PICK OF PAY TV AND MOVIES

MOVIE MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT

(2018) 12 HHHH An action movie that does everything an action movie should (and then some), this latest outing for Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt is a nonstop rush of heart-stopping set pieces. Save it for a Friday or Saturday night, then break out the popcorn and settle in for a terrific ride.

NEW!

uLOVE ON THE SPECTRUM

(All four parts) HHH Sensitively made dating show from Australia, in which all the romantic hopefuls are on the autism spectrum. From Wednesday.

NEW! JACK WHITEHALL: I’M ONLY JOKING

HHH Happy couples, hotel life and the foibles of his father are some of the targets in this stand-up special from Jack Whitehall (right). Recorded in January, it features one spectacularly awkward bit of audience interaction. From Tuesday.

MOVIE BLACKKKLANSMAN

(2018) 15 u HHHH A black detective infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan in Spike Lee’s 1970s-set drama, which pulls no punches – especially at the end – yet is also surprisingly funny and, incredibly, based on truth. From Friday.

AMAZON PRIME DRAMA GRACEPOINT

(All ten parts) HHH The US version of Broadchurch stars David Tennant in the same role, with Breaking Bad’s Anna Gunn taking over from Olivia Colman as his detective partner.

The plot is similar, but there are variations – this is two episodes longer – and the ending isn’t quite what you’d expect.

DRAMA FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

(All five seasons) HHHHH This Texas-set drama looks as if it’s about American football, but it really isn’t. The small-town school team is just the starting point for an uncommonly real family drama that stars Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton.

NEW! MOVIE OCEAN’S 8

(2018) 12 u HHH Sandra Bullock leads the all-female gang planning a heist in this frothy caper. The heist itself is pretty clever, but it’s really the stars – including Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter and

Anne Hathaway – who make the movie sail so merrily along.

COUGAR TOWN

(All six seasons) HHH Courteney Cox’s mature dating comedy starts in rather hectic fashion, but it eventually calms down and, by season three, broadens out to become a strong ensemble show. From Monday.

An angry London teen in New Zealand forms a bond with a horse in CBBC drama Mystic, on iplayer

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SKY ON DEMAND/ NOW TV DRAMA

(All eight parts) HHH Tony Jordan’s globetrotting and gleefully hokey adventure stars

Michael Landes and Ophelia Lovibond (right) as the

Dempsey and Makepeace of the archaeology world, with Jane Seymour as the

Lady’s mum. There are only eight parts, but a lot is packed into each one.

COMEDY

(All 18 episodes) HHHH Laura Dern plays an office worker who has a public meltdown, goes Zen, then returns to face life – daring it to dent her new bliss – in an angsty HBO comedy that makes a perfect start.

DRAMA

(All ten parts) HHH People lose themselves inside virtual reality environments in this US drama, and only one woman can get them out. It’s a short run of episodes, but there’s a decent ending.

MOVIE HOOTEN & THE LADY ENLIGHTENED REVERIE MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

(1996) PG ● HHHH The first and darkest of what became a franchise, with Tom Cruise as a high-tech spy. Memorable scenes include a chopper flying into the Channel Tunnel. s Particularly

BEST OF THE REST

(Disney+) HHH