True Movies was a British

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the FTA Receiver, appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring ...

television channel. It was also distributed in Africa on DStv. It is the first channel from Moving Movies Ltd., majority-owned by CSC Media Group (formerly

Chart Show Channels CSC Media Group, formerly known as Chart Show Channels (CSC), was a British cable television broadcasting company. It was a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television. The company dissolved on 27 November 2019. Background CSC Media Group was named ...

). The channel was dedicated to true-to-life

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

s, mostly

made for TV A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

. It showed films from a range of cinematic genres including

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

and docusoaps, mostly based on real-life events.

History

Prior to True Movies' launch on 29 April 2005, the channel was previously an unnamed part-time service found on TWC Re:Loaded from 1 March 2005, before being renamed as Movies 333 on 21 March 2005. Soon after its launch, True Movies topped all the film channels in August 2005, with a 0.5% audience viewing share, higher than the established subscription Sky Movies 1 (0.4%) and

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie channel, movie-oriented pay television, pay-TV television network, network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasti ...

(0.3%). With the arrival of other film channels and services in 2006, its audience share dropped to between 0.1% to 0.2%. True Movies' sister channel,

True Movies 2 True Movies 2 was a British free-to-air television channel that was owned by Moving Movies Ltd., majority owned by CSC Media Group (formerly Chart Show Channels). It was launched on 20 March 2006 and was a sister channel from True Movies which ...

, was launched on 20 March 2006, with similar programming. The channel was renamed True Movies 1 from 2011, but after the closure of True Movies 2 in 2016 it was renamed back to True Movies. On 6 September 2011 the channel was made available on

Virgin Media Ireland Virgin Media Ireland is Liberty Global's telecommunications operation in Ireland. It is the largest digital cable television provider within the country. As of 31 December 2014, the company offers broadband internet, digital television and ...

. From 2013 til 2018, the channel temporarily rebranded to True Christmas, from late September to early January - during which time it would only show

Christmas film Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared in in literature and Christmas music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptatio ...

s. On 26 October 2015 the channel was made available on Freeview in areas that support local TV. Now only broadcasting between 9pm and 5am although it might have different times on various local multiplexes around the country. For example - in London (on 24 January 2018) it showed as 1pm to 7am in the EPG and was off-air (as predicted by the EPG) at 12 noon. On 19 October 2017, True Movies is now in all platforms on Freeview channel 62, moving from Local TV to COM6 however the channel was known as True Christmas by this time, but on 4 April, True Movies began to broadcast 24 hours a day and full time on Freeview. On 27 June 2019 True Movies moved to Freeview channel 50, and its +1 service moved to its old spot on Freeview channel 62. On 24 July 2019, it was announced that the channel would be closed and replaced by

Sony Movies Classic Great! Romance (stylized as GREAT! romance) is a British free-to-air TV channel owned by Narrative Entertainment UK Limited that launched 10 September 2019 as Sony Movies Classic, replacing True Movies. The launch began with a temporary seasonal ...

on 7 January 2020, which took effect after the temporary seasonal replacement Sony Movies Christmas on 10 September 2019.

Programming

An example of some of the films shown on True Movies: * Assault at West Point *

Before Women Had Wings ''Before Women Had Wings'' is a 1997 family drama television film, based on the story by Connie May Fowler about a mother whose abusive husband commits suicide. She then starts to violently abuse her two daughters. It is only then that a kindly ...

Dangerous Child ''Dangerous Child'' is a 2001 made-for-television film starring Delta Burke and Ryan Merriman. Merriman won a Young Artist Award for "Best Performance in a TV Movie or Special - Leading Young Actor" for his role in the film. The film was release ...

David's Mother ''David's Mother'' is a 1994 American made-for-television drama film directed by Robert Allan Ackerman and stars Kirstie Alley as a devoted mother trying to cope with her autistic teenage son David ( Michael Goorjian). The film aired on CBS on A ...

* Death of a Cheerleader * Deep in My Heart * Fatal Love *

First Do No Harm ''...First Do No Harm'' is a 1997 American made-for-television drama film directed by Jim Abrahams about a boy whose severe epilepsy, unresponsive to medications with terrible side effects, is controlled by the ketogenic diet. Aspects of the stor ...

Fifteen and Pregnant ''Fifteen and Pregnant'' is a 1998 American drama television film directed by Sam Pillsbury, written by Susan Cuscuna, and starring Kirsten Dunst, Park Overall, David Andrews, and Margot Demeter. Based on a true story, Dunst portrays a 15-year-o ...

* God Bless the Child * Invisible Child * Noble House *

Our Sons ''Our Sons'' is a 1991 American made-for-television drama film starring Julie Andrews and Ann-Margret as two mothers of gay sons, one of whom is dying of AIDS. It was inspired by Micki Dickoff's 1987 documentary, ''Too Little, Too Late'', about ...

Perfect Murder, Perfect Town ''Perfect Murder, Perfect Town'' is a 2000 American television miniseries directed by Lawrence Schiller. The teleplay by Tom Topor is based on Schiller's book of the same title. Including historic news and talk show footage, it covers in great de ...

Saved by the Light ''Saved by the Light'' is a 1994 nonfiction book by Dannion Brinkley describing his purported near-death experience (NDE). It is co-authored by Paul Perry. The book was adapted for a 1995 FOX TV film of the same name starring Eric Roberts. ...

* Sudie and Simpson *

The Amy Fisher Story ''The Amy Fisher Story'' is a 1993 American television film dramatizing the events surrounding Amy Fisher's teenage affair with Joey Buttafuoco and her conviction for aggravated assault for shooting Buttafuoco's wife. The film was produced by ...

The Day of the Roses ''The Day of the Roses'' is a two-part Australian television mini-series, a docu-drama directed by Peter Fisk, based on the events of the 1977 Granville railway disaster. The film was made in 1998 and runs over 3.5 hours. Described as "a drama ...

Without Evidence ''Without Evidence'' is a 1996 thriller film directed and co-written by Gill Dennis in his first and last film he directed. It stars Scott Plank, Anna Gunn, Angelina Jolie, Paul Perri, and Andrew Prine. It was co-written by Dennis and Phil Stanf ...

References

{{Chart Show Channels CSC Media Group English-language television stations in the United Kingdom Movie channels in the United Kingdom Sony Pictures Television Television channels and stations established in 2005 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2019