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

Published: 21 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, Tuesday 22 September 2026, is a weeknight shape rather than a three-film night: The Unit opens the early evening at 6pm, two Burn Notice episodes run back to back from 7pm to 8pm, and Wanted: Dead or Alive takes the 9pm film slot, broken once by the regular five-minute This Week Back Then bumper at 9:56pm and resuming at 10:01pm. The Avengers closes out the night from 11:25pm.

GREAT! Action Schedule: Tuesday 22 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete GREAT! Action schedule for Tuesday 22 September 2026, on Freeview 42.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on GREAT! Action today

Tuesday’s overnight run opens with The Persuaders! at 12:55am (series 1, episode 22), then two NYC: Tornado Terror instalments run either side of a This Week Back Then bumper from 1:55am. Coast Guard Alaska follows at 3:40am (series 2, episode 6), and three Air Rescue episodes (series 2, episodes 7 and 8, then series 3, episode 1) close out the small hours from 4:35am, before Teleshopping takes over from 6am to 9am.

JFK: The Making of a President opens the morning proper at 9am, then The Vietnam War at 10am (series 1, episode 1) and the western 40 Guns to Apache Pass, which runs in two halves either side of a bumper from 11am. The Unit takes the early afternoon at 1pm (series 3, episode 11), followed by two Burn Notice episodes back to back from 2pm to 4pm (series 6, episodes 12 and 13), then Off The Rails fills the rest of the afternoon from 4pm, running through to this evening’s schedule below.

GREAT! Action tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the GREAT! Action primetime line-up for tonight, Tuesday 22 September 2026.

The Unit — GREAT! Action, 6pm

David Mamet’s black-ops drama opens the early evening (series 3, episode 11), following the four-strong team through another mission the Pentagon would deny knowing about.

Burn Notice — GREAT! Action, 7pm

Two episodes run back to back from 7pm (series 6, episodes 12 and 13), with blacklisted spy Michael Westen working a job for cash while trying to find out who burned him in the first place.

Wanted: Dead or Alive — GREAT! Action, 9pm

Tonight’s film, and a change from the western TV series of the same name: this is understood to be the 1987 bounty-hunter action picture rather than a rerun of the 1950s show, though tonight’s exact cut hasn’t been independently confirmed. It runs almost two and a half hours in total because of a break for the regular five-minute This Week Back Then bumper at 9:56pm — the film itself, not two separate programmes, picking back up at 10:01pm to run through to around 11:25pm.

The Avengers — GREAT! Action, 11:25pm

Closes the night with a series 6 episode (episode 18) of the 1960s British spy series, Steed and Mrs Peel rather than the Marvel team of the same name.

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?

Tonight, Tuesday 22 September 2026, The Unit opens the early evening at 6pm, then two Burn Notice episodes run back to back from 7pm to 8pm. Wanted: Dead or Alive takes the 9pm film slot, split by a five-minute This Week Back Then bumper at 9:56pm and resuming at 10:01pm, before The Avengers closes out the night from 11:25pm. 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 leans on its series-heavy schedule rather than a run of feature-length titles. Overnight runs The Persuaders! and two instalments of NYC: Tornado Terror either side of a bumper, then Coast Guard Alaska and three Air Rescue episodes fill the gap to Teleshopping at six. JFK: The Making of a President, The Vietnam War and the western 40 Guns to Apache Pass carry the morning, with a repeat run of The Unit and Burn Notice through the afternoon and into early evening.

The early evening repeats The Unit’s afternoon episode at 6pm, runs the same two Burn Notice instalments again from 7pm to 8pm, then gives the night’s only film slot to Wanted: Dead or Alive, broken once by the regular five-minute This Week Back Then bumper. The Avengers closes out a weeknight built more on series than films.

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