The Thirty-nine Steps

Film4, 4.15pm

(1978)

Hitchcock’s adaptation may be regarded as the best, but this third film version of John Buchan’s 1915 novel, is the one that sticks the closest to the text and it is filled with thrilling twists and turns. It stars Robert Powell as spy-catcher Richard Hannay, and is most notable for its final scene with Hannay dangling from the hands of Big Ben; Powell would later reprise the role in the 1988 TV series