Upcoming Movies on TV (UK)

[colinr0380]

Lots of interestingly weirdo curios next week, as jlnight has noted. The two big film premieres are on Channel 4 with Everything Everywhere All At Once showing at 10:15 p.m. on Saturday 7th (which has not received a disc release in the UK as yet, so the television premiere has arrived first); and the Guillermo del Toro 2021 remake of Nightmare Alley at 10 p.m. on Sunday 8th. The other premiere is Rosaline on Film4 at 9 p.m. on Monday 9th.

Also there are nine Christmas TV movie premieres across the week - six on Channel 5 and three in a triple bill on the "ITVBe" channel throughout the entirety of Saturday afternoon.
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Repeat wise the big one as jlnight has noted is Film4 showing Andrei Tarkovsky's The Sacrifice at 1 a.m. in the early hours of Thursday 12th. Which is the first time it has screened on UK television since 2017.

BBC2 is showing Wang Xiaoshuai's So Long, My Son at 11:15 p.m. on Saturday 7th, which clashes up against Everything Everywhere All At Once. It has shown a few times before - premiered on BBC4 and then shown earlier in the year on the un-DOG-tagged BBC2 but at around 1 a.m. that time, which means that this is the first time it is showing at a decent hour! Which is important for a film that runs for three hours, although that means it still does not finish until 2:10 a.m.!

Also on Saturday 7th BBC4 has unearthed the 1984 children's fantasy series The Box of Delights to show on the run up to Christmas - the director Renny Rye does a new 10 minute introduction at 7 p.m. and the first two episodes (of six total) show from 7:10 p.m. Just as interesting is that later in the evening BBC4 shows the 1992 Benjamin Zephaniah film Dread Poets Society at 10:25 p.m., which also features Timothy Spall and Dexter Fletcher in the cast! Which has to be even more conceptually weird in its usage of Lord Byron, Percy Shelley and Mary Shelly than Ken Russell's Gothic! Who could have imagined that being trapped on a delayed InterCity125 inspired the creation of Frankenstein!

BBC2 is showing Bonnie and Clyde at 10 p.m. on Sunday 8th, which clashes up against Nightmare Alley. Also on Sunday 8th, and also clashing against Nightmare Alley, BBC4 does a night devoted to Judi Dench, and shows the first two (of four total) episodes of the 1966 entry into the Theatre 625 series Talking To A Stranger, in which Dench appears. Part 1 shows at 9:40 p.m., followed by Part 2 at 11:15 p.m.

Staying with BBC4, at 10 p.m. on Wednesday 11th they are showing another BBC drama directed by Mick Jackson after Threads from a few weeks ago. This one has a characteristically low-key Jeff Goldblum and Juliet Stevenson as geneticists discovering DNA in 1987's Life Story.

And on BBC2 at 9 p.m. on Friday 13th is a documentary Alan Bennett: 90 Years On.
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Radio-wise, BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week/Book at Bedtime 15 minute slot running through the weekdays next week is the abridged version of Alexei Navalny's autobiography Patriot, read by Benedict Cumberbatch.

[colinr0380]

Dread Poets Society has just begun with an unannounced 15 minute introduction by Timothy Spall. And I did not realise until now that BBC4 is airing it on the exact first anniversary of Zepheniah's passing.

[jlnight]

Stagecoach (1939), Sat 14th Dec, London Live.
Amy (2015), Sat 14th Dec, Sky Arts. Or...
The Black Panther (1977), Sat 14th Dec, London Live.

Law and Disorder (1958), Sun 15th Dec, Talking Pictures. (on before)
Triangle of Sadness, Sun 15th Dec, BBC2.

