FILM PICKS

TUESDAY

Mary Queen of Scots (2018) (BBC2, 11.15pm)

In 1561, a Protestant queen, Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie), rules England. Her power is threatened by the return of her 18-year-old Catholic cousin Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) from France. Many English Catholics believe Mary is the legitimate heir to the English throne. While figures close to the Scottish queen plot against her, including Protestant cleric John Knox (David Tennant) and her half-brother, the Earl of Moray (James McArdle), men in Elizabeth’s court attempt to manoeuvre their monarch on to a path of civil war. Spanning 26 years of political chicanery and betrayal, Mary Queen of Scots is a restrained affair which drips copious blood on screen but has little running through its veins.

WEDNESDAY

Titanic (1997) (Film4, 9pm)

Buoyed by the on-screen chemistry of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, James Cameron’s mega-budget love story set sailed away with 11 Academy Awards and broke box office records until the filmmaker trumped himself with the equally epic Avatar. Titanic also installed Celine Dion at the top of global charts for what seemed like an eternity with My Heart Will Go On. The film begins deep underwater with Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) and his team of hi-tech treasure hunters scouring the submerged wreck. The search comes to naught until Brock meets 101-year-old survivor Rose DeWitt Bukater (Gloria Stuart). Staring transfixed at a sketch of her younger self (Winslet), Rose recalls her burgeoning romance with spirited artist Jack Dawson (DiCaprio) aboard the luxury liner.

THURSDAY

Apocalypse Now (1979) (BBC4, 10.15pm)

Director Francis Ford Coppola took inspiration from Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness to create his iconic Vietnam War drama. Martin Sheen plays Captain Willard, an assassin assigned to find and kill the renegade Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), who is believed to have descended into insanity. Winner of two Oscars, including Best Cinematography, and two Baftas, it has gone on to influence countless movies, from Tropic Thunder and Avatar, to the more recent Ad Astra. Dennis Hopper, Harrison Ford and Laurence Fishburne also star, while Robert Duvall has a memorable turn as the surf-obsessed Colonel Kilgore.

FRIDAY

Blinded by the Light (2019) (BBC3, 9pm)

An uplifting coming-of-age comedy, charting one downtrodden British Pakistani teenager’s Bruce Springsteen-inspired self-awakening in 1980s Luton. Sixteen-year-old Javed’s (Viveik Kalra) dreams of becoming a writer must be extinguished to be a dutiful son to his seamstress mother Noor (Meera Ganatra) and father Malik (Kulvinder Ghir). When Malik is made redundant, pressure intensifies on Javed to marry and settle down.