Spider-Man swings across the schedules this week in almost every cinematic incarnation. Over five consecutive evenings, the BBC screens the Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland films before concluding with the spectacular animated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. It’s a rare opportunity to watch one of popular culture’s greatest superheroes evolve over more than twenty years while remaining true to the wit, heart and humanity that have always made Peter Parker so appealing.
Another theme running through the week is the legacy of science, war and the nuclear age. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is complemented by documentaries examining atomic weapons, modern technology and the changing political landscape, while historical programmes revisit Britain’s role in Palestine and America’s cultural transformation. Together they offer thoughtful viewing that feels particularly timely.
Classic cinema is equally well served. Alfred Hitchcock enjoys a well-deserved showcase, Ealing comedy is represented by one of its greatest films, and music lovers can enjoy documentaries ranging from Ian Fleming and James Bond to the opening night of the Proms. Whether you’re looking for intelligent documentaries, blockbuster entertainment or timeless classics, there’s plenty to enjoy.
TV & Film
Saturday 11 July
1.35pm | Talking Pictures TV | Obsession (1948)
Edward Dmytryk’s Obsession is a dark, elegant slice of postwar British cinema — a thriller that hums with quiet menace and moral unease. Dmytryk, exiled from Hollywood after the McCarthy witch hunts, brings a sharp outsider’s eye to London’s fog and restraint. His camera lingers on the genteel surfaces of domestic life, then lets the cracks show: jealousy, revenge, and the slow corrosion of civility.
There’s a precision to the storytelling — taut, deliberate, never hurried — yet beneath it runs a pulse of bitterness. You can feel the director’s own disillusionment bleeding into the frame, the sense of a man betrayed by his country and now dissecting betrayal itself. The performances are clipped and controlled, the tension coiled tight as piano wire.
It’s a film that rewards patience: stylish, intelligent, and quietly devastating. One of those overlooked gems that remind you how exile can sharpen an artist’s vision — turning bitterness into art, and confinement into clarity.
2.15pm | BBC Two | North by Northwest (1959)
Hitchcock’s great chase movie still feels like pure cinematic oxygen — light on its feet, effortlessly stylish, and propelled by a kind of mischievous confidence that few thrillers ever manage. Cary Grant, immaculate in that grey suit, glides through the chaos with a charm so polished it borders on defiance. He’s the perfect wrong man: suave, bewildered, and increasingly aware that the world has tilted into absurd danger around him.
The film moves with a dancer’s rhythm, shifting from urbane comedy to breath‑tightening suspense without ever losing its balance. The crop‑duster sequence remains astonishing — a stretch of open farmland turned into a stage for one of Hitchcock’s most audacious set‑pieces, where silence becomes menace and the sky itself seems to turn predatory.
And then there’s the Mount Rushmore finale, a delirious blend of spectacle and tension, as if Hitchcock decided to carve his own signature into American mythology. It’s playful, nerve‑jangling, and executed with such precision that you can feel the craft humming beneath every frame.
Decades on, North by Northwest still stands as one of cinema’s most irresistible entertainments — a thriller that understands the joy of movement, the thrill of danger, and the pleasure of watching Cary Grant stay cool while the world goes mad around him.
4.25pm | BBC Two | Vertigo (1958)
Hitchcock’s Vertigo is cinema as dream — a slow, spiralling descent into obsession and illusion that feels both hypnotic and deeply human. The film’s rhythm is deliberate, almost narcotic, drawing you into its web of longing and deceit until reality itself begins to shimmer and distort.
James Stewart gives one of his most unsettling performances: a man undone by desire, haunted by what he cannot possess, and trapped in the vertigo of his own imagination. Kim Novak, ethereal and enigmatic, becomes both muse and ghost — the embodiment of Hitchcock’s fascination with the fragile boundary between love and control.
Every frame is composed like a fevered memory: the San Francisco skyline drenched in colour, the spiralling staircase, Bernard Herrmann’s aching score that seems to echo from the subconscious. It’s a film about the impossibility of truly knowing another person — and the danger of trying to remake them in your own image.
Now hailed as Hitchcock’s masterpiece, Vertigo remains a haunting study of identity and obsession, a work of extraordinary visual beauty and emotional depth that lingers long after the credits fade.