The Bloody Judge (1970), Tue 17th Dec, London Live. (last on TPTV) Or...
Riding High (1981), Tue 17th Dec, Together TV.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1956 TVM??), Wed 18th Dec, London Live. Or...
Sahara (1943), Wed 18th Dec, Legend.
The Tall T, Wed 18th Dec, Talking Pictures. (Saddle Up)

Take Me High, Thu 19th Dec, Sky Arts. Or...
Detour (1945), Thu 19th Dec, London Live. (last on TPTV)
The Day of the Jackal (1973), Thu 19th Dec, Legend. (been on Freeview) Or...
Across the Bridge, Thu 19th Dec, Talking Pictures.

Wonderful Life, Fri 20th Dec, Sky Arts.
Captain Kidd (1945), Fri 20th Dec, London Live.
Beyond the Law (1968), Fri 20th Dec, London Live.

[colinr0380]

I caught a bit of Rosaline, which struck me as a version of Roxanne/Cyrano de Bergerac, except flipped so instead of the lovelorn suitor helping the guy woo the girl, instead its Rosaline telling Juliet what to say in the balcony scene! And I kind of like the idea that the main bitter and jilted, but fiesty and firery, character of Rosaline is (maybe accidentally?) kind of being portrayed as similar to the main character of Katharine from The Taming of the Shrew! Or as if the writers were taking their cues from Dangerous Liaisons, with Juliet as the naive pawn?

Those are interesting twists but unfortunately much of the film came across as a bit aggravating, like it should have been set in a modern high school with all of its anachronistic smart-ass and sassy Americanisms. Although it did seem like an amusing comment on Shakespearian-era gender-swapping to have the fey and flamboyant costumier finding that he is drawn to and comfortable with trying on the main character's dresses!
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Rather quiet for the last full week before the big Christmas fortnight. As jlnight has noted the big film of note is the premiere of Triangle of Sadness on BBC2 at 10 p.m. on Sunday 15th. Other than that all the new films are Christmas-themed TV movies with 12 premieres across next week. The one that jumped out to me is another film directed by Fred Olen Ray with A Royal Christmas Holiday on Channel 5 at 3:15 p.m. on Friday 20th. Which somehow manages to cram a dreadfully important career-defining interview, an eligible royal from the fictional country of 'Europe', William Baldwin and the mandatory cups of hot chocolate trope together into a single film!

ITV1 is doing an hour long tribute to the late Maggie Smith at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday 14th. BBC4 is showing The Heart of the Paris Games, a behind the scenes documentary about the Paris Olympics from Jules and Gedeon Naudet (the filmmakers still most famous for their documentary on the New York Fire Department turning into an impromptu documentation of the events of 9/11), although it appears that the 4 part 3 1/2 hour series that originally aired on French television has been cut down into two one hour episodes for their BBC4 screening, airing together from 10 p.m. on Tuesday 17th.
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Repeat-wise, BBC4 finishes off the Box of Delights series with episodes 3-6 showing in one block from 7 p.m. on Saturday 14th. A lot of the week on BBC4 is devoted to Judi Dench on the occasion of her 90th birthday (which was actually this Monday just passed, on the 9th). The whole of Sunday 15th is devoted to various programmes that she has appeared in, although the most notable section is Dench providing a new 10 minute introduction at 9:30 p.m. to the 1985 Noel Coward adaptation Mr and Mrs Edgehill. That is followed by the third and fourth episodes of the Talking to a Stranger series from 1966 that began last week. Thursday 19th is the other big Judi Dench night with The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel at 8 p.m. and Victoria & Abdul at 9:55 p.m.

BBC2 starts showing a few classic films during the week in the run up to Christmas: The 39 Steps at 2:30 p.m. on Monday 16th; The Three Faces of Eve at 11 p.m. on Monday 16th; Funny Face at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday 17th; Sweet Charity at 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday 18th; Fiddler On The Roof at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday 19th; and most of Friday 20th taken up with: the 1961 King of Kings at 8:30 a.m., Citizen Kane at 11 a.m., Now Voyager at 1:50 p.m. and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at 3:45 p.m.

