TV FILMS of the week
1
EASTER PARADE
Today, BBC2, 12.20pm
When his dance partner Nadine (Ann Miller) announces she’s going solo, spurned Don Hewes (Fred Astaire) decides to prove he can make it without her by picking a chorus girl at random and transforming her into a star. He picks Hannah Brown (Judy Garland) who takes the act to new heights, but will Don ever see her as anything more than a replacement for Nadine? The plot is thin, but the stars are on compelling form and some of the big musical numbers – most notably A Couple of Swells and Steppin’ Out With My Baby – are truly unforgettable.
2
WILDLIFE
Tomorrow, BBC2, 11.40pm
In this drama, Jerry Brinson (Jake Gyllenhaal) and his wife Jeanette (Carey Mulligan, left) move to 1960 Montana with their teenage son Joe (Ed Oxenbould). When Jerry gets a job as a firefighter outside town, Jeanette seeks comfort in the arms of another man – until Jerry returns home unexpectedly from working in the mountains.
3
ALIENS
Tuesday, ITV4, 9pm
After years drifting in space in deep sleep, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver, left) is rescued from the escape capsule of the starship Nostromo. Ripley learns the planet where she and her crewmates made alien contact has been colonised, but all communication has been lost. She joins a group of marines to discover what happened.
4
CHARLIE’S ANGELS
Wednesday, Film4, 9pm
In this spin-off from the cult TV series, glamorous detectives Dylan (Drew Barrymore), Natalie (Cameron Diaz) and Alex (Lucy Liu), pictured from left, try to rescue an electronics genius and his invention from a rival – a task that proves easier said than done. Bill Murray is great as Bosley, and Destiny’s Child’s theme is still as addictive as ever.
5
THE REMAINS OF THE DAY
Thursday, BBC4, 8pm
In this drama, Anthony Hopkins plays Stevens, a butler in a 1930s mansion who puts the demands of the job above his own emotional needs, rebuffing the advances of housekeeper Miss Kenton (Emma Thompson, left with Hopkins). He’s so obedient, he fails to question his employer’s (James Fox) increasingly pro-Nazi politics.
6
WHIPLASH
Friday, BBC3, 9pm
Drummer Andrew Neiman (Miles Teller, left) is determined to excel at his Manhattan music conservatory, and catches the eye of the school’s most revered teacher, Terence Fletcher (an oscarwinning JK Simmons). Andrew transfers to Fletcher’s class,but the game of one-upmanship between teacher and pupil spirals out of control.
7
CAPTAIN MARVEL
Saturday, Channel 4, 9.25pm
This comic book origin story centres on Vers (Brie Larson, left), a member of an elite military unit called Starforce which protects the Kree empire. During a battle against their enemies the Skrull, Vers crashlands on 1995 Earth where S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), discovers a link between her and a missing US air force pilot.