TV FILMS of the week TV Highlights

1 TOMORROW NEVER DIES Tonight, ITV, 8pm Pierce Brosnan as 007 and Michelle Yeoh as

Wai Lin

Pierce Brosnan’s second outing as James Bond sees media tycoon

Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) create war between China and the West so he can cover it with his TV, magazines and newspapers. No prizes for guessing who’s called in to stop him. Bond’s showdown with the sadistic Dr Kauffman (Vincent Schiavelli) is great, there’s a car park chase to die for and a motorbike scene that would have given Evel Knievel nightmares. Michelle Yeoh also stars as the high-kicking love interest. One major problem: the pre-credits sequence is so brilliantly done, the rest of the movie has a hard time matching it.

2 A STAR IS BORN Tomorrow, BBC2, 10pm

Hard-drinking country singer Jackson (Bradley Cooper) is stunned when he hears waitress Ally (Lady Gaga, left with Cooper) sing. He invites her to join him at his next gig where their performance goes viral and attracts the attention of manager Rez (Rafi Gavron). As Rez propels Ally towards superstardom, Jackson’s influence wains.

3 WHITE HOUSE DOWN Monday, ITV4, 9pm

John Cale (Channing Tatum, left) is an ex-soldier who just happens to be touring the White House with his daughter Emily (Joey King) when a group of terrorists seize control and attempt to kill President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). This action thriller was rather overshadowed by the similar Olympus Has Fallen, but it’s a lot more fun.

4 WHIPLASH Tuesday, GREAT! movies, 9pm

Drummer Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller, left) is determined to excel at his Manhattan music conservatory, and catches the eye of the school’s most revered teacher, Terence Fletcher (an Oscarwinning JK Simmons). Andrew transfers to Fletcher’s class, but the game of one-upmanship between teacher and pupil spirals out of control.

5 IN THE HEART OF THE SEA Wednesday, BBC1, 10.40pm

Ron Howard’s adventure dramatises the real-life disaster that inspired Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick. Seaman Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson) recalls how whaling ship the Essex encountered a monstrous creature that rammed the vessel and left its men – including First Mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth, left) – stranded.

6 EMPIRE OF THE SUN Thursday, BBC4, 9pm

Directed by Steven Spielberg, this adaptation of JG Ballard’s autobiographical novel sees a 13-year-old Christian Bale, left, in the role of Jim, a young English boy in war-torn Shanghai. When the Japanese take over and he becomes separated from his parents, Jim is captured and forced to survive the terrors of internment alone.

7 THE INVISIBLE MAN Friday, ITV, 10.45pm

Architect Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss, left) flees the clifftop home of her controlling beau, scientist Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). Soon after, Cecilia learns that Adrian has killed himself so for the first time in years, Cecilia draws breath. But a series of strange events convinces her that the news of Adrian’s demise is greatly exaggerated.