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

Published: 26 August 2026

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. Tonight, Thursday 27 August 2026, the evening opens with The Unit at 6pm and a Burn Notice double at 7pm and 8pm, all three repeating episodes the channel showed earlier in the afternoon. The night’s film is American Siege at 9pm, with Bruce Willis as a small-town sheriff facing down armed outlaws, running straight through to 11pm with no ad-break split. The Avengers closes the night at 11pm with a later episode from Linda Thorson’s run as Tara King.

GREAT! Action Schedule: Thursday 27 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete GREAT! Action schedule for Thursday 27 August 2026, on Freeview 42.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on GREAT! Action today

Overnight is vintage series rather than film: The New Avengers at 12am (series 2, episode 13) and The Persuaders! at 1am (series 1, episode 2) lead into a short Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletin at 2am, then the thriller Seattle Superstorm at 2:10am. Two more Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletins follow at 3:40am and 3:50am, then Coast Guard Alaska (series 3, episode 7) and a run of three Air Rescue episodes carry the channel to 6am, when Teleshopping takes over until 9am.

The morning opens with two more Raiders Of The Lost Art episodes at 9am and 9:30am, then Murder Maps at 10am (series 5, episode 2) and the two-hour western Johnson County War – Part 1 from 11am. The Unit returns at 1pm (series 2, episode 16) and Burn Notice follows with a double bill at 2pm and 3pm (series 4, episodes 12 and 13) — the same three episodes the channel repeats again this evening at 6pm, 7pm and 8pm. Shadow Wolves takes the 4pm slot, running an hour and fifty minutes to 5:50pm, when a final ten-minute Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletin closes out the daytime schedule before primetime begins.

GREAT! Action tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the GREAT! Action primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 27 August 2026. A ten-minute Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletin at 5:50pm is the last thing before the evening properly starts.

The Unit — GREAT! Action, 6pm

The Unit opens the evening at 6pm with series 2, episode 16, the same episode the channel showed earlier at 1pm.

Burn Notice — GREAT! Action, 7pm

Burn Notice takes the 7pm slot with series 4, episode 12, as Michael Westen’s small circle of allies work a job while he chases the people who burned him.

Burn Notice — GREAT! Action, 8pm

Series 4, episode 13 follows directly at 8pm, continuing the same afternoon double bill into primetime.

American Siege — GREAT! Action, 9pm

American Siege is the night’s film. Bruce Willis plays Ben Watts, a small-town Georgia sheriff drawn into a stand-off after armed outlaws take the town doctor hostage while hunting for a missing woman. It runs straight through from 9pm to 11pm, with no ad-break split tonight.

The Avengers — GREAT! Action, 11pm

The Avengers closes the night at 11pm with series 6, episode 19, from the run co-starring Linda Thorson as Tara King.

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 open proceedings at 6pm, 7pm and 8pm — reruns of what the channel showed over lunch and into the afternoon. American Siege, with Bruce Willis as a small-town sheriff caught in a hostage stand-off, is the 9pm film and plays straight through, uninterrupted, to 11pm. The Avengers, from Linda Thorson’s spell as Tara King, rounds off the night at 11pm. 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 leans toward documentary and archive strands rather than the channel’s usual westerns: two Raiders Of The Lost Art episodes and Murder Maps open the morning, followed by the two-hour Johnson County War – Part 1. The Unit and a Burn Notice double then air twice each, once in the early afternoon and again in primetime — the same three episodes both times.

Primetime carries just one film. American Siege gives Bruce Willis a small-town sheriff’s badge and a hostage stand-off to resolve, running from 9pm straight through to 11pm with no ad-break split. The Avengers closes the schedule at 11pm with a later episode from Linda Thorson’s spell as Tara King, a quiet way to end the evening.

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