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

Published: 10 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, Friday 11 September 2026, is series television into a film again: The Unit opens at 6pm, then two Burn Notice episodes run back to back from 7pm to 9pm, both repeats of their earlier daytime airing. Layer Cake, the Daniel Craig gangster thriller, takes over at 9pm and runs for a little over two hours, broken by a five-minute This Week Back Then bumper at 9:56pm before resuming at 10:01pm, and The Avengers, the 1960s spy series, closes out the night from 11:15pm.

GREAT! Action Schedule: Friday 11 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete GREAT! Action schedule for Friday 11 September 2026, on Freeview 42.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on GREAT! Action today

The Baron opens the day at 12:15am (series 1, episode 12), followed by The Persuaders! at 1:15am (series 1, episode 15) and the disaster film Stonados at 2:15am. Coast Guard Alaska airs at 3:50am (series 1, episode 2), then three Air Rescue instalments run back to back from 4:35am to 5:50am (series 2, episodes 6 to 8), each break marked by a short Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletin. Teleshopping fills 6am to 9am.

Two Raiders Of The Lost Art episodes open the morning proper from 9am (series 2, episode 2, then series 1, episode 3), and the John Wayne western Monte Walsh fills mid-morning from 10:30am, split briefly by a five-minute This Week Back Then bumper at 11:26am before resuming at 11:31am. The Unit airs at 1pm (series 3, episode 4), then Burn Notice runs twice from 2pm (series 5, episodes 16 and 17), before Lies & Deception closes out the afternoon from 4pm ahead of tonight’s line-up below.

GREAT! Action tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the GREAT! Action primetime line-up for tonight, Friday 11 September 2026.

The Unit — GREAT! Action, 6pm

A hand-picked army unit runs off-the-books missions in this drama, mixing military procedure with the action beats the channel is built around. Tonight’s is the fourth episode of series three, a repeat of the same instalment shown earlier this afternoon.

Burn Notice — GREAT! Action, 7pm

A burned CIA operative works freelance jobs in Miami while chasing down who ended his career, narrated in the show’s trademark wisecracking voiceover. Series five, episode sixteen.

Burn Notice — GREAT! Action, 8pm

Straight on to the next instalment, series five’s seventeenth episode, both repeats from earlier in the day.

Layer Cake — GREAT! Action, 9pm

Daniel Craig’s pre-Bond breakout as an unnamed cocaine dealer trying to get out of the trade for good, running from 9pm and split by a five-minute This Week Back Then bumper at 9:56pm before picking back up at 10:01pm and closing out around 11:15pm.

The Avengers — GREAT! Action, 11:15pm

The 1960s spy series, this time from its Tara King era rather than the more familiar Emma Peel run, closes out the night. Series six, episode ten.

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?

Series television into a film again tonight, Friday 11 September 2026. The Unit airs at 6pm, then two Burn Notice episodes run 7pm to 9pm, both repeats from earlier in the day. Layer Cake takes over at 9pm and runs for a little over two hours, broken by a five-minute This Week Back Then bumper at 9:56pm before resuming at 10:01pm. The Avengers closes the night from 11:15pm. 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, though tonight again leans on series television ahead of the evening’s one film. Daytime runs The Baron and The Persuaders! into the disaster film Stonados, then Coast Guard Alaska, Air Rescue and Raiders Of The Lost Art fill the morning before The Unit and Burn Notice take the afternoon.

Primetime repeats that same afternoon run: The Unit and Burn Notice again before Layer Cake takes 9pm, broken briefly by a This Week Back Then bumper rather than running straight through. The Avengers closes out a night that is watchable rather than essential, better suited to having on than sitting down for.

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