Full Channel 5 listings for Tuesday 27 October 2026, with times in London local time.

Channel 5 spends the night on cars and hospitals, and the 9pm travelogue is the exception

See also: What's on tonight across all channels | Wednesday's TV guide

Channel 5’s Tuesday primetime is three hours of police and traffic footage followed by a long hospital documentary. The one programme that breaks the pattern is Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild at 9pm, and it is the best reason to be on this channel tonight. It is a programme about people who have left ordinary life behind, fronted by a presenter who has made a long career out of asking them how it is going. This week’s destination is Chilean Patagonia. It is also the only hour on the channel with no sirens in it, which counts for something after Traffic Cops and Motorway Cops.

The competition at nine is mostly more of the same. 5action runs Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders against it, 5star has Fare Dodgers: At War With The Law, and over on BBC One it is Blue Lights. Anyone who wants something that isn’t a uniformed procedure has Ben Fogle and not much else, apart from Gogglebox on E4.

The cop double bill

Traffic Cops at 7pm and Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders at 8pm make a tidy pair, and that is about the best that can be said for them. Traffic Cops started life on BBC One and has been running long enough to reach a fourteenth series; Channel 5 is now airing episode 16 of that run. Motorway Cops is on its eleventh. Both fill the slot reliably and neither surprises. If you want the speeding hour, note that 5action shows Motorway Cops at 9pm, so catching it a second time on that channel is the easy option if you miss the 8pm showing.

Neither earns a recommendation over the rest of the night. They are a comfortable default, and the schedule has been built that way on purpose.

Surgeons at ten

The anchor of the evening is Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death at 10pm, which runs for 95 minutes, the longest programme on the channel in primetime. This is the third series, and tonight is the fifth episode. A word on the clash: BBC Two shows Surgeons: At the Edge of Life an hour earlier, at 9pm, so anyone who wants two hospital documentaries back to back can watch one and then switch. For viewers who would rather stay put, Channel 5’s version arrives straight after Ben Fogle, and the move from Patagonia to an operating theatre is abrupt. It is a strong closer rather than a reason to tune in from the start of the evening.

Before primetime

Portugal with Michael Portillo has its second episode at 6pm, covering Braga and Ponte De Lima. It is the same series that opened at 03:15 overnight with Porto, so anyone who recorded the early hours already has episode one. At an hour long, it is a better lead-in to the evening than the news that precedes it.

Late on, Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts closes the night at 23:35, and it is a continuation of the medical theme for those who have not had enough.

The verdict: watch Ben Fogle at nine, stay for Surgeons if you have the stomach for it, and treat the two hours before as optional.


Also on TV tonight at 9pm

  • BBC One: Blue Lights
  • BBC Two: Surgeons: At the Edge of Life
  • ITV1: New: Unbelievable Moments:…
  • Channel 4: The Great British Bake Off (from 8pm)
  • BBC Four: The Normans
  • ITV2: Big Brother
  • ITV3: Vera (from 8pm)
  • ITV4: Junk and Disorderly
  • E4: Gogglebox
  • More4: Matt Baker: Our Barn in the Dales

Every channel tonight, side by side · Films on TV tonight · Tomorrow’s TV


Frequently asked questions

What’s on Channel 5 tonight?

On Tuesday 27 October 2026, Channel 5 shows Traffic Cops at 7pm, Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders at 8pm, Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild at 9pm and Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death at 10pm.

Is there a film on Channel 5 tonight?

No. Channel 5 has no films in its evening schedule on Tuesday 27 October 2026.

What’s on Channel 5 late tonight?

After 11pm, Channel 5 has Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts at 11.35pm.

What time does Channel 5’s evening start?

The evening schedule starts with Portugal with Michael Portillo at 6pm.

A children’s channel until nine, then Britain on the road, at the vet’s and in the sun

Channel 5 has been on air since 1997, and the first thing to know about it is that more than half its airtime, 53% over the five weeks we tracked, is children’s television. Peppa Pig alone aired 240 times in 34 days, about seven episodes a day. That block ends mid-morning, and the rest of the day belongs to adults: phone-in and consumer chat, an afternoon thriller, holiday and travel documentaries, and from 7pm a primetime that is 44% documentary and has no children’s programming at all. Across the whole day, 81% of airtime went to titles that recurred on three or more days.

