Top films to watch on TV this week

Deadpool 2 (2018) **** (Film4, 9.00pm)

Former Special Forces operative Wade Wilson, aka Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), receives a swift kick to the nether portions from Lady Luck as he continues to romance sex-club worker Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). Plunged into a fiery pit of despair, Wade is rescued by X-Men buddies Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), who now has an electrified girlfriend (Shioli Kutsuna). The noble mutants enrol Deadpool as a trainee and for his first assignment, the wise-cracking rogue attempts to subdue a misunderstood teenager called Russell (Julian Dennison), who is being hunted by futuristic soldier Cable (Josh Brolin). Directed by “one of the guys who killed the dog in John Wick”, Deadpool 2 is a rollicking, gleefully irreverent and potty-mouthed sequel.

THURSDAY

Quartet (2012) **** (BBC4, 9.00pm)

Dustin Hoffman goes behind the camera to direct an impressive British cast in this comedy drama. Run with a gentle yet firm touch by on-staff medic Dr Lucy Cogan (Sheridan Smith), retirement home Beecham House heaves with eccentrics, including luvvie Cedric (Michael Gambon), who masterminds the annual fundraising concert attended by staff and wealthy donors. Three of the residents – Reginald (Tom Courtenay), Wilf (Billy Connolly) and Cissy (Pauline Collins) – once performed together as a celebrated quartet. The unexpected arrival of the group’s fourth member, Reg’s ex-wife Jean (Maggie Smith), sends shockwaves through Beecham House. Once Jean adjusts to the gentle ebb and flow of daily life at the home and rebuilds bridges that were burnt to a cinder, she rediscovers her passion for performance.

FRIDAY

The Imitation Game (2014) ***** (BBC1, 10.40pm)

Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) sits in a police interrogation room with Detective Nock (Rory Kinnear), facing a charge of indecency with a 19-year-old unemployed man. In flashback, Alan arrives at Bletchley Park where a group of the country’s keenest try to break the Enigma code. Hugh Alexander (Matthew Goode), John Cairncross (Allen Leech) and Peter Hilton (Matthew Beard) work alongside Turing, but he ploughs his own furrow and raises eyebrows by recruiting Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley) to the team. The Imitation Game is a handsomely crafted tribute to a prodigy, whose invaluable contribution to the war effort was besmirched by bigotry. Oscar-nominee Cumberbatch is mesmerising, trampling over the egos of fellow code breakers without any concern for their feelings.

SATURDAY

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) ***** (BBC2, 12.50am)

Director Céline Sciamma’s acclaimed, absorbing French drama stars (Noémie Merlant) as Marianne, an 18th-century artist who is hired to paint a portrait of the aristocratic Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), which her mother (Valeria Golino) can show to a wealthy prospective husband. The problem is Héloïse doesn’t want to be married off, so she won’t sit for an artist. As a result, Marianne must pose as her companion during the day, and then secretly paint her at night, but despite the subterfuge, the two women start to grow close. As befits a film about artists, Portrait of a Lady on Fire looks stunning, and Merlant and Haenel are both terrific in the leads.

SUNDAY

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) ***** (ITV1, 4.35pm)

In the musical sequel, Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried) anxiously prepares for the grand opening of Hotel Bella Donna. Thankfully, her mother’s best friends Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters) are on hand to calm Sophie’s nerves and encourage her to look to the past for courage. Cue flashbacks to the young Donna (Lily James, in the role made famous by Meryl Streep) embarking on her lusty Mediterranean odyssey with the young Sam (Jeremy Irvine), Harry (Hugh Skinner) and Bill (Josh Dylan) via Paris. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again lays all of its Abba love on us with platform heels, tongue-in-cheek humour and joy-infused musical performances choreographed to perfection by Anthony Van Laast. The addition of Cher as Streep’s impeccably coiffed mother is a masterstroke.

MONDAY

Notorious (1946) ***** (Talking Pictures TV, 9.05pm)

The screen positively crackles with electricity whenever Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant appear together in Alfred Hitchcock’s tense, sexy thriller set directly after the end of the Second World War. Alicia (Bergman), the pro-American daughter of a convicted Nazi spy, is recruited by US government agent Devlin (Grant) to infiltrate a group of Hitler’s supporters who escaped to Brazil following his downfall. They include Alexander Sebastian (Bergman’s Casablanca co-star Claude Rains), who has always been in love with Alicia, which makes the situation trickier when she and Devlin start falling for each other. As their affair develops, look out for what must surely be one of the most passionate of all screen clinches.

TUESDAY

The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) ***** (ITV4, 9.00pm)

Missouri farmer Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood, who also directs) vows revenge after his family is slaughtered by maverick soldiers during the American Civil War. While tracking down those responsible, he becomes an outlaw, much-feared by those who’ve heard of his ruthless ways. As time passes and the conflict ends, Josey becomes a wanted man, but despite his efforts to remain a loner, he unwittingly creates a new family involving a bunch of mismatched, disenfranchised souls. Largely ignored on release, this absorbing and frequently very funny Western is now rightly regarded as one of Eastwood’s best – although the charming Chief Dan George comes close to stealing the entire movie from him.