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

Published: 17 September 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, Friday 18 September 2026, The Irish R.M. holds its usual 6pm slot, then four MASH episodes run in half-hour instalments from 7pm to 8:30pm, the Oscar-winning drama Philadelphia takes the film slot at 9pm, split by a five-minute Good News on GREAT! bumper at 9:52pm and resuming at 9:57pm, and a repeat of the 7pm MASH episode closes out the night from 11:30pm.

GREAT! TV Schedule: Friday 18 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete GREAT! TV schedule for Friday 18 September 2026, on Freeview 34.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on GREAT! TV today

Four MAS*H episodes open the overnight run from 12:05am (series 6, episodes 1 to 4), then two Air Rescue instalments follow from 2:05am (series 5, episodes 4 and 5) and Highway To Heaven runs two editions either side of a Good News on GREAT! Extra bulletin, at 3am and 4am (series 2, episodes 8 and 9). TJC’s teleshopping then fills the schedule from 5am to 8am.

The Waltons opens the morning at 8:10am (series 9, episode 16), then Bramwell takes over from 9:10am (series 1, episode 3) and Highway To Heaven follows at 10:10am (series 1, episode 10) ahead of Little House On The Prairie at 11:10am (series 5, episode 6). The Waltons holds the early afternoon from 1pm to 3pm (series 1, episodes 8 to 10), before Little House On The Prairie repeats its 11:10am episode to close out the daytime run from 4:10pm, ahead of The Irish R.M. at 6pm and tonight’s run below.

GREAT! TV tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the GREAT! TV primetime line-up for tonight, Friday 18 September 2026.

The Irish R.M. — GREAT! TV, 6pm

The Irish R.M. opens the evening at 6pm (series 2, episode 6).

MAS*H — GREAT! TV, 7pm–8:30pm

Four MAS*H episodes run back to back from 7pm (series 6, episodes 5 to 8), the channel’s usual way of clearing the runway ahead of the evening film.

Philadelphia — GREAT! TV, 9pm

Philadelphia takes the 9pm film slot, interrupted by a five-minute Good News on GREAT! bumper at 9:52pm and resuming at 9:57pm.

MAS*H — GREAT! TV, 11:30pm

A repeat of the 7pm episode of MAS*H (series 6, episode 5) closes out the night from 11:30pm.

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 (war pictures, old British comedies, the odd action thriller) and the seams get filled with 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, Friday 18 September 2026, The Irish R.M. holds 6pm, four MASH episodes run in half-hour instalments from 7pm to 8:30pm, Philadelphia takes the film slot at 9pm, split by a five-minute Good News on GREAT! bumper at 9:52pm and resuming at 9:57pm, and a repeat of the 7pm MASH episode closes out the night from 11:30pm.

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.

Tonight goes further than usual into the channel’s comfort zone: The Irish R.M. hands over to four MASH episodes at 7pm, Philadelphia takes the 9pm film slot with a short bumper break at 9:52pm, and a repeat MASH episode sees the night out from 11:30pm. It’s a schedule built for background viewing rather than appointment television, mostly repeats rather than anything new. The small hours keep to the usual formula, with MAS*H, Air Rescue and Highway To Heaven filling the overnight before TJC’s teleshopping block and the day’s Little House and Waltons run.

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