1THE TV FILMS OF THE WEEK
Classic film The Railway Children
RAILWAY CHILDREN Today, BBC2, 2.45pm
CHARMING children’s adventure film based on the E Nesbit novel. Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett and Gary Warren star as the three children forced to leave their comfortable, middle-class home in London when their father is mysteriously taken into custody. Although initially horrified by their impoverished state and bleak new home in Yorkshire (the parsonage home of the Brontes in Haworth provided the location), the movie opens an exciting new world for them, centring on the local railway line. Bernard Cribbins also stars and actor Lionel Jeffries steps behind the camera as director; he also wrote the screenplay.
2APOLLO
13 Tomorrow, ITV, 2.55pm
TOM HANKS plays astronaut Jim Lovell, who is faced with a nightmare when the mission suffers an on-board explosion. He and his crewmates are left stranded in space with a dwindling oxygen supply while flight controllers in Houston try to find a way to bring the crew safely back to Earth. Kevin Bacon, left, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise also star.
3THE
MAGNIFICENT SEVEN Monday, Channel 5, 10pm
GRIEVING widow Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) and her friend Teddy (Luke Grimes) enlist the services of bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (Denzel Washington, left) to kill greedy industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard). The gunslinger corrals six men to wage war in Rose Creek including Josh Farraday (Chris Pratt) and Goodnight Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke).
4THE
GREEN MILE Tuesday, Channel 5, 10.30pm
THE delicate equilibrium of a 1930s Death Row block is disrupted by the arrival of a gentle giant called John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan). Over time, the new inmate befriends one of the guards, Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks, left), who suspects that Coffey may be serving time for a heinous crime he did not commit. A heart-breaking drama.
5DREAMGIRLS Wednesday, 5*, 10pm
IN 1960s Detroit, girl group The Dreamettes – Effie (an Oscar-winning Jennifer Hudson), Deena (Beyonce, left) and Lorell (Anika Noni Rose) – are groomed by car salesman-turnedmanager Curtis (Jamie Foxx) as back-up singers for showman James “Thunder” Early (an electrifying Eddie Murphy). Tensions flare when Deena replaces Effie as lead vocalist.
6BROOKLYN Thursday, BBC4, 8pm
EILIS Lacey (Saoirse Ronan, left) is a shrinking violet in 1950s Ireland. Thanks to her older sister Rose (Fiona Glascott), Eilis secures a one-way ticket to a brighter future in New York. Eilis’ homesickness gradually fades and she sparks a tender romance with a handsome plumber called Tony (Emory Cohen). Brooklyn is a classic, old-fashioned romance.
7THE
MERCY Friday, BBC2, 9pm
AMATEUR yachtsman Donald Crowhurst (Colin Firth, left) attends a 1968 trade show with his sons to sell their invention: a nautical navigation device. The family’s pitch is interrupted by a rousing speech from Sir Francis Chichester (Simon McBurney), to launch the Golden Globe Race. Donald informs his wife Clare (Rachel Weisz) he intends to take up the mantle.