6.20pm | Sky Arts | Ian Fleming and the Curse of Bond
A fascinating examination of Ian Fleming’s life and the extraordinary legacy of James Bond. It explores how the world’s most famous spy transformed both his creator’s reputation and popular culture itself.
6.45pm | Channel 4 | Mrs Harris Goes to Paris (2022)
Lesley Manville brings such warmth and quiet sparkle to Mrs Harris that the whole film seems to glow around her. There’s a gentleness to the storytelling — a belief that kindness still matters, that optimism isn’t naïve but necessary, and that sometimes the smallest acts of courage can change the shape of a life.
The film moves with an easy, unhurried charm. Paris is rendered not as a postcard fantasy but as a place where dreams feel just within reach, provided you’re stubborn enough to keep walking toward them. Manville’s performance anchors it all: funny, tender, and full of that unmistakable dignity she gives even the most modest characters.
It’s the sort of film that lifts your mood almost without you noticing. A celebration of decency, determination and the quiet thrill of following your heart — and truly, it’s impossible to watch without smiling.
8.00pm | Channel 5 | Alexander Armstrong Across America (3/4)
Alexander travels from the Hoover Dam through the bright lights of Las Vegas and into the dramatic landscapes of Utah. An engaging blend of travel, history and gentle humour.
9.05pm | Talking Pictures TV | Our Man in Havana (1959)
Graham Greene’s Cold War caper still feels wonderfully fresh — a satire that tiptoes between comedy and danger with the lightest of feet. Alec Guinness is in glorious form here, playing the mild‑mannered vacuum‑cleaner salesman who finds himself swept into the world of espionage almost by accident. His performance has that perfect Guinness blend: dry wit, gentle bewilderment, and a twinkle that suggests he’s enjoying the absurdity as much as we are.
The film’s great joke — that an entire intelligence operation can be built on sketches of imaginary weapons that are, in fact, parts of a vacuum cleaner — lands even harder today. Greene understood how bureaucracy, paranoia and political theatre could inflate nonsense into national security. The script dances along that razor’s edge, exposing the ridiculousness of spycraft without ever losing its grip on the human stakes.
Shot in pre‑revolutionary Havana, the film has an atmosphere all its own: humid, lively, slightly frayed at the edges. The city becomes a character in the story, a place where glamour and decay sit side by side, perfectly suited to Greene’s worldview.
It remains one of the sharpest, funniest Cold War satires — a tale where espionage becomes gloriously absurd, and Alec Guinness proves once again that nobody does deadpan chaos quite like him.
10.35pm | PBS America | Mandate for Murder: Britain’s Struggle in Palestine
A compelling historical documentary exploring Britain’s increasingly impossible position during the final years of the Palestine Mandate, and the decisions that helped shape the modern Middle East.
11.15pm | Channel 4 | Legion (2010)
Legion is one of those films that dives head‑first into biblically‑charged sci‑fi horror — angels as warriors, prophecy as battleground, and humanity caught in the crossfire. It takes the Book of Revelation, shakes it hard, and lets the pieces fall across a dusty desert diner where a small group of strangers suddenly find themselves defending the future of the world.
The setup is gloriously pulpy: God has lost faith in humanity, the angels have turned violent, and the only one willing to defy divine orders is Michael, played with steely conviction by Paul Bettany. He arrives armed, wounded, and determined, a fallen protector who believes humanity deserves one last chance. The film treats scripture like speculative fiction — ancient myth colliding with modern fear, celestial beings rendered as terrifying, body‑warping creatures that feel closer to horror than hymn.
The diner siege gives the story its shape. Ordinary people — a cook, a waitress, a drifter, a grieving father — suddenly become the final line of defence. The isolation of the setting amplifies the tension: heat shimmering off the tarmac, neon flickering, the sense that the world outside has already begun to unravel. When the attacks come, they’re loud, chaotic and unapologetically over the top, the kind of supernatural action that leans into spectacle rather than subtlety.