BBC4 does a double bill of two of the modern Ghost Stories For Christmas on Monday 16th with The Mezzotint and Lot No 249. Then on Wednesday 18th from 11 p.m. shows a triple bill of episodes from the 2000 Christopher Lee's Ghost Stories For Christmas series with Lee reading the MR James stories The Stalls of Barchester, Number 13 and A Warning To The Curious.

Not too much of note on Film4 over the week, although the 1994 Gillian Armstrong directed version of Little Women is showing at 6:30 p.m. on Monday 16th; and the 2022 Predator prequel Prey gets its first showing on the channel un-DOG-tagged at 9 p.m. on Thursday 19th, followed in what is presumably a Native American-calculated double bill by the Michael Mann version of The Last of the Mohicans at 11 p.m.!

[colinr0380]

Having now got my hands on the Christmas RadioTimes for the Christmas fortnight from 21st December to 3rd January here are the notable films and programmes. Basically even having passed on, there is no escape from Maggie Smith!:

On Saturday 21st ITV1 is showing Fast & Furious 9 at 9 p.m.

On Sunday 22nd Channel 4 is showing Ron's Gone Wrong at 3 p.m., and ITV1 has Jurassic World: Dominion at 8:20 p.m., whilst over on BBC4 at 7:45 p.m. Anne-Marie Duff does a stint on the Big Read series by doing a reading of A Christmas Carol.

On Monday 23rd Channel 4 shows Bullet Train at 9 p.m., which clashes with the horror film on BBC3 starring Star Wars: Acolyte star-turned-diss rapper Amandla Stenberg Bodies Bodies Bodies at 9:40 p.m. - which works best if you think of it as a modern version of an Andy Milligan film.

Christmas Eve BBC2's new A Ghost Story For Christmas episode written by Mark Gatiss at 10:15 p.m. is an adapatation of E Nesbit's "Man-Size In Marble" starring Celia Imrie. And only two and a half years since the listings confused it with the 1989 Fred Savage film the Lupita Nyong'o 2019 zombie children film Little Monsters is finally premiering on Film4 at 11:45 p.m. (that's the only new film showing on Film4 during the entire fortnight)

On to Christmas Day: BBC1 is showing Minions: The Rise of Gru at 1 p.m., but that's just a prelude to the big event of the fortnight with Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl showing at 6:10 p.m. Other than that BBC2 is showing the biographical documentary From Roger Moore, With Love at 9 p.m., and ITV1 shows the big new Maggie Smith film of the fortnight with Downton Abbey: A New Era at 9 p.m. - Channel 5 even gets in on the action with the premiere of 52 years later sequel The Railway Children Return at 3:10 p.m. (the original film is on BBC1 at 1 p.m. on New Year's Eve)

Boxing Day, BBC1 is showing the 2021 musical version of Matlida at 5:40 p.m., and at 12:10 a.m. in the early hours of Friday 27th (so not Boxing Day any more) Channel 4 shows Boxing Day. It has Secrets & Lies (and upcoming Mike Leigh film Hard Truths) star Marianne Jean-Baptiste in it!

On Friday 27th BBC2 shows the Serena and Venus Williams biopic King Richard at 9 p.m.

On Sunday 29th ITV1 begins showing their Cary Grant biopic series Archie with the first two episodes from 9 p.m.

On Monday 30th BBC1 shows the big Disney premiere of the holidays with Incredibles 2 at 2:30 p.m. - Episodes 3 & 4 of Archie show on ITV1 at 9 p.m. which clashes up against a new Philomena Cunk episode, Cunk On Life, on BBC2 also at 9 p.m. Also on ITV1, My National Gallery shows at 11:15 p.m.

New Year's Eve brings the premiere of Black Panther on BBC1 at 8 p.m. and earlier in the day the latest film in the Nicholas Winding Refn produced Famous Five series, Mystery At The Prospect Hotel, is also on BBC1 at 10:20 a.m.

