COPYCATS: Film-to-TV transfers

As series two of the TV adaptation of the Lethal Weapon movie franchise continues (9pm, ITV), we take a look at some of the hit-and-miss transfers from big screen to small screen…

Bates Motel A prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal 1960 thriller Psycho, the series follows a young Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore, left) as he and his mother (Vera Farmiga) move to a run-down motel for a fresh start. TV horror movie spin-offs are hugely popular – see Buff y The Vampire Slayer, The Exorcist, Wolf Creek, Scream… Westworld This visually stunning series is the second based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 sci-fi action film, after the short-lived Beyond Westworld in 1980. Brit Thandie Newton

(left) steals the show. Working Girl Not every film-to-TV transfer is a success. This 1990 spin-off of the 1989 romcom starring Harrison Ford and Melanie Griffith was canned before completing its run – even with Sandra Bullock (centre) in the leading role. Fargo (Seasons 1-2 on Netflix) Writer Noah Hawley took the Coen brothers’ blackly comic 1996 thriller and turned it into an anthology TV show – the third series, starring Ewan McGregor (right) in dual roles as brothers, aired on Ch4 last year. It shares the off-key tone, location and timeline with the original film as grisly murders and devious plots are uncovered by solid police work.