It’s not a quiet film, and it’s not trying to be. Legion is a wild, violent, end‑times thriller that mixes biblical mythology with sci‑fi energy and horror imagery. If you enjoy stories where angels descend not with harps but with teeth and fury, where prophecy becomes a battlefield, and where humanity’s survival hangs by a thread in the middle of nowhere, this one delivers exactly that
Sunday 12 July
2.05pm | BBC Two | Sweet Charity (1969)
Bob Fosse’s Sweet Charity is one of those films that seems to dance even when nothing is moving. His choreography — sharp, angular, slyly seductive — remains some of the most electrifying ever put on screen. You can feel the pulse of Broadway in every frame, yet the film has a cinematic looseness that lets the movement breathe. Fosse’s camera doesn’t just record dance; it participates, gliding, cutting, and framing in ways that make the choreography feel alive.
At the centre of it all is Shirley MacLaine, whose performance deserves far more recognition than it usually gets. She brings a warmth that softens the film’s harder edges, a humour that keeps Charity’s optimism from seeming foolish, and a vulnerability that makes her heartbreak land with real force. MacLaine plays Charity as a woman who keeps choosing hope even when the world gives her every reason not to — and that stubborn optimism becomes the film’s emotional engine.
The set‑pieces are dazzling: “Big Spender” with its jagged, confrontational staging; the psychedelic whirl of the Pompeii Club; the bittersweet tenderness of “If My Friends Could See Me Now.” Each sequence feels like Fosse testing the limits of what a musical number can be — theatrical, cinematic, ironic, and sincere all at once.
More than half a century later, Sweet Charity still shimmers. It’s bold, stylish, and unexpectedly moving, a musical that understands both the glitter and the grit of chasing happiness. And MacLaine, radiant and resilient, gives a performance that lingers long after the final fade.
4.25pm | BBC Two | Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Joe Wright’s adaptation of Austen’s classic feels wonderfully alive — not a museum piece, but a story with breath, movement and emotional immediacy. From the first shot, there’s a freshness to the filmmaking: the camera glides through bustling households, muddy fields and candlelit rooms, giving the world a lived‑in texture that suits Austen’s sharp social observations.
Keira Knightley brings a bright, quick intelligence to Elizabeth Bennet. Her performance has a modern spark without ever breaking the period spell — she’s witty, impulsive, and capable of sudden flashes of vulnerability that make her emotional journey feel utterly human. Matthew Macfadyen’s Darcy, meanwhile, is a study in quiet intensity. His reserve isn’t coldness but awkwardness, and when it finally cracks, the effect is unexpectedly moving.
The supporting cast enriches the world rather than crowding it: Brenda Blethyn’s flustered Mrs Bennet, Donald Sutherland’s gentle melancholy as Mr Bennet, and Judi Dench’s magnificently imperious Lady Catherine. Dario Marianelli’s score, built around those insistent piano motifs, gives the film a heartbeat — romantic, restless, and tinged with longing.
Elegant, warm and beautifully crafted, Wright’s Pride & Prejudice captures both the wit and the aching romance of Austen’s novel. It remains one of the most emotionally resonant and visually graceful versions of literature’s most celebrated love story.
6.50pm | ITV1 | Grease (1978)
Nearly fifty years on, Grease still fizzes with the kind of energy most modern musicals would kill for. It’s bright, cheeky, and utterly irresistible — a film that understands the joy of pure pop fantasy and delivers it with unwavering confidence.
The songs remain the engine of its appeal. “Summer Nights,” “Greased Lightnin’,” “You’re the One That I Want” — they haven’t aged a day. They’re still infectious, still impossible not to hum along to, still capable of lifting the mood of an entire room.
John Travolta and Olivia Newton‑John are endlessly charming, their performances pitched perfectly between sincerity and playful exaggeration. Travolta’s swagger and Newton‑John’s sweetness create a chemistry that carries the film through every twist of its candy‑coloured plot.
The whole thing moves with a kind of giddy momentum: slick choreography, bold colours, and that unmistakable sense of fun that defined late‑70s Hollywood musicals. It’s nostalgic without being dusty, exuberant without tipping into chaos, and warm‑hearted enough to make even its silliest moments feel affectionate.
9.00pm | BBC Two | The Tech Billionaire Takeover
A timely investigation into the extraordinary influence of today’s technology billionaires and the growing impact they have on politics, business and society.
