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 around action films and westerns. It started out as Sony Movies Action on 10 September 2019 and has been renamed twice since, most recently in March 2023. Thursday’s film is Soldier Blue, the 1970 western that still carries a certificate warning.

GREAT! Action Schedule: Thursday 13 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete GREAT! Action schedule for Thursday 13 August 2026, on Freeview 42.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on GREAT! Action today

Six half-hour Teleshopping slots fill the channel from 6am until 9am, when the western series Wanted: Dead Or Alive kicks off proper programming. In this episode (series 2, episode 5), Josh’s pursuit of outlaw Carl Martin brings him to a marshal’s office holding his target, only for Carl’s brother Andy to attempt a jailbreak that drags Josh into the middle of it.

Murder Maps takes the 9:30am hour, the second half of a two-part look at serial killer John Christie, who let an innocent man hang for his crimes before the bodies hidden at 10 Rillington Place were finally found. Two Rode Together, James Stewart’s 1961 western about an army officer and a compromised sheriff mounting a rescue mission, then runs from 10:30am, pausing for a five-minute This Week Back Then bulletin at 11:26am before picking back up at 11:31am and running through to 12:50pm.

A short Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletin follows at 12:50pm, before The Unit repeats at 1pm and Burn Notice runs its own back-to-back pair from 2pm, the same episodes due to air again from 6pm tonight. First Kill, a 2017 thriller starring Bruce Willis and Hayden Christensen as a father trying to get his kidnapped son back from a gang of killers, closes out the afternoon from 4pm through to 6pm.

GREAT! Action tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the GREAT! Action primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 13 August 2026.

The Unit — GREAT! Action, 6pm

The military drama repeats at 6pm, a rerun of the episode shown earlier in the afternoon (series 2, episode 6). A shipment of smuggled diamonds gets intercepted, and Bob has second thoughts once he spots a colleague quietly pocketing some of the seized cash, while Tiffy ends up arguing the case for the Iraq war against a group of visiting schoolchildren.

Burn Notice — GREAT! Action, 7pm & 8pm

Two episodes run back to back from 7pm, both repeated from the afternoon (series 3, episodes 8 and 9). Michael weighs up a deal with Strickler that could get his burn notice lifted, while Barry needs him and Fiona’s help tracking down a stolen ledger. By the second hour, word reaches Michael that his old case file is being reopened just as Fiona’s brother Sean arrives to warn her that someone wants her dead.

Soldier Blue — GREAT! Action, 9pm

Soldier Blue takes the 9pm film slot, a 1970 western with Peter Strauss and Donald Pleasence alongside Candice Bergen. Two people who survive an assault on their unit set out across hostile country hoping to reach safety, and their journey ends with them caught up in a massacre. The film breaks for the five-minute This Week Back Then bulletin at 9:56pm and resumes at 10:01pm, running through to 11:30pm. It is one film shown in two parts, not two separate showings.

The Avengers — GREAT! Action, 11:30pm

The Avengers closes the night at 11:30pm (series 5, episode 13). Steed and Peel start out looking into a missing agent, only for the case to turn considerably more serious once it leads them toward a plot against the Prime Minister.

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 opens the evening at 6pm, then Burn Notice runs two episodes back to back at 7pm and 8pm, all three repeated from earlier in the afternoon. Soldier Blue, the 1970 western with Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss and Donald Pleasence, takes over at 9pm, pausing briefly for a news bulletin at 9:56pm before resuming at 10:01pm. The Avengers closes the night at 11:30pm. 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

GREAT! Action costs nothing to watch and needs no sign-up. Thursday’s daytime schedule runs from a bounty-hunter western through James Stewart’s Two Rode Together and into Bruce Willis actioner First Kill by teatime, a decent stretch for genre regulars. The evening belongs to one film.

Soldier Blue at 9pm is the reason to tune in tonight, a considerably harder-edged western than the channel’s usual evening pick, with Candice Bergen leading a cast that also includes Peter Strauss and Donald Pleasence. The Unit and Burn Notice earlier in the evening repeat the same episodes shown that afternoon, so viewers who caught them the first time can go straight to primetime.

Related: Film4 TV Guide | Freeview Channel Guide | Films on TV This Week