Films of the day
What’s on the small screen this week
VENOM CHANNEL 4, 9PM
Premiere. Tom Hardy stars in this Marvel spin off as dogged journalist Eddie Brock, who is probing sinister corporation the Life Foundation. He gets superhuman strength and power, prompting a race to stop an alien invasion. (2018)
THE DEATH OF STALIN BBC2, 10.45PM
This much-admired political satire is based on a French graphic novel about the power struggle that ensued after Joseph Stalin’s demise in 1953. Banned in both Russia and Kyrgyzstan, the one-liners come thick and fast as the dictator’s cronies, including the boring Malenkov, wily Krushchev and sadistic police chief Beria, line up to take his place. Jason Isaacs and Michael Palin star. (2017)
THE ASSASSINATION BUREAU TALKING PICTURES TV, 9PM
The peerless Diana Rigg heads a rather unconventional cast for this vintage action comedy, set before World War I and based on an unfinished novel by Jack London. Rigg plays tenacious would-be journalist Sonya Winter, who resolves to lift the lid on the Assassination Bureau, a shadowy organisation whose targets are selected based on moral issues. (1968)
THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND FILM4, 11.20PM
James McAvoy plays medic Nicholas Garrigan, who journeys to Uganda where a series of events bring him into contact with brutish Idi Amin. The future dictator is on the brink of power and appoints Garrigan as his personal physician. Before long, he realises he may not be able to escape his benefactor. Forest Whitaker won an Oscar for his portrayal of the Ugandan leader. (2006)
GHOST STORIES BBC2, 11.15PM
Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman write and direct this big-screen version of their 2010 stage play that offers genuine spooks and chills. Nyman plays Professor Philip Goodman, a debunker of psychics and hoax ghost sightings. He is given a file of three unsolvable cases by his hero Charles Cameron, who has been missing for years. As Goodman works, he is brought down to earth with a bump. (2017)
ZERO DARK THIRTY ITV4, 11.05PM
Director Kathryn Bigelow’s taut drama won five Oscars, including Best Picture. It tells the enthralling true story of the 10-year hunt for terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, as seen through the eyes of CIA operative Maya. Jessica Chastain plays Maya, ably supported by Mark Strong, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler and Joel Edgerton. Look out too for James Gandolfini, Chris Pratt and John Barrowman. (2012)
A TIME TO KILL BBC1, 11.25PM
Two white racists in the deep south brutally rape a 10-yearold black girl. Her father played by Samuel L Jackson, kills them. An ethical lawyer and his student, played by Matthew McConaughey and Sandra Bullock, right, defend him. Powerful and enthralling.