New Year's Day, Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd are quiet for new things, mostly repeats of older films and those mentioned above.
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Repeat-wise the big one of the whole fortnight is on Saturday 21st with a very rare screening (I think the first time since 1995!) of Peter Bodganovich's What's Up, Doc? on BBC2 at 3:20 p.m., showing in a Barbara Streisand double bill preceded by Funny Girl at 1 p.m.

Also on Saturday 21st BBC4 shows all five episodes of the 1975 "Fanny Cradock Cooks For Christmas" series from 7:10 p.m., tackling the turkey, Christmas pudding, Christmas cake, Mincemeat and Petits Fours respectively!

Pan's Labyrinth is on BBC2 at 12:45 a.m. in the early hours of Sunday 22nd, one of only two subtitled films showing over the fortnight, the only other being Norwegian self-harm fest Sick of Myself, showing on Film4 at 2 a.m. in the early hours of Thursday 2nd.

Quadrophenia shows on BBC2 at 11:45 p.m. on Sunday 22nd, clashing against Tenet on BBC1 at 11:50 p.m. Todd Hayne's Carol is showing at 1:20 a.m. in the early hours of Monday 23rd on Film4

Keeping the holidays spooky, Monday 23rd has a really rare showing of the 1963 Robert Wise version of The Haunting at 11:20 p.m. on BBC2; and on Christmas Eve after the above noted new Ghost Story For Christmas BBC2 shows a double bill of Beetlejuice at 10:45 p.m. followed by The Rocky Horror Picture Show at 12:15 a.m. (which unfortunately clash against the Film4 premiere of Little Monsters at the same time)

On Christmas Day ITV4 shows a fun manic-depressive double bill of Lethal Weapon at 9 p.m. followed by Alien3 at 11:20 p.m.

Boxing Day has a weird double bill on BBC2 of Ridley Scott's Gladiator at 9 p.m. (presumably because of the sequel recently coming out) followed by Monty Python's And Now For Something Completely Different at 11:30 p.m.! Or if that does not appeal ITV1 is showing Die Hard 4.0 at 10:15 p.m., or BBC4 repeats What's Up, Doc? at 11:30 p.m. or BBC1 shows Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break at 12:10 a.m. or ITV4 is showng AvP: Alien vs Predator at 12:45 a.m. or Film4 is showing The Long Good Friday at 12:55 a.m.

Friday 27th has Brief Encounter on BBC2 at 12:10 p.m. and Beaches at 4 p.m. The premiere of King Richard is followed in a cheekily scheduled double bill by I, Tonya at 11:15 p.m.

Not too much of note on Saturday 28th (I'll leave it to jlnight to note much of the other digital channels but notable is a showing on Talking Pictures of the 1991 Emir Kusturica film starring Johnny Depp Arizona Dream at 9 p.m. on that evening). Sunday 29th has Ridley Scott's Hannibal on Channel 5 at 10 p.m. (Alien: Resurrection is showing on ITV4 at Midnight)

Color Out of Space turns up on the 5Star digital channel at 11:45 p.m. on Monday 30th

New Year's Eve has the 2002 version of The Time Machine showing on Channel 5 at 12 p.m., and Apollo 13 on ITV4 at 7 p.m.

The one notable classic film out of the line up over the fortnight is BBC2 showing Top Hat at 8:30 a.m. on New Year's Day, followed by The Searchers at 1:15 p.m.

And on Friday 3rd BBC2 is showing a Hitchcock double of Strangers on a Train at 9:30 a.m. and Dial M For Murder at 11:15 a.m., along with the original 1967 Planet of the Apes later in the afternoon at 2:30 p.m.

