TV FILMS of the week
1 SHAUN OF THE DEAD Tonight, ITV, 9.50pm
Billed as a ‘rom zom com’, this hugely entertaining British movie stars Simon Pegg as Shaun, who hates his job and whose girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) has just dumped him for spending too much time in the boozer. He’s in such a rut that he barely notices London is being overrun by zombies. However, when the truth does dawn, he sees it as a chance to prove to Liz that he can step up and achieve something. Even if you’re not familiar with the horror movies Shaun of the Dead is riffing on, this is superb stuff, with sublime comic touches from leading man Pegg and regular sidekick Nick Frost.
2 EASTER PARADE Tomorrow, BBC2, 12.20pm
When his dance partner Nadine (Ann Miller) announces she’s going solo, a spurned Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) decides to choose a chorus girl at random and turn her into a star. He picks Hannah Brown (Judy Garland, left with Astaire) who takes the act to new heights. But will Don ever see her as anything more than a replacement for Nadine?
3 WILDLIFE Monday, BBC2, 11.40pm
In this drama, Jerry Brinson (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his wife Jeanette (Carey Mulligan, left) move to 1960 Montana with their teenage son Joe (Ed Oxenbould). When Jerry gets a job as a firefighter outside town, Jeanette seeks comfort in the arms of another man – until Jerry returns home unexpectedly from working in the mountains.
4 ALIENS Tuesday, ITV4, 9pm
After years drifting in space in deep sleep, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver, left) is rescued from the escape capsule of the starship Nostromo. Ripley learns the planet where she and her crewmates made alien contact has been colonised, but all communication has been lost. She joins a group of marines to discover what happened.
5 CHARLIE’S ANGELS Wednesday, Film4, 9pm
In this spin-off from the cult TV series, glamorous detectives Dylan (Drew Barrymore), Natalie (Cameron Diaz) and Alex (Lucy Liu), pictured from left, try to rescue an electronics genius and his invention from a rival – a task that proves easier said than done. Bill Murray is great as Bosley, and Destiny’s Child’s theme is still as addictive as ever.
6 THE REMAINS OF THE DAY Thursday, BBC4, 8pm
In this drama, Anthony Hopkins plays Stevens, a butler in a 1930s mansion who puts the demands of the job above his own emotional needs, rebuffing the advances of housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson, left with Hopkins). He’s so obedient, he fails to question his employer’s (James Fox) increasingly pro-nazi politics.
7 WHIPLASH Friday, BBC3, 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.