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

Published: 26 August 2026

GREAT! TV is a free-to-air channel that lives on vintage British and American drama and sitcoms, and it sits at Freeview 34 with three sister channels for company. It has been through four names and one full closure since Sony launched it in 2011; Narrative Entertainment has run it since 2021.

Tonight, Thursday 27 August 2026, GREAT! TV runs a single film in primetime rather than the usual all-sitcom strip. The Irish R.M. opens the evening at 6pm, a repeat of this morning’s outing rather than anything new, before four episodes of MASH run in order from 7pm to 9pm. Carry on Spying (1964), with Kenneth Williams, Barbara Windsor and Bernard Cribbins, then takes over for the rest of the night, breaking for a five-minute Good News on GREAT! bulletin at 9:52pm before resuming at 9:57pm through to 10:55pm. Two episodes of Robin’s Nest follow, and a fifth MASH — a repeat of the 7pm episode — closes the schedule at 11:55pm.

GREAT! TV Schedule: Thursday 27 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete GREAT! TV schedule for Thursday 27 August 2026, on Freeview 34.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on GREAT! TV today

Thursday opens overnight with three MAS*H episodes from 12:20am, still in series three, then Rising Damp, Air Rescue and two episodes of Highway To Heaven, each break marked by a short Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletin. TJC’s teleshopping takes the schedule from 5am to 8am.

The Waltons opens the daytime proper at 8am, and Bramwell follows at 9am. The Irish R.M. airs a new series three episode at 10am, before Little House On The Prairie takes the late morning with two episodes back to back. Three more episodes of The Waltons run from 1pm to 4pm, and both of those late-morning Little House episodes repeat later on, at 4pm and 5pm, before the Irish R.M. itself repeats its 10am episode at 6pm.

GREAT! TV tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the GREAT! TV primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 27 August 2026.

The Irish R.M. — GREAT! TV, 6pm

The Irish R.M. opens the evening at 6pm with a straight repeat of the new episode broadcast this morning (series 3, episode 2), before the schedule settles into sitcoms.

M*A*S*H — GREAT! TV, 7pm–9pm

Four consecutive episodes of M*A*S*H run in series order from 7pm to 9pm (series 3, episodes 5 to 8), the block the channel leans on most nights to anchor the start of primetime.

Carry on Spying — GREAT! TV, 9pm

Carry on Spying takes over at 9pm. The 1964 entry in the series gave Barbara Windsor her first Carry On role, alongside Kenneth Williams and Bernard Cribbins as a trio of hapless agents chasing a stolen chemical formula. The film breaks for a five-minute Good News on GREAT! bulletin at 9:52pm, then resumes at 9:57pm through to 10:55pm — one film shown either side of the ad-break-style bulletin, not two separate programmes.

Robin’s Nest — GREAT! TV, 10:55pm–11:25pm

Two episodes of Robin’s Nest close out the sitcom side of the night back to back from 10:55pm (series 4, episodes 2 and 3), before a fifth M*A*S*H — a straight repeat of the 7pm episode — brings the schedule to a close at 11:55pm.

What kind of shows are on GREAT! TV

American family drama and rural nostalgia

Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons and Highway to Heaven carry the daytime hours, and two of the three are largely Michael Landon’s doing. He starred in and directed much of Little House, and created Highway to Heaven outright. The register barely shifts between them: slow, sincere, usually ending on a lesson learned.

British classic drama and sitcom

The British side is thinner but sharper. Ballykissangel and Doctor Finlay handle the gentle end. Rising Damp handles the other, with Leonard Rossiter’s Rigsby prowling a shabby Yorkshire bedsit house being appalling about more or less everything.

Stripped US sitcoms and evening films

M*A*S*H is the one the channel leans on hardest, sometimes ten episodes deep in a single night. Films turn up most evenings (disaster pictures, old British comedies) and the seams get filled with Air Rescue and the short Good News on GREAT! bulletins.

