Film4 TV Guide: Listings, Schedule & What’s On Film4 Tonight

Published: 9 September 2026

Film4 is the UK’s free-to-air film channel, on Freeview 14. It dropped its subscription fee on 23 July 2006 and has run on advertising ever since. Tonight, Thursday 10 September 2026, the evening runs a Southern ensemble drama into a modern thriller and a revenge comedy: Steel Magnolias (1989) opens at 6:40pm, Premium Rush (2012) takes the 9pm slot, and The Other Woman (2014) closes the night from 10:45pm.

Film4 Schedule: Thursday 10 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Film4 schedule for Thursday 10 September 2026, on Freeview 14.

Overnight

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Film4 today

Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson’s real-life drama Father Stu opens the overnight run at 1:10am, before a long teleshopping block takes the channel from 3:45am into late morning.

Three films then carry the whole daytime: the World War Two drama Guadalcanal Diary at 11am, the western double of Arizona Raiders and The Virginian through early afternoon, and the Merchant Ivory period piece A Room with a View running from 4:25pm into the early evening, ahead of tonight’s line-up from 6:40pm.

Film4 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Film4 primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 10 September 2026: a Southern ensemble drama, a New York bike-courier thriller, then a revenge comedy to close.

Steel Magnolias — Film4, 6:40pm

Steel Magnolias (1989) opens the evening at 6:40pm. Sally Field and Dolly Parton lead an ensemble cast, including Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Daryl Hannah and a young Julia Roberts, in the story of a group of women in small-town Louisiana whose friendship survives a family tragedy.

Premium Rush — Film4, 9pm

Premium Rush (2012) follows at 9pm. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a New York bike messenger racing a package across Manhattan while a corrupt detective, played by Michael Shannon, tries to intercept it.

The Other Woman — Film4, 10:45pm

The night closes at 10:45pm with The Other Woman (2014). Cameron Diaz discovers her boyfriend is married, and teams up with his wife and a third lover for revenge.

What kind of films are on Film4?

Hollywood and recent theatrical releases

A good chunk of the schedule is mainstream Hollywood: films that played UK multiplexes and reached television a couple of years later. The bigger, more recent titles go in the 9pm and 6.30pm slots, where the audience is widest.

British cinema and Film4 Productions

Film4 Productions, the channel’s film-funding arm, has backed British cinema since 1982, originally trading as Channel Four Films. Four Weddings and a Funeral, Trainspotting, This Is England, 12 Years a Slave, Poor Things. Four decades of co-productions, and the reason the channel gets more benefit of the doubt than its commercial rivals.

World cinema, independent and cult film

Film4 shows more subtitled film than any other British free-to-air channel, mostly after 11pm, alongside cult American independents and things that never got a proper UK release. That late shift is the best thing about it.

How to watch Film4

Channel numbers

Where to find Film4 on the main UK platforms:

Film4 is free on all of the above, with no subscription required. Virgin Media and Freesat numbers can vary by box and region, so check your on-screen guide if these don’t match.

Streaming online

Film4 streams live and free at channel4.com/now/f4 and via the Channel 4 app on smart TVs, iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire TV. You’ll need a free Channel 4 account, which takes a couple of minutes to set up. Films that have aired often turn up on demand in the Film4 collection afterwards, but licensing means plenty of them never do, and the ones that make it don’t stay long.

Film4 +1 and catching a film you missed

Film4 +1 runs the same schedule an hour behind, on Freeview 47 and Sky 314. Sit down at 10:15pm with the 9pm premiere already 75 minutes gone and +1 lets you start it near the beginning instead of writing the evening off.

If you miss a film outright and it never appears on demand, wait. Film4 reruns titles fairly regularly, usually in themed seasons or when a director or actor is back in the news, so searching a week or two ahead in your on-screen guide often turns one up.

Frequently asked questions

What’s on Film4 tonight?

Steel Magnolias (1989) opens the evening at 6:40pm, Premium Rush (2012) follows at 9pm, and The Other Woman (2014) closes the night from 10:45pm. Full times for the rest of the day, including Guadalcanal Diary at 11am and A Room with a View in the late afternoon, are in the schedule table above.

What time do films start on Film4?

Typically around 11am, 2pm, 4pm, 6.30pm, 9pm, and 11pm to midnight. Running lengths shift the exact times day to day, so your on-screen guide has the most accurate information.

Is Film4 free to watch?

Yes, and it has been since it left subscription in July 2006. Expect ad breaks during films, but no fee on any platform.

Can I watch Film4 online for free?

Yes, live at channel4.com or through the Channel 4 app, with a free account.

Verdict

I rate Film4, with reservations. The 9pm slot and the run after 11pm are what keep me coming back: recent releases, the odd Productions title, and foreign-language cinema you’d rarely stumble across on any other free channel. Daytime is mostly the same forty-odd Hollywood titles on rotation, and the ad breaks mid-film wear thin some nights.

Tonight leans towards comfort viewing rather than a single standout. Steel Magnolias at 6:40pm is the pick of the night for anyone who wants proper drama, with a cast that still holds up decades later. Premium Rush at 9pm is a lean, well-made thriller rather than anything more ambitious, and The Other Woman closes things out as broad, undemanding comedy. None is a Film4 Productions title, and none needs to be to earn its slot. Daytime keeps to the channel’s classic-film habit: a war drama, two westerns and a period piece, with no single centrepiece.

Watch

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | BBC One TV Guide | Freeview Channel Guide | Films on TV This Week