Film choice

Black Panther (2018) SKY CINEMA PREMIERE, 8.00PM ★★★★

 This isn’t the first black comic-book star with a film of their own – see Spawn in 1997, then Blade in 1998 – but it is the first to ground mainstream sci-fi in African culture. T’challa ( played by a suitably regal Chadwick Boseman), aka the superhero “Black Panther”, assumes the throne of Wakanda but is immediately forced to face down a lethal conspiracy. The visuals shimmer, and Ryan Coogler directs with serious muscle.

Gosford Park (2001) PARAMOUNT NETWORK, 9.00PM ★★★★

 Long before his hit TV show Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for this polished period drama about a murder in a country home. There’s plenty of familiar entertainment to be had from the snappy dialogue, the Anglo-us culture clash and Maggie Smith’s withering ripostes (yes, she’s in this too), but compared to Downton’s glamour, this film has a significantly darker, more complex edge.

Carmen Jones (1954) BBC TWO, 12.20AM ★★★★

 Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera has been adapted more than any other (Carmen La Cubana gave it a tropical twist at Sadler’s Wells this summer). But this version by Otto Preminger, based on Oscar Hammerstein’s 1943 stage-work, is an opulent and energetic treat. A slinky Dorothy Dandridge plays the rapacious factory-worker who seduces an upstanding soldier. Preminger’s blend of comic and tragic tones is absolutely seamless.