TV FILMS OF THE WEEK
QUEEN OF KATWE Sunday, BBC1, 2.35pm
If you enjoyed The Queen’s Gambit, do give this heart-warming drama a try. It’s the true-life story of Phiona Mutesi, a young Ugandan girl from the slums of Katwe with an amazing talent for chess. David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong’o co-star, while Mira Nair – who runs a film school in Uganda – directs with authenticity.
JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN Sunday, Channel 4, 7.15pm
A third – and possibly final – outing for Rowan Atkinson’s bungling British spy, called out of semi-retirement after a cyberattack exposes the identity of every single MI7 agent. Time to fire up the Bentley, track down his hapless sidekick, Bough, and head for the South of France. Former Bond girl Olga Kurylenko co-stars.
AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON Monday, Sony Movies Classic, 9pm
A year after making The Blues Brothers, directorwriter John Landis turned to tongue-in-cheek horror with the now iconic tale of two young American tourists who are attacked by a wolf while walking on the Yorkshire Moors. But inevitably, this is no ordinary wolf…
SUPER 8 Tuesday, Film 4, 6.45pm
Directed by J. J. Abrams, and produced by Steven Spielberg, this is one part homage to the likes of E.T., one part possible inspiration for the Netflix hit Stranger Things. Look out for a young Elle Fanning as one of the teenage gang making a zombie film who witness a terrifying train crash.
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN Wednesday, Film 4, 9pm
Critics hated it but the cinema-going public loved it, won over by Hugh Jackman’s tuneful turn as the American circus impresario, P. T. Barnum, and a supporting cast that includes Rebecca Ferguson, Zac Efron and Zendaya.
RAGING BULL Wednesday, Film 4, 11.05pm
Robert De Niro won his second Oscar for his uncompromisingly pugnacious performance as Jake La Motta, the American middleweight boxer whose natural aggression made him a world champion in the ring but a toxic nightmare
to live with at home.
LIVE AND LET DIE Thursday, ITV4, 9pm
Roger Moore’s first outing as James Bond (left) and a memorable one, as 007 is dispatched to New Orleans, where a heroin-smuggling operation might be behind the deaths of several British agents. Look out for Jane Seymour as Solitaire, a memorable theme song from Wings and Yaphet Kotto as Mr Big.
BRAVEHEART Friday, 5 Star, 9pm
Famous for its historical inaccuracies but beloved nonetheless, largely because of Mel Gibson’s kiltwhirling turn as William Wallace, the fearsome, freedomloving warrior who sets out to free Scotland from English tyranny.