9.00pm | BBC Three | Elvis (2022)
Baz Luhrmann’s dazzling biography is as flamboyant as its subject, with Austin Butler delivering an outstanding performance as the King of Rock and Roll.
10.00pm | BBC Two | Oppenheimer (2023)
Christopher Nolan’s Oscar‑winning epic remains astonishing in its balance of scale and intimacy — a film that moves between vast historical forces and the private, conflicted mind of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Cillian Murphy’s performance anchors everything: precise, haunted, and quietly devastating, capturing a man who can envision the future yet cannot escape the consequences of bringing it into being. The film’s structure — fractured, looping, almost musical — mirrors the moral complexity at its core, shifting between the feverish race to build the bomb and the political reckoning that followed. Nolan treats the creation of the atomic bomb not as a triumph of genius but as a moment of irreversible human transformation, and the film’s final act makes that weight unmistakable. A towering achievement: intellectually fierce, visually overwhelming and morally unflinching.
12.05am | Channel 4 | Beau Is Afraid (2023)
Ari Aster’s sprawling, surreal odyssey is a wild mix of dark comedy, psychological horror and anxious fever dream, following Joaquin Phoenix through a world that seems determined to punish him at every turn. It’s funny, disturbing and often exhausting — a three‑hour plunge into paranoia and maternal dread that shifts tone and genre without warning. Bold, strange and defiantly uncompromising, it’s one of the most adventurous studio films of recent years, though its intensity and eccentricity mean it certainly won’t be for everyone.
Monday 13 July
7.05pm | BBC Three | Spider-Man (2002)
Sam Raimi’s hugely influential superhero adventure still crackles with energy, establishing the template that modern comic‑book films would follow for decades. Tobey Maguire brings an endearing awkwardness and sincerity to Peter Parker, making his transformation into Spider‑Man feel genuinely emotional. Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin remains one of Marvel’s most memorable villains — theatrical, menacing and psychologically sharp. A landmark in the genre that still holds up beautifully.
9.00pm | BBC Two | Evolution
A major new documentary series exploring the science of evolution and humanity’s place in the natural world. Beautifully filmed and intellectually ambitious, the complete series is also available on iPlayer.
9.00pm | BBC Three | Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Often hailed as one of the greatest superhero films ever made, Spider‑Man 2 deepens everything that made Raimi’s first instalment so beloved. Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker faces a crisis of confidence that gives the film real emotional weight, while Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus is magnificent — tragic, intimidating and richly human. The action sequences remain spectacular, but it’s the character work and moral complexity that make this sequel endure.
9.00pm | BBC Four | Andy Warhol’s America
An engaging portrait of the artist who transformed modern art while capturing the contradictions of post-war America with extraordinary wit and originality.
10.30pm | BBC Four | American Visions: The Age of Anxiety
Continuing the story of American art through the Vietnam era, this episode examines how artists responded to conflict, political upheaval and profound social change.
Tuesday 14 July
8.00pm | BBC Four | Penelope Keith Night
BBC Four celebrates one of Britain’s most treasured comic actors with an evening of programmes showcasing a career that has brought pleasure to audiences for more than five decades. A welcome tribute to an actress whose impeccable timing and effortless charm made her a television favourite.
10.40pm | BBC One | Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Tom Holland’s first solo outing as Peter Parker has a buoyant, youthful energy that instantly sets it apart. The film leans into the awkwardness, enthusiasm and uncertainty of being a teenage superhero, giving the character a freshness that feels true to the comics without repeating earlier screen versions. Holland plays Peter as a kid desperate to prove himself, tripping over his own eagerness, and that sincerity becomes the film’s heartbeat.
The Marvel spectacle is there — slick action, sharp humour, a lively pace — but it’s grounded by the film’s smaller scale. Instead of world‑ending stakes, Peter is navigating school, friendships, crushes and the desire to impress Tony Stark. That balance keeps the story human even when the set‑pieces get big.
