TV FILMS OF THE WEEK
MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS Tonight, Channel 4, 10.35pm
BASED on the second book of James Dashner’s post-apocalyptic trilogy for young adults, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is an entertaining sequel, which veers into grisly territory inhabited by The Walking Dead. Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) and their group escape from the labyrinth created by the World Catastrophe Killzone Department (W.C.K.D.) and find refuge at a fortified research compound with Janson (Aidan Gillen) and his team. Thomas learns the maze runners hold the key to a cure for the Flare contagion, which has reduced humanity to flesh-hungry predators.
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Tomorrow, ITV4, 9pm
THIS labyrinthine drama, based on John le Carre’s novel, centres on the disgraced former deputy to the head of British intelligence, who is called out of retirement to investigate the possibility of a Soviet mole in MI6. Gary Oldman, pictured is superb as ageing hero George Smiley alongside. Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Benedict Cumberbatch and Toby Jones.
THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION Monday, ITV4, 10pm
BANKER Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins, pictured) is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife and her lover in Forties America. Facing life in the Shawshank Prison, he encounters peril from fellow inmates and brutal guards. After making friends with veteran lag Red (Morgan Freeman), he adapts to life behind bars and slowly changes the penitentiary for the better.
THE TRANSPORTER Tuesday, Film4, 9pm
MYSTERIOUS, sharp-suited delivery driver Frank (Jason Statham) finds himself in trouble when he breaks a rule that he should never ask what he’s transporting. He discovers that his latest cargo is a person (Shu Qi, pictured with Statham), and thrusts himself into a game of cat and mouse with his employers. The setup is simplistic, but the action makes up for that.
DIE HARD 4.0 Wednesday, Film4, 9pm
CYBER-TERRORIST Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant) systematically shuts down America’s power, telecoms and financial institutions. John McClane (Bruce Willis, pictured) gets embroiled in the plot when he saves hacker Matt Farrell (Justin Long), from Gabriel’s goons. Together, McClane and his goofy new sidekick set out to thwart the villain.
BACK TO THE FUTURE Thursday, Film4, 6.40pm
THE first chapter in director Robert Zemeckis’s consistently imaginative and exciting trilogy introduces us to Michael J. Fox as young buck Marty McFly, who accidentally travels back in time courtesy of Dr Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd, pictured with Fox), and comes face to face with his own parents (Lea Thompson and Crispin Glover) while trapped in 1950s America.
CRANK Friday, ITV, 10.45pm
HIT MAN Chev Chelios (Jason Statham, pictured) is injected with a deadly poison and has just an hour to live. The only way to delay death is to keep his adrenalin pumping. So Chev does everything he can to keep his heart rate up, including engaging in furious al fresco sex with his girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart). Crank is a hyper-violent assault on the senses.