STAR WARS: EPISODE IV – A NEW HOPE Today, ITV, 5.55pm
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THE all-conquering space saga begins with farm boy Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) being thrust into the midst of an intergalactic battle between good and evil. Setting out to rescue a stubborn princess (Carrie Fisher) from the clutches of the sinister Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones), Luke discovers the mysteries of the Force, and receives help from a space pilot (Harrison Ford), a veteran warrior (Alec Guinness), a pair of bickering robots and an eight-foot-tall hairy warrior. This original entry in the franchise is a good old-fashioned matinee adventure, with a rousing score and – for the time – unbelievable action sequences.
Sinead Keenan as Claire and Sheridan Smith as Jenny in one-off drama Care
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DESPICABLE ME Tomorrow, ITV2, 6.10pm
THIS first instalment of the animated franchise isn’t as laugh-out-loud funny as its follow-up, but the tale of Gru (pictured), a criminal mastermind planning to steal the moon, is full of sweet touches. With a fine vocal cast, including Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand and Julie Andrews, this is great fun for all the family. However, it’s Gru’s bickering, boisterous minions who steal the show.
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AMERICAN HISTORY X Monday, ITV4, 11.05pm
VIOLENT drama. An Oscar-nominated Edward Norton (pictured) plays a neo-Nazi who is sent to prison for killing two black car thieves. Upon his release, he’s a changed man, having learned the error of his ways, but discovers his younger brother (Edward Furlong) is heading down the same extremist path. He embarks on a mission to stop the teen from repeating his mistakes.
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HORRIBLE BOSSES Tuesday, 5STAR, 9pm
FRIENDS Nick (Jason Bateman) Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) are each having almighty problems at work with their respective employers (played by Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell and Jennifer Aniston, pictured), So, when jailbird Dean Jones (Jamie Foxx) plants the idea of a chain reaction of seemingly accidental deaths, the trio are intrigued.
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LOVE ACTUALLY Wednesday, ITV2, 9pm
TABLEAU of modern-day London life in which people fall in and out of love to a smoochy soundtrack in the run-up to Christmas. The film stitches together 10 stories of love, longing, camaraderie and failed relationships, among them Hugh Grant as a bachelor PM falling head over heels for a tea lady played by Martine McCutcheon (pictured). Deliriously, gloriously romantic.
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ONE DAY Thursday, Film4, 6.40pm
BOOKISH Yorkshire lass Emma (Anne Hathaway, pictured) and charming ladies’ man Dexter (Jim Sturgess) have a drunken encounter on St Swithin’s Day in 1988 and make a pact to remain friends. True to their words, they stay in touch throughout the years as he travels around the world while she slaves away in a Mexican restaurant in London, but their bond is eventually put to the test.
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THE WORLD’S END Friday, E4, 9pm
IN 1990 five teenage pals fail to complete a crawl of 12 local pubs, which would have culminated in a pint at The World’s End. Two decades later, ringleader Gary (Simon Pegg, pictured), decides to bring the ‘lads’ – played by Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman and Eddie Marsan – back together to complete the booze-fuelled feat. But Gary makes a discovery about the apparently sleepy town.