Michael Keaton’s Vulture is one of the franchise’s most believable and sympathetic villains. He’s not a cosmic tyrant or mad scientist; he’s a working‑class man pushed into criminality by circumstance and resentment. Keaton plays him with a quiet, simmering intensity, making him both threatening and understandable. His scenes with Holland have real tension because the conflict feels personal rather than abstract.
Bright, funny and character‑driven, Homecoming is a confident reset for Spider‑Man — a film that remembers the hero is at his best when he’s juggling homework, heartbreak and high‑flying danger all at once.
10.55pm | Film4 | Misericordia (2024)
A dark, quietly gripping French drama, Misericordia builds its tension with patience rather than noise. It’s the kind of European cinema that trusts atmosphere, silence and moral ambiguity to do the heavy lifting. The result is a film that feels unsettling in a slow, deliberate way — not through shocks, but through the steady tightening of its emotional screws.
The story unfolds in a rural community where old wounds and buried secrets begin to surface. The filmmaking is restrained, almost austere, yet beautifully composed: muted colours, long takes, and a sense of stillness that makes every small gesture feel significant. That visual calm becomes a counterpoint to the moral turbulence beneath the surface.
Performances are subtle and lived‑in, with characters who rarely say exactly what they mean. The tension comes from what’s left unsaid — glances, pauses, the weight of shared history. As the film progresses, the moral uncertainty deepens: guilt, forgiveness, and responsibility blur into one another, leaving the viewer to navigate the same fog as the characters.
It’s intelligent, atmospheric and quietly haunting. Misericordia rewards patient viewing, offering a slow‑burn drama where the real drama lies not in what happens, but in what it means.
11.00pm | Sky Documentaries | Cobain: Montage of Heck (2015)
Brett Morgen’s acclaimed documentary remains the most intimate portrait of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain. Drawing on home movies, artwork, journals and previously unseen archive footage, it paints a deeply human picture of a remarkable but troubled artist.
11.10pm | BBC One | Rush (2013)
Ron Howard’s Rush isn’t just a motor‑racing film — it’s a character study wrapped in adrenaline, a story about two men who push themselves so close to the edge that the line between triumph and self‑destruction becomes almost invisible. The James Hunt–Niki Lauda rivalry is presented not as a simple clash of personalities but as a kind of elemental duel: instinct versus calculation, swagger versus discipline, chaos versus control.
The racing sequences are exhilarating, shot with a visceral immediacy that makes the cockpit feel claustrophobic and the track terrifyingly alive. But the film’s real power lies in the contrast between its two leads. Chris Hemsworth’s Hunt is all charm and recklessness — a man who seems to burn brighter the closer he gets to danger. Daniel Brühl’s Lauda, meanwhile, is meticulous, introverted, and fiercely intelligent, a driver who treats every lap as a problem to be solved. Their rivalry becomes a strange form of respect, each man recognising in the other something he lacks, something he fears, something he needs.
Howard’s direction gives the story a glossy, almost operatic sheen, yet the emotional beats land with surprising weight. Lauda’s near‑fatal crash and agonising recovery are handled with restraint, allowing the horror of the injuries — and the sheer will required to return — to speak for themselves. The film understands that greatness often comes at a price, and it doesn’t shy away from showing how brutally that price is paid.
Beautifully photographed, superbly acted and far richer than its high‑octane surface suggests, Rush is a gripping exploration of ambition, rivalry and the dangerous seduction of being the best — whatever the cost.
Wednesday 15 July
7.05pm | BBC Three | The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Andrew Garfield brings warmth, humour and vulnerability to a fresh interpretation of Peter Parker. Overshadowed at the time by other superhero films, it has grown considerably in reputation.
7.55pm | PBS America | Silent War: The Shadow of Atomic Bombs
A sobering documentary examining the nuclear age and the political, military and human consequences of atomic weapons. An important reminder that the legacy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki continues to shape international affairs.
8.00pm | Sky Arts | D.H. Lawrence: Sex, Exile and Greatness
A thoughtful portrait of one of England’s most controversial literary figures, exploring the experiences that shaped his life and inspired works that challenged social conventions.
8.35pm | Talking Pictures TV | The Man in the White Suit (1951)
One of Ealing Studios’ sharpest comedies, The Man in the White Suit still feels startlingly relevant — a satire wrapped in whimsy, powered by Alec Guinness at his most quietly brilliant. If Sunday’s screening slipped by, this second chance is well worth taking.
