Top films to watch on TV this week
WEDNESDAY
The Madness of King George (1994) Film4, 6.50p.m.
Alan Bennett adapted his own acclaimed play for the big screen, drawing on the true story of George III, who suffered from mental illness during his reign.
As the monarch’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, his staff bend the rules in a bid to marginalise his influence on the country, leaving everyone wondering who’s really in charge, while his physicians work to find a cure.
It’s a witty, touching and brilliantly acted insight into a puzzling period of British history, with many of the cast, including the wonderful Nigel Hawthorne, reprising their roles from the original National Theatre production.
THURSDAY
North By Northwest (1959) BBC4, 8p.m.
Breathless adventure from Alfred Hitchcock, starring the eternally stylish Cary Grant as an advertising executive who is mistaken for a US intelligence agent by foreign thugs and drawn into all sorts of well-choreographed action scenes.
James Mason, Eva Marie Saint and Martin Landau co-star in this legendary thriller which features such memorable set pieces as Grant’s escape from a menacing crop-duster plane and an edge-ofthe-seat fight on Mount Rushmore.
Great opening titles by Saul Bass and an unforgettable, atmospheric score by Bernard Herrmann also help to make this one of Hitchcock’s best.
FRIDAY
The Dam Busters (1955) Film4, 12.35p.m.
One of the greatest Second World War movies stars Richard Todd as Wing Commander Guy Gibson, a skilled pilot ordered to assemble a crack squadron of fliers for a top-secret mission.
After weeks of training, they will be dropping a new explosive designed to destroy three German dams, a dangerous task but one that is crucial to the war effort.
Michael Redgrave is on fine form as Barnes Wallis, the man who created the bouncing bomb at the heart of the story. Despite knowing exactly how the mission panned out, this is still a tense tale, brilliantly told by director Michael Anderson.
Watch out for cameo appearances by Patrick McGoohan and Robert Shaw, and the theme tune, by Eric Coates, is unforgettable too.
SATURDAY
12 Years a Slave (2013) Channel 4, 9.00p.m.
Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) lives with his family in 1841 Washington City. Following a meeting with two seemingly respectable gentlemen, Solomon is sold into slavery.
His first master, Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), is kind – up to a point – but fate delivers the lead character to sadistic Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender). This master spites his unfeeling wife (Sarah Paulson) by taking a shine to one of the slave girls, Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o), and Solomon is caught in the crossfire.
Based on Northup’s autobiography of the same name, 12 Years a Slave made a big splash at the Oscars, and deservedly so. Steve McQueen’s bravura third feature is a sensitive yet unflinching portrait of suffering that delivers its message of brutality and endurance with the full force of a sledgehammer to the solar plexus.
SUNDAY
Murder on the Orient Express (2017) Channel 4, 8p.m.
The little grey cells of moustachioed sleuth Hercule Poirot – and cinema audiences unfamiliar with Agatha Christie’s fiendish 1934 novel – are rigorously tested in Kenneth Branagh’s handsome reimagining of the snowbound murder mystery.
Poirot (Branagh) finds himself on the Orient Express in a cabin next to slippery gangster Samuel Ratchett (Johnny Depp), who offers to pay the Belgian to ensure his safety. The detective declines, but then a murderer strikes.
Suspects include Ratchett’s secretary Hector MacQueen (Josh Gad), governess Mary Debenham (Daisy Ridley), former soldier Dr Arbuthnot (Leslie Odom Jr), widow Caroline Hubbard (Michelle Pfeiffer), Princess Natalia Dragomiroff (Dame Judi Dench) and her maid Hildegarde Schmidt (Olivia Colman), and missionary Pilar Estravados (Penelope Cruz).
MONDAY
Snatch (2000) Channel 5, 11p.m.
A stolen diamond sparks a series of interlinked stories that bring together a whole host of undesirables, gangsters, thieves and criminals, delving into the murky world of bare-knuckle boxing along the way.
Made at a time when Guy Ritchie was Britain’s hottest director following the success of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, it’s stylish and exquisitely shot in a washed-out sepia, blending savagery and emotional drama with razor-sharp wit.
Brad Pitt is a revelation playing an Irish Traveller, whikle Jason Statham, Benicio Del Toro and Stephen Graham are among the impressive supporting cast.