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

Updated: 23 August 2026

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. Sunday’s daytime moves through Michael Portillo’s Continental railway journeys, a Great Canal Journeys double and three episodes of Canal Boat Diaries, before Dan Snow’s 1066 double leads into the evening’s main event: Bangers & Cash takes both the 8pm and 9pm hours, framed by Empire with Michael Portillo and a Canal Boat Diaries double to close the night. Full breakdown below.

Yesterday Schedule: Sunday 23 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Yesterday schedule for Sunday 23 August 2026, on Freeview 27.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Yesterday today

Sunday’s schedule opens just after midnight with a Bangers & Cash: Restoring Classics double, the team converting a favourite Austin commercial to electric before chasing down a bargain Porsche, then Abandoned Engineering takes 2am and just over three hours of teleshopping fill the small hours from 3am.

Two more episodes of Abandoned Engineering pick things up from 6:10am, before Michael Portillo takes over with a Great Continental Railway Journeys double from 8am, tracing routes through Italy and then Poland. Timothy West and Prunella Scales follow with a Great Canal Journeys double from 10am, first on Scotland’s Forth and Clyde Canal and then around Stratford-upon-Avon.

Canal Boat Diaries settles in for three episodes from midday, Robbie Cumming chasing a UFO legend near Todmorden before two instalments on the Oxford Canal, and Russia with Simon Reeve fills the mid-afternoon with a double from 3pm. Dan Snow’s 1066: A Year to Conquer England closes out the daytime with a double at 5pm and 6pm, covering the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Norman fleet’s crossing, ahead of the evening’s Bangers & Cash-led primetime.

Yesterday tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Yesterday primetime line-up for tonight, Sunday 23 August 2026.

1066: A Year to Conquer England with Dan Snow — Yesterday, 6pm

Dan Snow’s two-part retelling reaches its second half at 6pm: Duke William’s Norman fleet finally crosses the Channel after months pinned down in a French port, timed for the moment King Harold is still marching south, fresh from beating back a Viking invasion in the north.

Empire with Michael Portillo — Yesterday, 7pm

At 7pm Michael Portillo opens a new look at the British Empire with a trip to India, tracing how the East India Company grew from a trading firm into an empire-building force with its own private army.

Bangers & Cash — Yesterday, 8pm

Bangers & Cash gets its own 8pm slot as Derek works a grand aristocratic estate, coming away with three classics — an Aston Martin DB6 and a sought-after BMW 2002 among them.

Bangers & Cash — Yesterday, 9pm

A second, earlier run of the show follows at 9pm, with Paul up in County Durham chasing a Singer Le Mans sports car from 1936, plus a Lambretta LD 150 of 1957 still with the person who bought it new, while Derek picks up a 1962 MGA Mk2 coupe elsewhere in the day’s haul.

Canal Boat Diaries — Yesterday, 10pm

Canal Boat Diaries closes the night with a double. At 10pm Robbie Cumming detours to chase a UFO legend near Todmorden, before a leak at Britain’s deepest lock threatens the Naughty Lass.

Canal Boat Diaries — Yesterday, 11pm

At 11pm the series rewinds to an earlier run: Robbie works the Oxford Canal from Napton Junction, twisting and turning his way toward Aynho Wharf and stopping to tow a broken-down boater to safety.

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?

The second half of Dan Snow’s 1066 airs at 6pm, followed by Empire with Michael Portillo at 7pm. Bangers & Cash takes both the 8pm and 9pm hours from two different runs of the show, and Canal Boat Diaries rounds off the night with a double 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.

Tonight leans on that strength again: after Dan Snow’s 1066 double and the opening episode of Michael Portillo’s new Empire series, Bangers & Cash fills both the 8pm and 9pm hours from two different runs of the show, before Canal Boat Diaries closes things out with a further double. It’s not a night for discovery, but the mix of history and motoring is exactly what regular viewers come back for.

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