Guinness plays Sidney Stratton, a mild‑mannered chemist whose invention — a fabric that never wears out and never gets dirty — should be a triumph of human ingenuity. Instead, it becomes a threat to the entire economic order. The film’s genius lies in how lightly it handles such heavy ideas: progress, fear, vested interests, and the way institutions react when confronted with change that might actually benefit ordinary people.
The comedy is gentle but pointed. Factory owners panic at the thought of profits evaporating; unions fear unemployment; politicians fret about upheaval. Everyone, in their own way, becomes a guardian of the status quo. Stratton, glowing in his luminous white suit, becomes a kind of accidental prophet — a man whose idealism is too pure for the world he’s trying to improve.
Ealing’s trademark blend of charm and bite is on full display. The film moves briskly, the dialogue sparkles, and Guinness anchors it with that wonderful mix of innocence and determination. More than seventy years on, its observations about innovation and resistance to change feel uncannily modern.
9.10pm | BBC Three | The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Visually bold and emotionally charged, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a film that swings for the fences — sometimes too enthusiastically, but often with real heart. Its greatest strength lies in Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, whose chemistry gives the story an emotional core that keeps it grounded even when the plot threatens to overload itself with villains, mysteries and franchise‑building threads.
Garfield’s Peter Parker is at his most open and vulnerable here, torn between responsibility and desire, fear and hope. Stone’s Gwen Stacy remains one of the most compelling love interests in any superhero film — smart, capable, and fully realised, never just a narrative accessory. Their scenes together have a warmth and sincerity that elevate the entire film.
Visually, it’s ambitious. The neon‑lit action sequences, especially the battles with Electro, have a kinetic, almost musical rhythm. The film embraces colour, movement and spectacle, leaning into a heightened comic‑book aesthetic that sets it apart from other Spider‑Man incarnations.
Yes, it tries to do too much — juggling multiple villains, backstory threads and future‑setup ambitions — but when it focuses on Peter and Gwen, it becomes something genuinely affecting.
A flawed but striking entry in the Spider‑Man canon, held together by two performances that give it real emotional weight.
Thursday 16 July
9.00pm | Channel 5 | The Odyssey with Dan Snow
Dan Snow combines archaeology, history and mythology to follow the journey described in Homer’s epic poem. An accessible and entertaining exploration of one of the foundation stones of Western literature.
9.00pm | BBC One | Who Do You Think You Are? – Toby Jones
The acclaimed actor explores his family history, uncovering stories of resilience, hardship and unexpected discoveries. As ever, genealogy provides a fascinating window into Britain’s social history.
9.00pm | BBC Four | Kim Novak’s Vertigo
A fascinating documentary celebrating Kim Novak’s unforgettable performance in Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece and exploring the film’s extraordinary legacy.
9.00pm | Sky News | Iran School Bombing: The Search for Truth
A serious investigation into one of Iran’s most shocking recent tragedies, examining the evidence, the aftermath and the continuing search for accountability.
10.15pm | BBC Four | Vertigo (1958)
Following the documentary, Hitchcock’s masterpiece returns to the screen.
Vertigo feels hypnotic — a film that doesn’t simply tell a story but pulls you into a psychological undertow. Hitchcock’s masterpiece is a slow, spiralling study of obsession, memory and the treacherous illusions we build for ourselves. It moves with a dreamlike cadence: deliberate, unsettling, and strangely beautiful.
James Stewart gives one of his most complex performances, a man drifting between desire and delusion, unable to trust his own perceptions. Kim Novak, luminous and enigmatic, becomes both muse and mirage — the embodiment of Hitchcock’s fascination with identity as something fragile, malleable, and dangerously idealised. Their relationship is less romance than haunting, a dance between longing and control that grows more disturbing the deeper the film descends.
Visually, it’s astonishing. The colour palette, the famous dolly‑zoom, the spiralling imagery, Bernard Herrmann’s aching score — everything works together to create a sense of emotional vertigo, as if the film itself is tilting beneath your feet. San Francisco becomes a city of ghosts and echoes, a place where past and present blur and memory becomes a trap.
