FILMS OF THE WEEK

THE BIG MOVIE

Eddie The Eagle (2016) PG Sunday, 9pm, Ch4 We Brits love an underdog, and in 1988, we unleashed a superstar loser on to an unsuspecting world. Michael ‘Eddie the Eagle’ Edwards added nothing to the UK’s medal haul of zero at the 1988 Winter Olympics – but he did steal the hearts of the nation and, indeed, the world. This deeply affectionate, fictionalised biopic stars Taron Egerton in the title role, and celebrates his spirit and pluck while acknowledging that he wasn’t really good enough to be flying off the slopes as an Olympic ski jumper. Ignoring many of the facts (Eddie himself describes the film as ‘only about five per cent’ true), this throws in Hugh Jackman (above, with Egerton) as Eddie’s made-up, washed-up American coach. Not a total success, the film is still, like Eddie, something you can root for – no matter how it performs.

CLASSIC FILM CHOICE

Seance On A Wet Afternoon (1964) PG Monday, 12.15pm, Talking Pictures TV The scene-setting moments of Bryan Forbes’s chilling psychological drama use the cluttered home of Billy and Myra Savage (Richard Attenborough and Kim Stanley, above), as well as their troubling conversation, to create an air of unease that continues to the very end. Myra is a medium, or so she believes, connected to the spirit world by her dead son. At her behest, Billy ‘borrows’ the schoolgirl daughter of a wealthy couple. Myra’s plan is to win validation and fame by using her ‘psychic gifts’ to locate the missing child for the worried family. Instead, this sets in motion a chain of events that will see Myra’s gifts revealing her own true nature. With beautifully composed scenes, a slow, deliberate pace and an awe-inspiring performance from Stanley, this film seeps under the skin and stays there.