TV FILMS OF THE WEEK

Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar

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INVICTUS Today, BBC1, 8.05pm

FOLLOWING his release from Robben Island, South African President Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) inherits a country deeply scarred by apartheid. Nowhere is this more pronounced than on the rugby field: only white South Africans cheer the Springboks. With only a year until his nation hosts the Rugby World Cup, Mandela tries to heal the rift and inspire captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and his men to victory. Invictus elegantly sidesteps the pitfalls of the sports genre, adhering closely to the facts and eschewing sentimentality. Clint Eastwood’s film celebrates the titanic efforts of Mandela and Pienaar on and off the pitch.

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EAST IS EAST Tomorrow, Film4, 11.15pm

THE late Om Puri plays Muslim shopkeeper George in 1970s Salford, who wants the best for his wife and seven children. He rules the household like a dictator, but when his eldest son Nazir (Ian Aspinal) leaves home, refusing to abide by an arranged marriage, George feels his authority slipping and organises weddings for his next two sons, Abdul (Raji James) and Tariq (Jimi Mistry, pictured).

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A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH Monday, BBC2, 2.30pm

SECOND World War pilot Peter (David Niven) strikes up a flirtatious bond with radio operator June (Kim Hunter, pictured with Niven) during a flight, however, his plane is hit and he has to bail out without a parachute. Peter wakes up on a beach and it turns out his survival is down to a clerical error in heaven. If he wants to stay on Earth with June, he must argue his case in a celestial court.

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STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS Tuesday, E4, 9pm

JJ ABRAMS’ second outing as director for the science fiction franchise sees Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) stripped of command of the Enterprise while Spock (Zachary Quinto, pictured with Pine) is transferred following an incident on a far-off world. The two are reunited when ordered to track and kill a renegade Starfleet operative called John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch).

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BRIDGE OF SPIES Wednesday, More4, 9pm

SLOW-BURNING tale of intrigue and bluff. Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) is arrested in 1950s New York and labelled a Soviet spy. Lawyer James B. Donovan (Tom Hanks, pictured) is asked to mount a defence, even though the odds are against a fair trial. Sure enough, Abel is convicted, but when a US pilot is shot down over the Soviet Union, Donovan travels to Berlin to broker a covert exchange deal.

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SUFFRAGETTE Thursday, Film4, 6.50pm

IN 1912 London, Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan, pictured) works in a laundry with her husband Sonny (Ben Whishaw). Women earn less than men and are denied the vote. Maud joins the suffragette movement and speaks up against this injustice. MPs refuse to honour a voting-rights bill amendment, so Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep) stirs her troops into direct action.

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KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE Friday, Film4, 9pm

ENTERTAINING spy caper. Tearaway Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin (Taron Egerton, pictured) ends up in a police cell after a joyride. Secret agent Harry Hart (Colin Firth) secures his release, believing the young man has potential to be a crime-fighter. He enrols Eggsy in a training programme for a secret service and when a tech wizard (Samuel L Jackson) threatens mankind, Eggsy puts his training to the test.