What a day on Channel 5 looks like

Early morning. Children’s programmes start before 6am and run for about three hours, in a tightly timed sequence of short cartoons. Peppa Pig appears throughout. On most days Tweedy & Fluff came at 6.10am, Odo at 6.15am, Thomas & Friends at 6.20am, Fireman Sam at 6.35am, Pip and Posy at 6.50am and The Adventures of Paddington at 6.55am. PAW Patrol follows around 7.10am, Rubble & Crew at 7.20am, Tim Rex In Space at 7.45am, Stan & Gran at 8am, Milo at 8.25am and Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom around 8.55am. Eight of these were on all 34 days we measured. Milkshake! Story Den or Pawsome Dino Rescues close the block at 9.05am on some days.

Daytime. At 9.15am Jeremy Vine takes over, then Storm & Alexis at 11.30am, 5 News at Lunchtime at 12.45pm and Matt Allwright at 12.50pm, each holding exactly the same slot on 25 days, which in practice means every weekday. Travel series such as Spain with Michael Portillo sit around 2pm on some days, but the 2.20pm slot is usually a film, nearly always a recent American TV thriller: titles such as If I Can’t Have You, Stalked by My Stepsister, My Killer Colleague and A Deadly Surrogacy ran there in our window. Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun usually follows at 4pm, with Love Nature around 4.55pm.

The evening, 6pm to 10.30pm. At 6pm Channel 5 goes gently scenic, with Cornwall: A Year By The Sea or The Big Steam Adventure: Here We Go Again! At weekends 5 News Weekend sits around 6.55pm. From 7pm the schedule rotates by night of the week rather than repeating daily. Police Interceptors and Traffic Cops took 7pm; 8pm went to Motorway Cops: Catching Britain’s Speeders, Traffic Cops: Elite Squad One, The Yorkshire Vet, Our Great Yorkshire Life, 22 Kids & Counting or Murder Scene: The Incident Room. At 9pm the choice was between All Creatures Great and Small, medical documentaries such as Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death and Cause of Death, Play for Today and, during the NFL season, Live: NFL on 5. Piers Morgan: Uncensored took 10pm on some nights. None of these appeared on more than five evenings, so no single primetime title defines the channel the way the morning cartoons do.

Overnight. Cruise TV with LoveitBookit and Must Have Ideas fill the 1am hour, followed by documentary repeats such as The Wonderful World of Chocolate and Warship: Life in the Royal Navy in the small hours.

Popular shows on Channel 5

Peppa Pig is a British preschool animated series that began in 2004, with ten series and 394 episodes. It is the most-shown programme on the channel by a wide margin.

Police Interceptors is a British documentary series that began on Channel 5 in 2008, and one of the regular 7pm titles.

The Yorkshire Vet is a documentary series with Julian Norton that has run to 14 series. It is one of the regular 8pm options.

Thomas & Friends is a British children’s series that began in 1984 and has run to 24 series and 584 episodes. On Channel 5 it is a fixed 6.20am slot on weekdays.

Fireman Sam is a Welsh animated children’s series that began in 1987, with 15 series and 304 episodes. It held 6.35am on all 34 days we measured.

Jeremy Vine is the weekday morning phone-in and the start of Channel 5’s grown-up day, at 9.15am.

How to watch Channel 5

Channel 5 is free-to-air on channel 5 on Freeview (HD on 105), and on 105 on Sky, Sky Glass, Virgin Media and Freesat. On Freely it is channel 5. On screen it now calls itself simply 5. The streaming service is also called 5 (formerly My5), with the channel live and catch-up, free. Watching any UK channel live needs a TV Licence.

Channel 5 and its sister channels

Channel 5 sits at the head of a family of 5USA, 5STAR, 5ACTION and 5Drama, which replaces 5Select. 5USA is American crime drama, with NCIS and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit every evening. 5STAR runs medical and emergency documentaries, such as GPs: Behind Closed Doors and Casualty 24/7: Every Second Counts. 5ACTION is built on Police Interceptors and Motorway Cops, the same police series that turn up in Channel 5’s own evening.

Outside the family, Really shares the gentle British factual tone of Channel 5’s 6pm and 8pm slots, and for children, CBeebies covers the same preschool age group all day.

Who it’s for

Families with preschool children get a dependable breakfast-time block, the same cartoons in the same order every weekday. Adults get daytime chat, a TV thriller after lunch and an evening of police, vets and travel. If you want a returning drama to plan your week around, Channel 5 rarely has one.

What channel is Channel 5 on Freeview?

Channel 5 is on Freeview channel 5, with HD on 105.

Can I watch Channel 5 online?

Yes. The free 5 streaming service, formerly My5, carries the channel live and on catch-up.

What time is Peppa Pig on Channel 5?

Throughout the early-morning children’s block, from around 6am. It aired about seven times a day in the five weeks we tracked.

Does Channel 5 show films?

About four a week, nearly all American TV thrillers in the 2.20pm weekday slot, with an occasional late film such as The Firm.