Film choice

Queen of Katwe (2016) BBC ONE, 2.35PM ★★★ Mira Nair’s sweet-natured film tells the true(ish) story of Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) who escapes a life selling corn in the slums of Uganda when she is introduced to chess. She proves a prodigy, and the game offers her and her family a route out of poverty. David Oyelowo plays her inspirational coach, while Lupita Nyong’o is her awestricken mother. It’s formulaic, but touching.

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

CHANNEL 4, 3.50PM ★★★★

Based on Cressida Cowell’s book, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders’s film is an idoscyncratic and charming animation from the world-conquering DreamWorks studio. A Norse romp, it follows a misfit teenager called Hiccup (voiced with meek exasperation by Jay Baruchel) who ensnares an ultra-rare dragon. DreamWorks lays aside the postmodern quips to tell a soaring boy-and-his-dog tale to rival E.T.

My Cousin Rachel (2017) CHANNEL 4, 10.55PM ★★★

“Did she? Didn’t she?” ponders stricken hero Philip Ashley about the titular character (Rachel Weisz) and the possible murder of her husband/his cousin in this florid adaptation. This is based on Daphne du Maurier’s 1951 novel, but there was also a film version in 1952, an Eighties BBC TV version, two radio plays, and one on the Irish stage. Philip, the heir to a fortune, is played by a rakish Sam Claflin.