How to watch GREAT! TV

Channel numbers

Here’s where to find GREAT! TV across the main UK television platforms:

All four are free, with no subscription of any kind. Freesat is the exception: GREAT! TV was pulled from it on 7 February 2024 along with eight other Narrative Entertainment channels, and it has not come back since.

Streaming online

GREAT! TV streams free through Great! Player at great-player.com, no account or sign-in needed. The app is also available on Freeview Play, YouView, Amazon Fire TV, and Samsung and LG smart TVs, plus dedicated apps on the App Store and Google Play. It carries content from GREAT! TV alongside GREAT! Movies and GREAT! Action, so you can browse the whole network from one place.

GREAT! sister channels

Four channels carry the GREAT! banner, all run by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited, and the split between them is straightforward enough.

A seasonal fifth, GREAT! Movies Christmas, runs festive films from September to December, and GREAT! Real joined the line-up in 2024 with unscripted programming. The year-round channels all share the free Great! Player service.

Frequently Asked Questions

What channel is GREAT! TV on Freeview?

GREAT! TV is on channel 34 on Freeview, free and with no subscription. It moved onto the COM6 multiplex in June 2023, which took its coverage to nearly every Freeview household.

What channel is GREAT! TV on Sky, Virgin Media and Freely?

GREAT! TV is on Sky channel 157, Virgin Media channel 170 and Freely channel 32, all free to watch. It has not returned to Freesat since being dropped in February 2024.

What’s on GREAT! TV tonight?

Tonight, Thursday 27 August 2026, GREAT! TV runs a single film in primetime. The Irish R.M. opens at 6pm with a repeat of this morning’s new episode, then four episodes of MASH run in order from 7pm to 9pm. Carry on Spying (1964), starring Kenneth Williams, Barbara Windsor and Bernard Cribbins, takes over at 9pm, breaking for a five-minute Good News on GREAT! bulletin at 9:52pm before resuming at 9:57pm through to 10:55pm. Two episodes of Robin’s Nest follow, and a fifth MASH — a repeat of the 7pm episode — closes the night at 11:55pm.

Why does GREAT! TV show so much M*A*S*H?

Because 251 episodes across eleven seasons is enough to strip nightly for years without a viewer noticing the loop. The channel applies the same maths to Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons and Highway to Heaven during the day.

Is GREAT! TV free to watch, and does it carry adverts?

Yes, entirely free on Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media and Freely, with no subscription. It is funded by advertising, which is also why the short Good News on GREAT! bulletins turn up between programmes.

Who owns GREAT! TV?

Narrative Entertainment UK Limited. It launched as Sony Entertainment Television in 2011, became Sony Channel in 2016, shut down in 2018, came back in 2019, and took the GREAT! TV name in May 2021 after Narrative Capital bought Sony’s UK free-to-air channels.

What are the GREAT! sister channels?

GREAT! TV sits alongside GREAT! Movies, GREAT! Action and GREAT! Romance, plus the seasonal GREAT! Movies Christmas and the unscripted GREAT! Real, which joined in 2024. All are owned by Narrative Entertainment and stream through the same free Great! Player app.

Can I watch GREAT! TV 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! TV knows precisely who is watching and rarely deviates from what keeps them there.

Thursday splits the evening cleanly in two: four MASH episodes run in series order from 7pm to 9pm, then Carry on Spying, the 1964 Kenneth Williams comedy that gave Barbara Windsor her first Carry On role, takes over for the rest of the night, pausing only for a five-minute Good News on GREAT! bulletin at 9:52pm before resuming through to 10:55pm. Two episodes of Robin’s Nest follow, and a fifth MASH, repeating the 7pm episode, closes the schedule at 11:55pm. It won’t suit anyone wanting a run of different sitcoms across the evening, but the pairing of a familiar sitcom block with an accessible comedy film makes for a more shaped night than most on this channel.

Related: Freeview Channel Guide | Talking Pictures TV Guide | Films on TV This Week