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

Published: 30 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, Monday 31 August 2026, primetime doubles back on itself: The Unit and two episodes of Burn Notice that already aired earlier in the afternoon come round again at 6pm, 7pm and 8pm. The evening’s new content is a single film, Homefront (2013), Jason Statham’s thriller with James Franco and Winona Ryder, at 9pm, followed by an episode of the 1960s spy series The Avengers at 11:10pm.

GREAT! Action Schedule: Monday 31 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete GREAT! Action schedule for Monday 31 August 2026, on Freeview 42.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on GREAT! Action today

The overnight hours belong to vintage series rather than film. The ITC caper series The Persuaders! opens the day at 12:45am (series 1, episode 6), followed by the disaster TV movie Stonados at 1:45am. The real-life rescue strand Coast Guard Alaska runs two episodes from 3:30am (series 3, episodes 11 and 12), Air Rescue does the same from 5am (series 2, episodes 6 and 7), a short Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletin follows at 5:50am, and Teleshopping fills the schedule from 6am to 9am.

Raiders Of The Lost Art opens proper daytime programming at 9am (series 2, episode 10), Murder Maps follows at 10am with a fifth-series case file, and the war drama Wild Wind takes the 11am hour. After another short Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletin at 12:50pm, The Unit airs at 1pm (series 2, episode 18) and two episodes of Burn Notice run back to back from 2pm (series 4, episodes 16 and 17). Sniper Elite, the 2014 film with Kevin Sorbo, then holds the schedule from 4pm to 6pm, breaking briefly for This Week Back Then at 4:56pm.

GREAT! Action tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

It’s a thin night on GREAT! Action. Here’s the primetime line-up for Monday 31 August 2026.

The first two hours are a rerun of the afternoon

The Unit takes the 6pm slot with the same episode (series 2, episode 18) that aired on the channel at 1pm. Burn Notice follows at 7pm and 8pm with the same two episodes, series 4 episodes 16 and 17, that ran at 2pm and 3pm. Nothing across those three hours is new to GREAT! Action today.

Homefront — GREAT! Action, 9pm

The evening’s one new booking is Homefront (2013), a crime thriller with Jason Statham as a former DEA agent trying to settle into a quiet life with his daughter, only for a local drug dealer, played by James Franco, to threaten it. Winona Ryder also stars. It runs to 11:10pm.

The Avengers — GREAT! Action, 11:10pm

The night closes with an episode of the 1960s ITC spy series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee as John Steed and Linda Thorson as Tara King (series 6, episode 12) — the classic television show, not the Marvel films.

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?

Monday’s primetime largely repeats the afternoon: The Unit at 6pm and Burn Notice at 7pm and 8pm are reruns of episodes that already aired on the channel earlier that day. The one new booking is the 9pm film, Homefront (2013), Jason Statham’s thriller with James Franco and Winona Ryder, followed at 11:10pm by an episode of the 1960s spy series The Avengers. 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, but Monday is a thin night for it. Daytime is the channel’s usual mix of rescue documentaries, vintage series and a single split film, Sniper Elite, from 4pm to 6pm.

Primetime doesn’t add much on top: The Unit and two hours of Burn Notice at 6pm, 7pm and 8pm are straight repeats of the same afternoon’s schedule. The only fresh booking is Homefront at 9pm, Jason Statham’s thriller with James Franco and Winona Ryder, and the night closes with a single episode of the 1960s series The Avengers at 11:10pm. Worth switching on for the film; nothing else tonight is new.

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