And after a repeat of The Lighthouse Film4 are showing The Double at 2 a.m. in the early hours of Saturday 4th January 2025
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It may be best to tackle all of the Maggie Smith deluge in one giant bunch, since it is spread across multiple days. Saturday 21st has the Nothing Like A Dame documentary on BBC4 at 10 p.m.; Christmas Day has Downton Abbey: A New Era on ITV1 as mentioned above, and The Lady In The Van at 10:20 p.m. over on BBC2; Saturday 28th (apparently what would have been Maggie Smith's 90th birthday) has BBC2 showing the inevitable double bill of the Agatha Christie film adapatations Smith appeared in (the other non-Maggie Smith films appear during the rest of the week) with Death on the Nile at 1:50 p.m. and Evil Under The Sun at 4 p.m, followed at 6 p.m. 2024 obituary programme "Lives Well Lived" and at 7 p.m. "Maggie Smith At The BBC", before BBC4 takes up the mantle and shows a repeat of the first part of the 1999 version of David Copperfield preceded by a new 15 minute introduction from Zoë Wannamaker from 8 p.m., followed by 1992's Memento Mori at 9:40 p.m. (also with Wannamaker). Then is the other big highlight of the Christmas fortnight as a new 15 minute interview with Derek Jacobi at 11:20 p.m. is followed by a rare repeat of the 1967 version of Much Ado About Nothing based on a National Theatre Franco Zeffirelli staging of the play.

The Maggie Smith coverage continues on Sunday 29th with BBC4 showing the second part of David Copperfield at 7:15 p.m., and then there is a rare showing of Robert Altman's Gosford Park on BBC2 at 10 p.m. The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is on BBC2 at 5 p.m. on New Year's Eve, and the entire evening of Thursday 2nd on BBC4 is devoted to a triple bill of Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel at 8 p.m, Gosford Park at 10 p.m. and My Old Lady at Midnight.
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Phew! So a few big films and not everything is entirely geared towards children's fare this year. Although the BBC are really going to need to start moving away from Maggie Smith, Judi Dench et al soon for how over saturated they are becoming! However their respective 90th birthdays and recent passing made this inevitable, and at least there is that chance to see the 1967 version of Much Ado About Nothing in there.

[colinr0380]

Here's a weird factoid from the current Christmas TV-movie deluge, again suggesting how entwined the exploitation worlds of horror and Christmas films are - the 2020 film Too Close For Christmas tucked away on E4 at 6 a.m.(!) this morning was directed by Ernie Barbarash, who started off as a Producer (he co-produced the Peter Boganovich film The Cat's Meow; and produced the two American Psycho films), and after producing Cube 2: Hypercube made his directorial debut with the third film in that series, the prequel Cube Zero! And then Stir of Echoes 2(!) with Rob Lowe starring instead of Kevin Bacon! Apparently he's been directing a run of these Christmas TV movies for at least five years now, with the only break that erotic thriller Heatwave that turned up on Film4 just over a year ago.

(This all suggests that we need more death-trap rooms in Christmas films, where the characters need to dress a Christmas tree or properly cook and carve a turkey within a strictly enforced time limit!)

[jlnight]

The Big Boss, Sat 21st Dec, London Live. Or...
Twilight's Last Gleaming, Sat 21st Dec, Talking Pictures.

The Runaway Bus, Sun 22nd Dec, Talking Pictures.

Fisherman's Wharf, Mon 23rd Dec, London Live.

The Night Before Christmas (Tom and Jerry), Tue 24th Dec, London Live.
Christmas Eve (1947), Tue 24th Dec, London Live.
ABBA: The Movie, Tue 24th Dec, Sky Arts.
The Best of Benny Hill, Tue 24th Dec, Talking Pictures.

The Wizard of Oz (1925), Wed 25th Dec, Rewind TV.
The Railway Children (2000 TVM), Wed 25th Dec, Talking Pictures.
Babes in Toyland (1934), Wed 25th Dec, London Live. (been on That's TV)
The Great Rupert, Wed 25th Dec, London Live. (been on TPTV)
Treasure Island (1950), Wed 25th Dec, London Live.
Rob Roy, Wed 25th Dec, Great Movies.