More than sixty years on, Vertigo remains one of cinema’s greatest achievements: hypnotic, unsettling, and endlessly rewatchable, a film that reveals something new every time you let it pull you under.
10.40pm | BBC One | Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Tom Holland’s second solo outing as Peter Parker has an easy, breezy confidence — a film that understands the appeal of Spider‑Man as both wide‑eyed teenager and reluctant hero. Taking him out of New York proves inspired: the European setting gives the story a fresh rhythm, letting the film play with new landscapes, new dangers and a sense of dislocation that mirrors Peter’s own uncertainty after the events of Endgame.
Holland is terrific here, balancing humour, vulnerability and that slightly overwhelmed charm that makes his Spider‑Man so engaging. The film leans into the awkwardness of adolescence just as much as the spectacle of superhero action, and that blend keeps it emotionally grounded even when the plot becomes gloriously extravagant.
Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio adds a fascinating twist — a character who shifts between mentor, illusionist and threat, embodying the film’s central theme: nothing is quite what it seems. The action sequences are inventive, especially the reality‑bending illusions that feel closer to psychological mazes than traditional fights.
It’s colourful, funny and surprisingly heartfelt, a post‑Endgame adventure that lets Peter Parker grow up a little without losing the youthful energy that defines him. A lively, entertaining chapter in the Spider‑Man story.
Friday 17 July
4.40pm | Film4 | Tolkien (2019)
Nicholas Hoult gives an understated performance as the young J.R.R. Tolkien in an intelligent and moving portrait of the friendships, love and wartime experiences that inspired one of the twentieth century’s greatest literary imaginations.
7.00pm | BBC Two | First Night of the Proms
The 2026 Proms open with a celebration of American music, including Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man and Gershwin’s An American in Paris. South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim performs Ravel’s Piano Concerto before the evening concludes with the world premiere of a new work by French-British composer Josephine Stevenson.
7.20pm | BBC Three | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
A breathtaking animation that pushes the boundaries of superhero storytelling. Dazzlingly inventive, emotionally rich and visually extraordinary, it stands among the finest animated films ever made.
7.45pm | Sky Documentaries | The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (2020)
A warm, insightful documentary charting the extraordinary rise, reinvention and enduring legacy of the Bee Gees. Rich in archive footage and wonderful music, it’s essential viewing for pop fans.
9.00pm | ITV1 | The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox (1/8)
A new documentary series revisiting one of the most controversial criminal investigations of the twenty-first century, examining the evidence, media frenzy and legal battles from fresh perspectives.
10.00pm | ITV1 | The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox (2/8)
The story continues immediately, exploring the extraordinary twists and turns that kept the case in the headlines for years.
11.05pm | BBC Two | Insomnia (2002)
Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia is one of his most quietly unsettling films — a psychological thriller that trades spectacle for atmosphere, letting dread accumulate in the endless daylight of an Alaskan summer. The sun never sets, shadows never arrive, and that perpetual brightness becomes a kind of torment, blurring judgement, eroding certainty and pushing its characters toward dangerous moral ground.
Al Pacino is superb as Will Dormer, a detective already frayed at the edges before he even arrives in Nightmute. The insomnia isn’t just a physical affliction; it becomes a metaphor for guilt, fear and the slow collapse of self‑control. Pacino plays him with weary intensity — a man who can’t sleep, can’t think clearly, and can’t outrun the mistakes he’s made.
Robin Williams delivers one of the most chilling performances of his career. He’s quiet, deliberate, almost gentle — and that restraint makes him far more disturbing than any flamboyant villain. His scenes with Pacino have a cat‑and‑mouse tension built not on action but on psychology: two men circling each other, each seeing something of himself reflected in the other, each trying to manipulate the shifting moral fog.
Nolan’s direction is controlled and atmospheric. The landscape feels vast yet claustrophobic, the light oppressive, the air thick with unease. It’s a thriller about perception, guilt and the way truth becomes slippery when exhaustion takes hold.
Moody, intelligent and quietly gripping, Insomnia remains one of Nolan’s most underrated achievements — a study of conscience and corruption set beneath a sky that refuses to go dark.
