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

Yesterday is UKTV’s history and heritage channel, mixing archive documentaries, military history and natural history with a growing slate of classic motoring shows. BBC Studios has owned it outright through UKTV since 2019, and it’s free with no subscription required. Thursday’s evening opens with Antiques Roadshow and A Perfect Planet before handing four hours over to the Mathewson family, with a new Bangers & Cash, a Restoring Classics episode and two repeats keeping the strand running to close.

Yesterday Schedule: Thursday 13 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Yesterday schedule for Thursday 13 August 2026, on Freeview 27.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Yesterday today

The overnight run opens with a Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics repeat at midnight, followed by Find It, Fix It, Flog It at 1am and Abandoned Engineering at 2am, before Teleshopping takes over for just over three hours from 3am.

Two more Abandoned Engineering episodes follow from 6:10am, moving from a tropical island complex in Brazil to the ruins of Troy, ahead of a Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics double built around a rare Reliant Scimitar GTC and a Bugatti replica. The Berlin Wall: The Night the Iron Curtain Closed and The World at War both get a late-morning outing from 10am, then repeat again at 4pm and 5pm.

The middle of the day belongs to Antiques Roadshow, screened at midday and again at 1pm, followed by two runs of Bangers & Cash. The evening reuses a good deal of this: the 6pm Antiques Roadshow is the same edition shown at midday, and the 10pm and 11pm Bangers & Cash episodes are the two that already ran that afternoon.

Yesterday tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Yesterday primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 13 August 2026.

Antiques Roadshow — Yesterday, 6pm

This repeat visit (series 36, episode 17) takes the team to the Royal Agricultural University near Cirencester, where a mantrap once used to deter an eloping suitor is among the items brought in for valuation.

A Perfect Planet — Yesterday, 7pm

David Attenborough turns to the oceans for this instalment (series 1, episode 4), tracing how the currents that link the world’s seas keep marine life going.

Bangers & Cash — Yesterday, 8pm

A new episode (series 14, episode 4) follows Derek on a triple pickup around the Home Counties, coming home with an Amphicar, a Mini Moke and a Polish-built Fiat.

Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics — Yesterday, 9pm

This instalment (series 6, episode 6) covers the team’s priciest purchase yet, a 1973 Ford Escort Mexico, alongside a cheaper second buy in a 1968 Riley Kestrel.

Bangers & Cash — Yesterday, 10pm & 11pm

The night closes with two Bangers & Cash repeats from earlier in the afternoon (series 5, episodes 14 and 15). Cliff Parisi drops off a Bedford CA campervan at 10pm, then an 11pm haul brings in a five-vehicle collection alongside a rare Lancia Fulvia Berlina.

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?

It’s a short documentary run before the cars take over: Antiques Roadshow at 6pm and A Perfect Planet at 7pm give way to a new Bangers & Cash at 8pm and Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics at 9pm, then two more Bangers & Cash episodes repeat from earlier in the afternoon 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 remains one of the better-value channels on Freeview. The archive documentaries that built its reputation are still on air, and Bangers & Cash has grown into the channel’s biggest draw since it began in 2019.

Thursday’s evening leans harder on the motoring strand than most. Antiques Roadshow and A Perfect Planet get an hour each before four straight hours belong to the Mathewsons, split across a new Bangers & Cash, a Restoring Classics episode, and two repeats from earlier that afternoon.

Related: Freeview Channel Guide | Dave TV Guide | Films on TV This Week