Oliver Twist (1982), Thu 26th Dec, Talking Pictures.
The Young Ones, Thu 26th Dec, Sky Arts.
Jack and the Beanstalk (1952), Thu 26th Dec, London Live.
Sands of the Kalahari, Thu 26th Dec, Talking Pictures.

The Most Dangerous Game (1932), Fri 27th Dec, London Live. (been on TPTV)

[colinr0380]

The Railway Children (2000 TVM), Wed 25th Dec, Talking Pictures.

That also has Jenny Agutter in, as the mother of Bobbie, the character she played in the original film! So she went from playing Bobbie in the 1970 film; to being the mother of the main character in the 2000s remake; to in 2022's The Railway Children Return back to playing Bobbie but as an older woman overseeing a new generation of children of her own!

Apparently in playing Bobbie again after 52 years, she's broken the previous holder of the record of the longest time elapsing in between an actor playing the same role, which had been the 40 years in between Nick Castle playing "The Shape" (i.e. the grown up Michael Myers) first in 1978's Halloween and again in the 2018 remake

[Dr Amicus]

Apparently in playing Bobbie again after 52 years, she's broken the previous holder of the record of the longest time elapsing in between an actor playing the same role, which had been the 40 years in between Nick Castle playing "The Shape" (i.e. the grown up Michael Myers) first in 1978's Halloween and again in the 2018 remake

And then broken, at least for TV, by William Russell’s return as Ian Chesterton in Dr Who in 2022, 57 years after leaving the role in 1965.

[GaryC]

The Railway Children (2000 TVM), Wed 25th Dec, Talking Pictures.

That also has Jenny Agutter in, as the mother of Bobbie, the character she played in the original film! So she went from playing Bobbie in the 1970 film; to being the mother of the main character in the 2000s remake; to in 2022's The Railway Children Return back to playing Bobbie but as an older woman overseeing a new generation of children of her own!

She also played Bobbie in the 1968 BBC serial, which was the third time the BBC had adapted the novel. Anneke Wills played Bobbie in the 1957 version, which is now lost.

[colinr0380]

I was so focused on the upcoming Christmas fortnight that I completely overlooked that the first part of the latest Ken Burns documentary, about Leonardo da Vinci, aired on BBC4 last night! Part 2 is showing on BBC4 on the 23rd December.

EDIT: And BBC4 is showing lots of Maria Callas documentaries throughout the Christmas week, which is probably tying in with the upcoming Pablo Larrain film starring Angelina Jolie.

[jlnight]

A Piece of Cake (1948), Sat 28th Dec, Talking Pictures.
Arizona Dream, Sat 28th Dec, Talking Pictures. Or...
We Think the World of You, Sat 28th Dec, London Live. (Gregg/Stoddart/Oldman)

Finders Keepers (1966), Sun 29th Dec, Sky Arts. (been on TPTV)
Righteous Kill, Sun 29th Dec, Legend. (De Niro and Pacino!)

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes + The Apartment, Tue 31st Dec, Sky Arts. Or...
Let's Spend the Night Together (1982), Tue 31st Dec, Talking Pictures.
Road Games (1981), Tue 31st Dec, Talking Pictures.

Up Pompeii (1971), Wed 1st Jan, Talking Pictures.
The Last Man on Earth (1964), late Wed 1st Jan, Rewind TV.

White Corridors, Thu 2nd Jan, Talking Pictures.

The Professionals (1960), Fri 3rd Jan, Talking Pictures.
Escape From Alcatraz, Fri 3rd Jan, Great Action. (ex-Moviedrome)



Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was the 1972 film starring Fiona Fullerton not, as advertised, the 1956 BBC version which sounded unlikely anyway. Together TV cuts off broadcasting on Freeview at midnight which meant anyone watching Riding High (1981) would have missed the last 15 minutes of the film!