What channel is Film4? Number, HD and how to watch free

Channel numbers

Channel	Freeview number
Film4	14
Film4+1	47

Film4 sits at 14 on Freeview, in the block of entertainment channels just past the main five. Both the standard and HD versions of Film4 carry the same Freeview number — you are not choosing between two entries in the guide.

Is Film4 free?

Yes. Film4 is free-to-air, funded by advertising. There is no subscription, no add-on package and nothing to activate. If you can receive Freeview you can watch Film4.

That is the difference between Film4 and Sky Cinema or the Film4+ streaming add-on, which are paid services. The broadcast channel at 14 costs nothing.

Film4+1

Film4+1 is channel 47 on Freeview and shows the same schedule an hour later. If a film started at 9:00pm on Film4 and you have missed the opening, Film4+1 starts it at 10:00pm. It is a separate entry in the channel list rather than a setting on Film4 itself.

What's on tonight

Film4 typically runs an early-evening film from around 6pm and a main feature later in the evening, usually starting somewhere between 9pm and 10pm. On 31 August, for example, the schedule was Titanic at 6:00pm and Drive-Away Dolls at 9:45pm — so the later slot is not fixed to a particular time.

Rather than list them here, where they would be out of date tomorrow, our Film4 listings page shows what is actually scheduled tonight and for the week ahead.

Catching up

Film4 does not have its own catch-up service. Films shown on the channel may appear on Channel 4's streaming service, but the film rights are usually time-limited, so a film broadcast on Film4 is not guaranteed to be available to stream afterwards.

For films, the broadcast is often the only chance — which is why the schedule matters more on Film4 than on channels whose content sits on catch-up indefinitely.