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

Published: 15 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, Wednesday 16 September 2026, Antiques Roadshow opens at 6pm and Planet Earth takes 7pm, then Guy Martin’s Lancaster Bomber takes 8pm and Explore with Simon Reeve follows at 9pm. Two Bangers & Cash episodes close out the night from 10pm, a repeat-heavy finish to an otherwise solid evening. Full breakdown below.

Yesterday Schedule: Wednesday 16 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Yesterday schedule for Wednesday 16 September 2026, on Freeview 27.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Yesterday today

Overnight opens with Bangers & Cash at midnight, then Find It, Fix It, Flog It at 1am and 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 Bangers & Cash episodes take 8am and 9am. Rise of the Nazis and The World at War carry the late morning, two Antiques Roadshow episodes fill midday, and two more Bangers & Cash episodes take early afternoon, before Rise of the Nazis, The World at War and Antiques Roadshow lead into this evening’s line-up from 4pm.

Yesterday tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Yesterday primetime line-up for tonight, Wednesday 16 September 2026.

Antiques Roadshow — Yesterday, 6pm

A twelfth-series edition opens the evening, valuations drawn from wherever the roadshow pitched up this time round. Unhurried and reliable, as ever.

Planet Earth — Yesterday, 7pm

The second episode of the original landmark series takes 7pm — archive natural history rather than a recent commission, and it still holds up well against newer nature documentaries.

Guy Martin’s Lancaster Bomber — Yesterday, 8pm

Guy Martin turns his attention to the wartime bomber at 8pm, the kind of hands-on engineering documentary that suits him better than most presenting work does.

Explore with Simon Reeve — Yesterday, 9pm

Simon Reeve’s travel and current affairs series takes 9pm, the closest thing tonight has to a factual centrepiece before the schedule settles into reruns.

Bangers & Cash — Yesterday, 10pm–11pm

Two episodes close the night, both repeats from series 9 rather than fresh material. Worth being upfront about: the last two hours of Yesterday’s evening tonight are a rerun of the Mathewsons’ auction business, not a new instalment.

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?

Antiques Roadshow opens at 6pm and Planet Earth takes 7pm, then Guy Martin’s Lancaster Bomber takes 8pm and Explore with Simon Reeve follows at 9pm. Two Bangers & Cash repeats close out the night from 10pm.

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 is a genuinely solid factual run for the first half of primetime: Guy Martin’s Lancaster Bomber at 8pm and Explore with Simon Reeve at 9pm both stand up on their own, following Antiques Roadshow and Planet Earth earlier in the evening. It’s only the last two hours that lean on repeats, with two Bangers & Cash episodes closing out the night rather than anything new.

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