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

Published: 12 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, Sunday 13 September 2026, is a two-film evening: the 1968 Crimean War drama The Charge of The Light Brigade, starring David Hemmings, opens primetime at 7pm, broken by a five-minute This Week Back Then bumper at 7:56pm before resuming at 8:01pm. The Wild Geese, the 1978 mercenary adventure with Richard Burton and Roger Moore, takes over at 9:40pm and runs past ten, split by the same interstitial at 10:36pm and picking back up at 10:41pm to close out the night.

GREAT! Action Schedule: Sunday 13 September 2026 (Full Listings)

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

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on GREAT! Action today

This Week Back Then opens proceedings at 12:46am, running into The Foreigner from 12:51am and the disaster thriller Jet Stream from 1:55am. Coast Guard Alaska follows at 3:40am (series 1, episode 4), then three Air Rescue instalments fill the small hours back to back from 4:35am to 5:50am (series 3, episodes 4 to 6), each gap marked by a short Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletin. Teleshopping takes over from 6am to 9am.

Raiders Of The Lost Art opens the morning proper at 9am (series 2, episode 4), followed by Railway Murders at 9:30am (series 1, episode 3). The documentary JFK: The Making of a President airs from 10:30am, and The First of The Few, the wartime drama about Spitfire designer R.J. Mitchell, fills the rest of the morning from 11:30am. Appointment In London takes the early afternoon from 2pm, split briefly by a five-minute This Week Back Then bumper at 2:56pm before resuming at 3:01pm, then The Train, the 1964 Burt Lancaster thriller about smuggled art treasures, closes out the afternoon from 4:10pm, itself broken by another This Week Back Then bumper (5:06pm, resuming 5:11pm) 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, Sunday 13 September 2026.

The Charge of The Light Brigade — GREAT! Action, 7pm

Tony Richardson’s 1968 telling of the doomed Crimean War cavalry charge, led by David Hemmings, trades the earlier Errol Flynn version’s swashbuckling for a bleaker, more satirical view of the officers who sent the Light Brigade to its death. A five-minute This Week Back Then bumper splits the film at 7:56pm; it resumes at 8:01pm.

The Wild Geese — GREAT! Action, 9:40pm

Richard Burton, Roger Moore and Richard Harris lead a band of mercenaries sent to rescue an African president in this 1978 adventure, one of the era’s bigger British action pictures and a natural follow-on from the evening’s earlier war film. The same This Week Back Then bumper interrupts it at 10:36pm, picking back up five minutes later at 10:41pm.

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?

Two films fill primetime tonight, Sunday 13 September 2026. The Charge of The Light Brigade opens at 7pm, broken by a five-minute This Week Back Then bumper at 7:56pm before resuming at 8:01pm. The Wild Geese takes over at 9:40pm and runs past ten, split by the same interstitial at 10:36pm and resuming at 10:41pm to close out the night. 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, and tonight is a rare evening built around two films rather than a run of series television. Daytime runs This Week Back Then, The Foreigner and Jet Stream through the small hours, then Coast Guard Alaska and Air Rescue lead into Raiders Of The Lost Art, Railway Murders, JFK: The Making of a President and The First of The Few across the morning, before Appointment In London and The Train take the afternoon, both split by a short This Week Back Then bumper.

Primetime keeps that same pattern going: The Charge of The Light Brigade at 7pm and The Wild Geese at 9:40pm are both interrupted by the same five-minute interstitial rather than running straight through. Two genuine war-and-adventure pictures back to back is a livelier pairing than most weeknights here, watchable rather than essential, and better suited to having on than sitting down for.

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