TV FILMS of the week
1
THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING Today, Channel 4, 2.10pm
This adventure follows 12-year-old
Alexander Elliot (Louis Ashbourne
Serkis, son of actor Andy Serkis), who falls victim to bullying classmate Lance (Tom Taylor). Fleeing his tormentor, Alex seeks refuge in a building site where he pulls a sword from a block of stone just like Arthurian legend. This simple act by a pure-hearted hero stirs King Arthur’s evil half-sister Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson) in her subterranean lair. She employs sorcery to reanimate fallen warriors to slay Alex and steal Excalibur. In response, a young Merlin (Angus Imrie) materialises and inspires Alex to undertake an epic quest.
2
THE REVENANT Tomorrow, ITV4, 11pm
Explorer Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio, left) guides 19th-century fur trappers commanded by Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson). When Glass is mauled by a bear, Henry leaves Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) and Bridger (Will Poulter), to tend to him and his son Hawk. Fitzgerald kills Hawk and buries the near-dead Glass, but he won’t stay put.
3
SICARIO
Tuesday, Film4, 9pm
Kate Macer (Emily Blunt, left) is part of the FBI’s Special Weapons and Tactics team. Government agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) asks her to join a secret task force, which intends to cripple a drugs cartel. Kate signs up and learns she will be venturing onto Mexican soil. As bullets fly, her conscience is left spattered in blood.
4
OLIVER!
Wednesday, GREAT! movies classic, 10.10am
Charles Dickens gets a musical makeover in director Carol Reed’s take on the classic tale of an orphaned boy who falls in with a group of child pickpockets. Mark Lester, left, is angelic in the title role and there’s colourful support from Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger, Oliver Reed as the menacing Bill Sikes and Ron Moody as Fagin.
5
SUSPICION
Thursday, BBC4, 9pm
Thriller from Alfred Hitchcock. Lina (an Oscarwinning Joan Fontaine) comes from a wealthy family and falls for playboy Johnny (Cary Grant, left with Fontaine). After they marry, she discovers he’s a penniless, habitual liar with a gambling habit. As time passes, she grows increasingly afraid that Johnny is planning to murder her.
6
BRIDGET JONES’S BABY Friday, Channel 5, 11pm
Bridget (Renée Zellweger) careens at high speed towards her 43rd birthday without a wedding ring on her finger. After a spontaneous coupling with a handsome American love guru (Patrick
Dempsey), and a rendezvous with old flame Mark Darcy (Colin Firth), a pregnancy test confirms she is about to become a mum. But who’s the father?
7
TAKEN
Saturday, ITV4, 9pm
Liam Neeson, left, stars as former CIA operative Bryan Mills whose daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) is kidnapped during a trip to Europe. As she is being abducted Bryan tells one of the baddies, via Kim’s phone: “I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.” Using his “particular set of skills” from his CIA days, Bryan sets out to bring Kim home.