’s schedule runs the usual unthemed stitch of 1970s and 1980s reruns: You Rang, M’Lord?, Bread, Steptoe and Son and Oh, Doctor Beeching! carry the morning, then Rising Damp, Man About the House, Goodnight Sweetheart, When the Boat Comes In and a second Minder episode fill the afternoon.

Early evening runs another stretch of sitcoms — Rising Damp, Steptoe and Son and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? — before Minder takes the 7:55pm slot. Benidorm at 9pm is the strongest patch of the night, with Shameless close behind at 10pm, before Man About the House closes out the evening at 11:35pm.

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