GREAT! Action TV Guide: Listings, Schedule & What’s On GREAT! Action Tonight

GREAT! Action is a free-to-air film channel on Freeview 42, built almost entirely around gunfights, chases and westerns. It started out as Sony Movies Action on 10 September 2019 and has been renamed twice since, most recently in March 2023. Tonight, Wednesday 5 August 2026, the channel repeats its own daytime run of The Unit and Burn Notice from 6pm before handing primetime to End Of A Gun at 9pm, a 2016 thriller with Steven Seagal. It splits around a short This Week Back Then break and resumes at 10:01pm, with two vintage Avengers instalments, The Avengers (series 5, episode 4) and The New Avengers (series 1, episode 4), closing out the night from 10:55pm.

GREAT! Action Schedule: Wednesday 5 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete GREAT! Action schedule for Wednesday 5 August 2026, on Freeview 42.

What’s on GREAT! Action today

Teleshopping runs until 9am, when Raiders Of The Lost Art opens the day proper, a documentary strand digging into art-world stories, this episode following Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law Johanna and how she turned his work into one of art’s most valuable legacies after he died largely unknown. Murder Maps takes the 10am slot, its third episode retracing Dr Crippen’s murder of his wife and the transatlantic chase that finally caught him.

40 Guns to Apache Pass, a 1967 western with Audie Murphy as an army captain trying to stop a gun shipment reaching Apache raiders, runs from 11am and splits briefly for This Week Back Then at 11:56am before resuming at 12:01pm and finishing at 1pm.

The Unit airs from 1pm, series 1 episode 13, and Burn Notice fills the 2pm and 3pm hours with two consecutive episodes from its second series. Predestination, a 2015 time-travel thriller with Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook, later of Succession, runs from 4pm and breaks again for This Week Back Then at 4:56pm before resuming at 5:01pm through to 6pm, when The Unit and Burn Notice repeat the same three episodes shown earlier in the afternoon ahead of tonight’s film.

GREAT! Action tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the GREAT! Action primetime line-up for tonight, Wednesday 5 August 2026.

The Unit — GREAT! Action, 6pm

The Unit repeats series 1, episode 13, the same instalment shown at 1pm this afternoon. An elite army unit quietly captures a former Yugoslav general wanted for war crimes and lets the United Nations take the credit, while back at base Kim gets some unwelcome news.

Burn Notice — GREAT! Action, 7pm

A second run of series 2, episode 12 sends Burn Notice‘s Michael undercover to investigate strange goings-on at a gallery for a new client. The job turns against him after an attack by the venue’s own receptionist.

Burn Notice — GREAT! Action, 8pm

An hour later, series 2, episode 13 has Michael forced into an uneasy truce with a vengeful federal agent so the pair can survive a bank robbery together in Miami.

End Of A Gun — GREAT! Action, 9pm

Steven Seagal headlines End Of A Gun, a 2016 thriller in which his former federal agent helps a woman steal cash from a violent drug lord, then has to outrun the men sent after them both. The film pauses for This Week Back Then at 9:56pm and picks up again at 10:01pm, running through to 10:55pm.

The Avengers — GREAT! Action, 10:55pm

The 1967 colour run of The Avengers continues with series 5, episode 4. Steed and Mrs Peel investigate after a Ministry clerk is seemingly attacked by an assailant nobody can see.

The New Avengers — GREAT! Action, 11:55pm

The night closes with The New Avengers, series 1, episode 4. The team race to work out why a string of ecologists are being targeted and killed, and whether the deaths are connected at all.

What kind of films are on GREAT! Action

Classic westerns and action icons

The channel advertises itself as the home of John Wayne, Robert Mitchum, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, and for once the marketing is accurate. Westerns from the 1930s to the 1960s take up most of the daylight hours, series as well as films, with Tombstone Territory and The High Chaparral in heavy rotation. After that come the 1980s and ’90s action vehicles, built around a small and very dependable cast list.

Contemporary action and thrillers

Evenings go harder on star names, usually one bigger studio picture with a leaner independent thriller either side of it. Most had a cinema release before they arrived here.

Anime, rescue documentaries and reality strands

Since around August 2024 the overnight hours have gone to things that are not films at all: Dragon Ball Super, and rescue documentaries such as Coast Guard Alaska and Air Rescue. The evening slots have so far been left alone.

How to watch GREAT! Action

Channel numbers

Here’s where to find GREAT! Action across the main UK television platforms:

Freesat viewers lost it in early February 2024, along with eight other Narrative Entertainment channels, and it has not come back.

Streaming online

GREAT! Action streams free through Great! Player at great-player.com, with no account or sign-in. The app is on Freeview Play, YouView, Amazon Fire TV, and Samsung and LG smart TVs, plus the App Store and Google Play. GREAT! Movies and GREAT! TV sit in the same app, so the whole network is in one place.

GREAT! sister channels

GREAT! Action is one of four channels run by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited under the GREAT! banner.

A fifth channel, GREAT! Movies Christmas, appears seasonally and runs festive films from September to December.

Frequently Asked Questions

What channel is GREAT! Action on Freeview?

GREAT! Action is on channel 42 on Freeview. It’s not currently on Freesat, having been withdrawn from that platform in early February 2024 along with eight other Narrative Entertainment channels. It remains free on Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media.

What channel is GREAT! Action on Sky and Virgin Media?

Channel 323 on Sky, channel 426 on Virgin Media. Both carry the same schedule as Freeview 42 and both are free to watch.

What’s on GREAT! Action tonight?

The Unit and a Burn Notice double bill repeat from 6pm, all three already shown earlier in the afternoon. End Of A Gun, a 2016 thriller with Steven Seagal as a former federal agent helping a woman steal from a drug lord, takes over at 9pm, splitting for This Week Back Then at 9:56pm and resuming at 10:01pm. Two vintage Avengers episodes close the night: The Avengers (series 5, episode 4) at 10:55pm and The New Avengers (series 1, episode 4) at 11:55pm. See the schedule table above for the rest of the day.

Is GREAT! Action free to watch, and does it carry adverts?

Yes, entirely free on Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media, with no subscription. It carries advertising during films, which is why some titles run in two parts around a short interstitial such as This Week Back Then.

Who owns GREAT! Action?

Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. The channel launched in September 2019 as Sony Movies Action, was rebranded Great! Movies Action in 2021 after Narrative Capital’s acquisition of Sony’s UK channels, and became GREAT! Action in March 2023.

What are the GREAT! sister channels?

GREAT! Movies, GREAT! TV and GREAT! Romance, plus the seasonal GREAT! Movies Christmas. All stream free via Great! Player.

Can I watch GREAT! Action online for free?

Yes, through Great! Player at great-player.com, with apps on Freeview Play, YouView, Amazon Fire TV, and Samsung and LG smart TVs. No account is needed.

Verdict

Free war films and westerns, all day, for nothing. No subscription and no login. Wednesday’s daytime run through Raiders Of The Lost Art, Murder Maps and the 1967 Audie Murphy western 40 Guns to Apache Pass is a solid stretch for anyone who likes their true crime mixed in with old-fashioned gunslinging.

End Of A Gun at 9pm is the reason to tune in tonight. Seagal’s grizzled ex-agent is exactly the kind of unfussy thriller this channel does well, even if the five-minute This Week Back Then break splits it awkwardly in two. The Unit and Burn Notice earlier in the evening are the same episodes shown that afternoon, so anyone who caught them the first time can skip straight to primetime. The Avengers and The New Avengers, back to back from 10:55pm, are a decent way to close the night for anyone still up.

Related: Film4 TV Guide | Freeview Channel Guide