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

Published: 2 September 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 3 September 2026, is the third evening running that GREAT! Action’s whole primetime repeats its own afternoon: The Unit at 6pm and both hours of Burn Notice at 7pm and 8pm are the same episodes shown at 12:40pm, 1:40pm and 2:40pm today. The one fresh booking is The Punisher (2004), with Thomas Jane and John Travolta, running from 9pm to 11:30pm and broken by a five-minute This Week Back Then at 9:56pm, followed by an episode of the 1960s ITC spy series The Avengers — Steed and Tara King rather than anything Marvel-related — at 11:30pm.

GREAT! Action Schedule: Thursday 3 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete GREAT! Action schedule for Thursday 3 September 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 Baron opens the day at 12:10am (series 1, episode 5), followed by The Persuaders! at 1:10am (series 1, episode 8). The thriller Asteroid: Final Impact runs from 2:10am, then Coast Guard Alaska takes the 3:40am hour (series 4, episode 1). Three episodes of Air Rescue follow from 4:35am (series 3, episodes 3 to 5), a short Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletin sits between each block, and Teleshopping fills the schedule from 6am to 9am.

The overnight hours belong to vintage series rather than film. The ITC caper series The Baron opens the day at midnight (series 1, episode 6), followed by The Persuaders! at 1am (series 1, episode 9) and the thriller Collision Course at 2am. Coast Guard Alaska takes the 3:40am slot (series 4, episode 2), then three episodes of Air Rescue run from 4:35am (series 3, episode 6, then series 4, episodes 1 and 2), with a short Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletin either side. Teleshopping fills 6am to 9am.

Railway Murders opens proper daytime programming at 9am (series 1, episode 1), Murder Maps follows at 10am (series 5, episode 7), and the western A Lawless Street takes the 11am hour. The Unit airs at 12:40pm (series 2, episode 21) and both hours of Burn Notice follow from 1:40pm (series 5, episodes 4 and 5) — the same three episodes return unbroken in primetime, see below. The thriller The Vault, with Freddie Highmore and Famke Janssen, then holds the afternoon from 3:40pm to 6pm, broken by a five-minute This Week Back Then at 4:36pm.

GREAT! Action tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the GREAT! Action primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 3 September 2026.

The Unit & Burn Notice — GREAT! Action, 6pm-8pm (afternoon repeat)

For the third evening running, GREAT! Action’s whole 6pm-9pm run is a straight rerun of its own afternoon. The Unit (series 2, episode 21) repeats its 12:40pm showing at 6pm, and the same pair of Burn Notice episodes that filled 1:40pm and 2:40pm — series 5, episodes 4 and 5 — return at 7pm and 8pm.

The Punisher — GREAT! Action, 9pm

Thomas Jane plays Frank Castle, the ex-FBI agent turned vigilante hunting down the mob boss, John Travolta, responsible for killing his family. The 2004 thriller is split by a five-minute This Week Back Then at 9:56pm and resumes at 10:01pm, running through to 11:30pm.

The Avengers — GREAT! Action, 11:30pm

Not the Marvel team — this is the 1960s ITC spy series, with Steed investigating a plot to sabotage a computer (series 6, episode 6).

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?

Thursday’s primetime is mostly a repeat of the afternoon, for the third evening running: The Unit at 6pm and both hours of Burn Notice at 7pm and 8pm are the same episodes that aired on the channel at 12:40pm, 1:40pm and 2:40pm today. The one new booking is the 9pm film, The Punisher (2004), with Thomas Jane and John Travolta, shown in two parts around a five-minute This Week Back Then at 9:56pm and running to 11:30pm. The night closes at 11:30pm with an episode of the 1960s ITC spy series The Avengers — not the Marvel team. 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 Thursday is another thin night for it — the third evening running that its whole primetime repeats its own afternoon. Daytime carries the channel’s usual mix of vintage adventure series and one split film after lunch: The Vault (3:40pm to 6pm), with Freddie Highmore and Famke Janssen.

Primetime doesn’t add much on top: The Unit and two hours of Burn Notice at 6pm, 7pm and 8pm are straight repeats of that same afternoon’s schedule. The only fresh booking is The Punisher at 9pm, a 2004 thriller with Thomas Jane and John Travolta split by a short interstitial and running to 11:30pm, and the night closes with a single episode of the 1960s spy series The Avengers — not the Marvel team. Worth switching on for the film; almost everything else tonight has already been shown once today.

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