7 TV FILMS OF THE WEEK
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THE DEATH OF STALIN Tonight, BBC2, 9.30pm
FIFTIES Moscow is a city under the yoke of tyrannical General Secretary Joseph Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin), who executes dissenters in the ranks. When he suddenly dies, members of his inner circle forge alliances to fill the power vacuum and worm their way into the affections of the dead leader’s son (Rupert Friend) and daughter (Andrea Riseborough). Writer-director Armando Iannucci’s The Death of Stalin is a delicious, razor-sharp satire that deftly melds historical fact and bile-drenched fiction. A well-drilled ensemble cast includes Jason Isaacs, Simon Russell Beale, Steve Buscemi, Jeffrey Tambor and Michael Palin.
2THE
REVENANT Tomorrow, BBC2, 10.35pm
HUGH GLASS (an Oscar-winning Leonardo DiCaprio, right) is a frontiersman leading a hunting party through the wilderness. When he is mauled by a bear, a travelling companion who pledged to stay with him until help comes, kills his son and leaves him for dead. Glass regains consciousness and vows revenge. A gritty Western, also starring Tom Hardy.
3SPIDER-
MAN: HOMECOMING Tuesday, BBC1, 7.55pm
PETER PARKER (Tom Holland, pictured) has managed to conceal his crime-fighting alter ego from Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) with the help of his mentor, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr). When salvage company owner Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton) takes flight as winged menace Vulture, Peter tries to prove himself to the Avengers by tackling the madman alone.
4FINDING
DORY Wednesday, BBC1, 3.40pm
DORY (right, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) is the next-shell neighbour of Marlin (Albert Brooks) and his young son Nemo (Hayden Rolence) on the Great Barrier Reef. During a field trip to witness the stingray migration, the loveable blue tang experiences a rush of fragmented memories of her parents, and the three plucky fish embark on an epic quest to find them.
5PADDINGTON
2 Christmas Eve, BBC1, 4.15pm
PADDINGTON (right, voiced by Ben Whishaw) unearths a valuable pop-up book of London during a visit to antiques dealer Mr Gruber (Jim Broadbent). Fading actor Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant) steals the rare edition and Paddington is unfairly sentenced to 10 years for the crime. Paddington 2 is an unabashedly sweet, wholesome and crowd-pleasing sequel.
6EARLY
MAN Christmas Day, BBC1, 1.15pm
FROM the makers of Wallace and Gromit, this deliriously daft prehistoric animated adventure pits Bronze Age underdogs against wealthy European invaders in a game of football. To win their freedom, the English side have to learn to work as a team, relying on hard work and heart. Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hiddleston and Johnny Vegas provide some of the voices.
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DUNKIRK
Boxing Day, BBC1, 9.05pm
DIRECTOR Christopher Nolan serves up a stunning mosaic of personal stories of hardfought triumph and agonising defeat against the backdrop of the largest evacuation of Allied forces during the Second World War. The talented ensemble cast includes Sir Kenneth Branagh, right, Sir Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and Harry Styles.