MIKE WARD’S SMALL SCREEN
FIRST MAN (12) ON July 21, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon.
It’s a story that only now, half a century later, makes it on to the big screen, with Ryan Gosling in the lead role and Claire Foy as Armstrong’s wife Janet.
This isn’t some high-tech, action-crammed space movie (the flying to the moon bits actually look startlingly primitive) but a reflective account of events from a personal perspective, as Armstrong struggles with the role he’s playing in history and the burden on friendships and marriage.
JOHNNY ENGLISH STRIKES AGAIN (PG) (Download now, DVD and Blu-ray from Monday)
EMMA Thompson is the prime minister. Well, I’ve heard worse ideas.
But our intelligence services’ only hope, following a damaging cyber attack, comes in the form of Rowan Atkinson’s bumbling spy character in this, the third Johnny English movie.
It’s either your idea of hell – a Mr Beany idea stretched to breaking point – or 90-odd Cold Pursuit.
THE WEEK AFTER: A wrestling Norwich family from set their sights on conquering true story Fighting WWE in With My Family. Florence Pugh, Nick Frost and Lena Heady star. minutes of shameless silliness to enjoy.
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY
(Netflix Originals)
WE can’t blame them for being a bit weird, the family at the heart of this new Netflix series.
Adopted as kids by a mega-rich industrialist and now entering their 30s, they were among 43 superpowered babies born on the same day in 1989.
This industrialist guy, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, had planned to train his adopted seven to save the world, but, well, things didn’t quite turn out as planned. Six of them are now reuniting, not particularly harmoniously, in the wake of his death, the circumstances behind which appear a tad suspicious.
CLEANING UP (12) (Download now, DVD from Monday)
JUST finished on ITV, this six-parter stars Sheridan Smith as office cleaner Sam, a mum whose gambling habit has wrecked her marriage and left her skint.
It’s the story of what happens when she gets caught up in the hugely lucrative but illegal world of insider trading.