Sunday's TV tips
(2012) It may have flopped at the box office, but this action-packed adventure, based on the novel A Princess Of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is worth a look for the eye-popping effects alone.
The plot sees young Edgar Rice Burroughs (Daryl Sabara) being summoned to the home of his beloved uncle and former Confederate soldier John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who has perished in mysterious circumstances.
Leafing through Carter’s cherished journal, Burroughs learns that his uncle sought sanctuary from Apaches in a cave and was magically transported to the Red Planet, where he was caught up in an epic conflict.
Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th and current Dalai Lama, and the longest-lived incumbent of this ancient and important Buddhist position.
He turns 80 tomorrow, and has spent the past 56 years in exile after escaping the Chinese authorities by fleeing to India.
Gyatso’s period in the role has been particularly difficult one thanks to Tibet’s relationship with China, and no doubt the topic while feature in Emily Maitlis’ interview with him.
He is also set to discuss his spiritual beliefs and the topic of ageing.
New series. Fiona Bruce and art experts Philip Mould and Bendor Grosvenor come to the aid of a man who has inherited three paintings that he believes were painted by LS Lowry.
However, he cannot prove whether they are the genuine article, and since Lowry is the British artist whose work is most frequently forged, it will take a great deal of evidence to convince the art establishment of their value.
The search for the truth leads to a discovery that challenges established beliefs about the artist’s life.
(1988) Academy Award nominee Sharon Stone and Stephen Seagal star in the bare-knuckled action film that made Segal a star.
Trained in Aikido, Nico Toscani (Seagal) worked as a CIA operative and saw horrors that he can never forget. Now a Chicago policeman, Nico believes he has escaped his past.
But he uncovers a black market drugs-for-weapons trade run by a sadistic CIA operative he remembers from Vietnam.
He is ordered not to investigate, but he knows the evil that is being unleashed in his hometown, and that it is time to place himself Above the Law.
Starring: Stephen Seagal, Sharon Stone.
Tuesday marks the 10th anniversary of the 7/7 bombings in London, which claimed the lives of 52 people and injured more than 700, making it the greatest loss of life in a British terrorist attack since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
There will be many tributes this week, but among the most moving is this drama, which is adapted by playwright Frank McGuinness from Julie Nicholson’s book about losing her daughter Jenny in the bombing at Edgware Road.
Emily Watson stars as Julie, who receives the shattering news that Jenny is missing in the wake of attacks, before finally having her daughter’s death confirmed.
The family are in anguish over their loss, but gradually come to realise that if they are going to honour Jenny’s memory, then can’t let the tragedy break them.
We’re at the midway point of the sci-fi drama, and it continues to enthral and bewitch in equal measure.
Anita is taken for testing, which yields the surprising revelation that the supposedly brand new synth is actually 14 years old, and has a past she is not aware of.
Pete hates being stuck at home with Simon, but his selfish behaviour drives Jill from the house.
Hobb closes in on Niska, and Mattie gets in touch with Leo, who reveals something that could change the world. Gemma Chan and Katherine Parkinson head the cast.
New to BBC2. Seth MacFarlane’s rude, crude and usually hilarious animated comedy is certainly arriving in style, with an episode that sees it crossing over with the other great cartoon sitcom about a dysfunctional family The Simpsons.
The two worlds collide when the Griffin clan needs to get out of Quahog to escape the backlash over Peter’s sexist comic strip, and find themselves stranded in Springfield.
(2000) Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts) is in a tight spot following a car accident, though not her fault, her attorney, Ed Masry (Albert Finney), fails to land her a settlement. With no money, no job and no prospects, Erin pleads with Ed to hire her at his law firm.
There she discovers a cover-up involving contaminated water that's causing devastating illnesses in a local community.
By dogged determination and the ability to speak their language, Erin ultimately earns the trust of the locals and signs up more than 600 plaintiffs.
Erin and Ed go on to win the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit in U.S. history.
Starring: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Conchata Ferrell, Jack Gilland, David Brisbin.
There was a time when women’s football was a bit of a joke, a slow-paced affair lacking in skill and finesse.
But those days are long gone, and the latest World Cup has focused some nail-biting encounters full of great play, determination and excitement – in fact, the men’s game could learn a lot by watching it, particularly the way the participants behave on the pitch.
The Beeb deserves a pat on the back for promoting the sport too, driving interest that may lead to more girls joining teams. Now it’s time for the final, which takes place in Vancouver.
(2011) Sharp-shooter Ottway (Liam Neeson) is employed by a refinery in Alaska to dispose of the wolves that sometimes target the roughnecks as they carry out their exhausting work.
After a gruelling five-week shift, Ottway boards the plane home only for a brutal storm to wrench the craft apart, depositing the widower and seven other men into the Alaskan tundra at the mercy of a pack of flesh-hungry wolves.
The Grey is a testosterone-fuelled survival thriller than casts Neeson as the hard man haunted by tragedy, while the pivotal crash sequence is orchestrated with brio by director Joe Carnahan, who depicts the carnage through the eyes of Ottway as he drifts out of consciousness.
(2007) In 1881, the final year of Jesse James’s extraordinary life, the James Gang continues to rob banks and railroad owners.
Evading capture and the enemies who would love to collect the bounty on his head, Jesse (Brad Pitt) is initially flattered by the attention of devoted fan Bob Ford (Casey Affleck) but soon grows concerned by the young man’s fixation.
Hero worship sours into jealousy as Bob realises that he can never win the public’s affections in the same way as his charismatic idol.
So when the authorities propose to kill Jesse, Bob steps forward... Affleck blows Pitt and everyone else off screen as James’s historically maligned assassin, with a performance of such naked emotion and intensity, it takes your breath away.
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