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

Yesterday is UKTV’s history and heritage channel: archive documentaries, military history, natural history and, these days, a great deal of classic motoring. BBC Studios has owned it outright through UKTV since 2019, and it’s free with no subscription. Friday’s evening splits between the waterways and the motoring strand: Antiques Roadshow repeats at 6pm and The Green Planet takes 7pm, before two Canal Boat Diaries episodes at 8pm and 9pm. Two Bangers & Cash repeats close out the night at 10pm and 11pm. More on that below. Channel numbers are further down.

Yesterday Schedule: Friday 7 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Yesterday schedule for Friday 7 August 2026, on Freeview 27.

What’s on Yesterday today

Friday opens with Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics at midnight, then a new Find It, Fix It, Flog It at 1am and an Abandoned Engineering at 2am, before teleshopping takes the small hours from 3am.

Two more Abandoned Engineering episodes restart the schedule at 6:10am and 7:10am, followed by a Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics double at 8am and 9am. Secret Nazi Bases takes 10am and Great War Stories 11am, both of which return later in the afternoon at 4pm and 5pm.

The middle of the day belongs to Antiques Roadshow, with the Towneley Hall episode at midday and a second at 1pm, then Bangers & Cash at 2pm and 3pm. Note that the evening repeats a fair amount of this: the 6pm Antiques Roadshow is the same Towneley Hall edition shown at midday, and the 10pm and 11pm Bangers & Cash episodes are the two that already ran at 2pm and 3pm.

Yesterday tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Yesterday primetime line-up for tonight, Friday 7 August 2026.

Antiques Roadshow — Yesterday, 6pm

Towneley Hall, near Burnley, where the finds include a collection of handbags and a centuries-old ring picked up at a car boot sale. A repeat of the midday showing.

The Green Planet — Yesterday, 7pm

“Human Worlds”, on plants that have made a life among us rather than despite us. The standout is the living bridges of India, formed from tree roots trained across canyons over decades.

Canal Boat Diaries — Yesterday, 8pm and 9pm

Two from series seven, and the closest thing to new material tonight. With the Anderton Boat Lift out of service, Robbie takes a borrowed narrowboat down the River Weaver from Winsford to Weston Point. The 9pm episode sets off from Runcorn on the Bridgewater Canal and goes progressively wrong, between lost footage and closed waterways.

Bangers & Cash — Yesterday, 10pm and 11pm

Both repeats of the 2pm and 3pm showings. At 10pm Derek finds an MG SA in Hull that once had a tree growing through it, and Alan Holmes sells his son’s Ford Escort RS1600i in north Wales. At 11pm a run of supercharged cars reaches the Mathewson’s saleroom, along with a Ford Escort XR3 and an MGA.

What kind of shows are on Yesterday

Classic motoring and Bangers & Cash

Motoring is the growth area, and it is essentially one family: the Mathewsons of Thornton-le-Dale. Bangers & Cash produced Restoring Classics, and the channel has built a wider strand around them with Flipping Bangers and Find It, Fix It, Flog It.

Military and social history

Archive war documentaries are what the channel was founded on. The World at War still anchors a run of conflict and social history titles pulled from decades of British broadcast archive.

Natural history and engineering

The rest is natural history and engineering: A Perfect Planet, plus Abandoned Engineering and Secrets of the London Underground, which are really infrastructure documentaries wearing a history badge.

How to watch Yesterday

Channel numbers

Here’s where to find Yesterday across the main UK television platforms:

Yesterday is free on all of the above platforms, with no subscription required. Sky, Virgin Media and Freesat channel numbers can vary slightly by region and box, so your on-screen guide is the definitive source if these don’t match.

Streaming online

Yesterday streams live and free on u.co.uk and via the U app on smart TVs, iOS, Android and most streaming boxes. U is UKTV’s streaming service, formerly known as UKTV Play, and it’s free to sign up for. Most Yesterday shows are also available to catch up on demand once they’ve broadcast, though older archive series can come and go from the library.

Yesterday +1 and sister channels

Yesterday +1 runs the main schedule exactly an hour behind, on Freeview channel 26. Miss the start of a Bangers & Cash episode on the main channel and +1 lets you pick it up from close to the beginning an hour later instead.

Yesterday sits within the wider UKTV stable alongside Dave, Drama, Really and Alibi. If you enjoy Yesterday’s history and documentary output, Dave carries more panel shows and sitcoms, while Really leans towards true crime and paranormal programming.

Frequently asked questions

What channel is Yesterday on?

Freeview 27, Sky 155, Virgin Media 129 and Freesat 155. Yesterday +1 is on Freeview 26. All are free to watch.

What’s on Yesterday tonight?

A repeat of Antiques Roadshow opens the evening at 6pm, followed by The Green Planet at 7pm. A new Bangers & Cash airs at 8pm and Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics at 9pm, then two further Bangers & Cash repeats close the night at 10pm and 11pm.

Is Yesterday free to watch?

Yes, on every major UK platform, with advertising breaks but no subscription fee.

Can I watch Yesterday online for free?

Yes, live and on demand via u.co.uk and the U app, UKTV’s free streaming service.

Verdict

Pound for pound, Yesterday is one of the better-value channels on Freeview. The archive documentaries it built its name on are still there and still worth your time. The Mathewsons pay for them.

Friday’s evening plays to that strength: a repeated Antiques Roadshow and The Green Planet lead into two Canal Boat Diaries episodes at 8pm and 9pm, before two Bangers & Cash repeats carry the schedule through to midnight. Be aware how much of the night is second-hand — the 6pm, 10pm and 11pm slots all ran earlier the same day.

Related: Freeview Channel Guide | Dave TV Guide