Film choice

Mrs Brown (1997) BBC Four, 9pm ★★★★

Long before The Crown, John Madden’s thoughtful period drama drew on salacious rumours passed down through history – in this instance that Queen Victoria (played by Crown critic Judi Dench, in her first Oscar-nominated role) fell in love with her Scottish ghillie, John Brown (Billy Connolly), after the death of Prince Albert. After, there’s more Connolly in comedy drama Quartet.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) AMC, 9pm ★★★★

Woody Allen’s saucy, life-embracing and hilarious tale about three women’s involvement with the same man (the magnetic Javier Bardem) in sunsoaked Barcelona finally delivered the director’s long-promised “return to form” (the form has tailed off since, mind). It also benefits from terrific performances from each of its very different female leads, Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall.

Ready Player One (2018) BBC Two, 11.15pm ★★★★

Based on Ernest Cline’s bestseller, this blockbuster would have been a nerd’s dream even if Steven Spielberg hadn’t directed it. On the decrepit Earth of 2045, a corporate virtual-reality game provides a much-needed source of escape to Olivia Cooke, Tye Sheridan, Ben Mendelsohn and others, but it’s a race against time to stop the suits from assuming control of the world. A deserved sequel is in the works.