Streaming
The streaming services continue to offer an impressive mix of prestige drama, documentaries, independent cinema and films worth catching before they disappear. This week’s highlights range from Sherlock Holmes’ irrepressible younger sister and a gripping crime thriller to an acclaimed documentary on Spanish bullfighting. There’s also a timely reminder to check the “leaving soon” lists, with several outstanding films making their final appearances.
Available Now
Enola Holmes 3 (Netflix)
Millie Bobby Brown returns as Enola Holmes for another witty mystery packed with adventure, humour and Victorian intrigue. With its engaging performances and playful energy, the series continues to prove that Sherlock’s younger sister is more than capable of carrying her own adventures.
Red Right Hand (NOW Cinema)
Orlando Bloom stars in this hard-edged Southern crime thriller about a former enforcer drawn back into violence. Gritty, atmospheric and packed with tense confrontations, it’s an entertaining addition to NOW’s growing collection of action films.
Afternoons of Solitude (MUBI)
One of the year’s most acclaimed documentaries, this thoughtful and visually stunning study of bullfighting examines ritual, performance and mortality through the experiences of one of Spain’s leading matadors. Whether admired or criticised, it offers fascinating insight into a deeply contested tradition.
From Saturday 11 July
Deadly Influence: The Social Media Murders (Discovery+)
This unsettling true crime series explores cases where social media played a central role in manipulation, obsession and ultimately murder. Disturbing, timely and thought-provoking, it examines how online lives can have devastating real-world consequences.
From Wednesday 15 July
Lucky (Apple TV+ – first two episodes)
A stylish crime thriller in which a woman attempting to escape her past discovers it is unwilling to let her go. Strong performances and an intriguing premise suggest another quality drama for Apple TV+.
Ride or Die (Prime Video – all eight episodes)
Arriving as a complete box set, this fast-paced action series mixes crime, friendship and high-stakes adventure. Perfect for viewers looking for an addictive weekend binge.
Leaving Soon
Better Man (Prime Video – until Sunday 12 July)
The imaginative Robbie Williams biopic is unlike any conventional musical film, using bold visual storytelling to explore fame, success and self-doubt. One of the most inventive British films of recent years.
The Lavender Hill Mob (Channel 4 Streaming – until Monday 13 July)
Alec Guinness stars in one of Ealing Studios’ greatest comedies. Witty, elegant and endlessly entertaining, it remains one of the finest British films ever made.
BlacKkKlansman (BBC iPlayer – until Tuesday 14 July)
Spike Lee’s Oscar-winning drama combines humour, suspense and righteous anger in the remarkable true story of a Black police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan. Powerful, provocative and unforgettable.
Radio
Radio offers a thoughtful selection this week, ranging from philosophy and popular music to history and extraordinary personal testimony. Particularly moving is the BBC World Service’s account of Holocaust survivor Harry Haft, while Radio 4 marks the fiftieth anniversary of one of the most influential books ever written on animal welfare.
Saturday 11 July
Archive on 4: 50 Years of Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation (BBC Radio 4)
Half a century after Peter Singer’s groundbreaking book transformed attitudes towards animal welfare, this edition of Archive on 4 examines its enduring influence on ethics, politics and the modern animal rights movement.
Sunday 12 July
6.00pm | BBC Radio 2 | 30 Years of Girl Power
Three decades after the Spice Girls burst onto the music scene, Radio 2 celebrates the phenomenon that reshaped British pop culture. Packed with memorable music and archive material, it’s a nostalgic look back at one of the defining musical movements of the 1990s.
Monday 13 July
9.45pm | BBC Radio 3 | The Essay: The Dawn of Music
An absorbing exploration of how music first emerged in human society, examining archaeology, anthropology and the evolutionary origins of one of humanity’s defining achievements.
Friday 17 July
1.30pm | BBC World Service | Heart and Soul
The extraordinary story of Harry Haft, the Polish Jew forced to fight in more than seventy brutal contests for survival inside Nazi concentration camps. Later adapted into the 2021 film The Survivor, this moving documentary explores not only his remarkable endurance but the psychological scars that remained throughout his life. Powerful, haunting and deeply affecting listening.
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