FILM CHOICES

The Martian, 9pm, Film4

MATT DAMON (pictured) is the botanist stranded alone on the Red Planet, using all his guile — and whatever else he has to hand — to survive. It’s a gripping story, grounded in science fact as well as science fiction. Back on Earth, not everyone gives up hope. Kristen Wiig is among those at mission control.

Earthquake, 1.55am, Ch4

LIKE The Towering Inferno, this epic disaster movie puts an impressive ensemble cast in peril — Ava Gardner, Charlton Heston and (briefly) Walter Matthau, to name a few. Los Angeles is under threat when tremors weaken the Mulholland Dam ahead of a far more devastating quake to come.