Film choice

White Heat 6.55pm TCM

(Raoul Walsh, 1949) Returning to the kind of picture in which he made his name, James Cagney ( left, with Edmond O’Brien) gave us Cody Jarrett: career criminal and killer; a wily, vicious and paranoid mommy’s boy whom this film – a gripping thriller and action movie – studies with appalled fascination.

The Grey 9pm Film4

(Joe Carnahan, 2011) The cold and a pack of glowingeyed grey wolves are the chief antagonists in this grizzled thriller. Liam

Neeson brings authority to his role as a hardened hunter and the de facto leader of a group of oil-rig workers who survive a plane crash in Alaska. But will he be able to prevent the men from being picked off, one by one?

A History of Violence

10pm Sky Movies Select

(David Cronenberg, 2005) Viggo Mortensen stars in this character-led thriller, as the owner of a diner whose bravery during a robbery causes those around him to reassess his character. It is masterfully controlled and asks interesting questions about human nature, the construction of an identity and the possibility of redemption.

Brick Lane 1.20am Film4

(Sarah Gavron, 2007) This gentle adaptation of Monica Ali’s novel about Bangladeshi immigrant family life is a contemporary example of what they used to call “women’s pictures”, about forbidden passions smouldering within an outwardly demure woman, and the choice between personal fulfilment and the happiness of one’s family.