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

Published: 12 September 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. Tonight, Sunday 13 September 2026, it’s a genuinely repeat-heavy evening rather than anything with a particular pull. Four Canal Boat Diaries episodes run wall to wall from 6pm to 7:30pm, then Bangers & Cash airs twice, at 8pm and 9pm, before two more Canal Boat Diaries episodes close out the night from 10pm. Full breakdown below.

Yesterday Schedule: Sunday 13 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Yesterday schedule for Sunday 13 September 2026, on Freeview 27.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Yesterday today

Overnight opens with two Bangers & Cash episodes from midnight, then The Architecture the Railways Built at 2am, before Teleshopping fills the schedule from 3am through to just after six.

The Architecture the Railways Built runs two more episodes back to back at 6:10am and 7:10am, then two Great Continental Railway Journeys episodes take 8am and 9am. Two Great Canal Journeys episodes carry the late morning, and three Canal Boat Diaries episodes fill midday into early afternoon. Simon Reeve’s Australia and Turkey specials take 3pm and 4pm, and two more Canal Boat Diaries episodes lead into this evening’s line-up from 5pm.

Yesterday tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Yesterday primetime line-up for tonight, Sunday 13 September 2026.

Canal Boat Diaries — Yesterday, 6pm

Four episodes run wall to wall through early evening, each one following a different stretch of English waterway: crossing an aqueduct near Stratford-upon-Avon at 6pm, setting off on a 170-mile route across the north from 6:30pm, over the Pennines via the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at 7pm, then mooring at the old mill village of Saltaire at 7:30pm. It’s one long sit rather than four distinct bookings, and worth knowing that going in.

Bangers & Cash — Yesterday, 8pm

Derek Mathewson goes hunting for a 1954 Morgan +4 coupe at 8pm, then a Hillman Avenger pulled out of a garage in Southwold gives the family auction house its next lot at 9pm. Two episodes back to back, which is how often this show turns up across Yesterday’s schedule.

Canal Boat Diaries — Yesterday, 10pm

Two further episodes close out the night, including a winter trip along the Grand Union Canal. Between the early-evening run and this closing pair, Canal Boat Diaries fills six of tonight’s slots — a genuinely repeat-heavy evening rather than six separate stories.

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?

Four Canal Boat Diaries episodes run wall to wall from 6pm to 7:30pm, then Bangers & Cash airs twice, at 8pm and 9pm. Two more Canal Boat Diaries episodes close out the night from 10pm — a genuinely repeat-heavy evening rather than six distinct bookings.

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, though, is Canal Boat Diaries doing most of the heavy lifting: six episodes across the evening, four of them wall to wall from 6pm to 7:30pm and two more closing the night from 10pm. Bangers & Cash gets its usual double booking in between, at 8pm and 9pm, but there’s no getting around how repeat-heavy the schedule is tonight.

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