Best films to watch on TV today, tonight and this week

There may be plenty of movies available on streaming platforms and being released weekly in cinemas, but nothing quite beats the feeling of finding a hidden gem while flicking through the TV.

With such a raft of options – old and new – to pick from this weekend, it can often feel like a bit of an insurmountable task to find one that really tickles your fancy. But that's where we come in to do the hard work for you, picking out some of the most stellar options available to tune into.

This weeks selection includes everything from Bette Davis classics Dark Victory and Now Voyager to Luca Guadagnino's 2015 psychological drama A Bigger Splash.

There's something for everyone and if you're wondering where to find some of the best films on the terrestrial channels this week, we've got you sorted.

Read on for an expertly compiled list of the best flicks airing across the next seven days.

Friday 8 May

Twelve O’Clock High - 11am, Film4

Second World War drama starring Gregory Peck. Bomber pilots at a US air base in England become restless when martinet General Frank Savage takes over command from an officer who had become too emotionally involved in the job. Read our full review

Dune - 9pm, ITV2

Epic sci-fi drama starring Timothée Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson. In the year 10,191, Paul Atreides and his mother, Lady Jessica, accompany Paul's father the Duke after he is made steward of the resource-rich desert planet Arrakis. Paul begins to feel that his destiny is entwined with that of the planet, but powerful enemies of House Atreides are plotting the family's destruction. Read our full review

Midnight Run - 9pm, Film4

Comedy thriller starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin. Bounty hunter Jack Walsh is just the man to bring embezzler Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas to justice. Down on his luck, the $100,000 fee is just what Jack needs right now. The only problem is that Mardukas cheated the Mafia out of a cool $15 million, and they want their money back. Can Jack beat the FBI and an unscrupulous rival to his quarry? Read our full review

Knocked Up - 11:25pm, BBC One

Romantic comedy starring Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl. Alison Scott's career as a television journalist is going from strength to strength. Out on the town to celebrate a promotion, she ends up in bed with amiable slacker Ben Stone and their one-night stand results in an unexpected pregnancy that turns Alison's world upside down. Read our full review

Saturday 9 May

Dark Victory - 9:55am, BBC Two

Melodrama starring Bette Davis. Long Island heiress Judith Traherne has a jet-setting lifestyle revolving around her thoroughbred horses. Plagued by headaches, she is persuaded to visit eminent brain specialist Dr Frederick Steele, who advises that only an immediate operation can save her. Read our full review

Now Voyager - 11:35am, BBC Two

Classic romantic drama starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains. Following a nervous breakdown, dowdy and repressed Charlotte Vale undergoes psychiatric treatment and emerges transformed. However, beauty and confidence are no defence against the heartache she experiences when she falls in love with Jerry Durrance, a married man. Read our full review

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - 4:25pm, Great Action

Western starring James Stewart and John Wayne, and featuring Lee Marvin. In 1910, a US senator and his wife return, unannounced, to the frontier town of Shinbone to attend the funeral of an obscure rancher. A local reporter takes an interest in their arrival, and the senator then begins to tell the story of Shinbone's wild days, when gunman Liberty Valance terrorised the town. Read our full review

The Producers - 11:45pm, Film4

Classic comedy starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. Struggling producer Max Bialystock was once the "King of Broadway", but is now making a living by conning old ladies out of their savings. Then his accountant, Leo Bloom mentions a sure-fire way of making some quick cash by putting on a guaranteed Broadway flop. Read our full review

Chopper - 11:50pm, Film4

Biographical crime drama starring Eric Bana as Mark "Chopper" Read, the notoriously violent Australian hoodlum who became a bestselling author. Read our full review

Sunday 10 May

The Alamo - 1:25pm, 5 Action

Epic historical western, directed by and starring John Wayne, also starring Richard Widmark. In the town of San Antonio in 1836, a band of Texans and their supporters battle against overwhelming odds to defend a Spanish mission from Mexican troops. Read our full review

Despicable Me 3 - 2:10pm, BBC One

Animated comedy adventure featuring the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig and Trey Parker. Having already acquired a wife and three orphan daughters, reformed supervillain Gru now discovers that he has a long-lost twin, Dru. But Dru is hoping he can convince his brother to return to his wicked ways... Read our full review

Mamma Mia! - 3:10pm, ITV1

Musical romantic comedy featuring the music of Abba, and starring Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan. On an idyllic Greek island, young Sophie Sheridan prepares to marry the man of her dreams. But a problem looks set to blight the big day as the bride doesn't know who her father is. So Sophie sends out invitations to three men who might fit the bill, hoping to solve the riddle once her guests arrive. Read our full review

Iron Claw - 10pm, BBC Two

Biographical sports drama starring Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson. In the early 1980s, the Von Erich brothers emerge as superstars of professional wrestling under the tutelage of their tyrannical father. But the boys' success in the ring comes at great psychological cost, and over the years this already troubled family endures a series of terrible tragedies. Read our full review

Moon - 11pm, Channel 4

Science-fiction drama starring Sam Rockwell. Lone mining engineer Sam Bell is cut off from humanity on the far side of the Moon with only a computer for company, but is looking forward to returning to Earth and his family after three long years of solitude. But with only weeks to go before his departure, an accident out on the surface causes Sam to suspect everything is not what it seems. Read our full review

Monday 11 May

Canyon Passage - 1:10pm, BBC Two

Western starring Dana Andrews, Brian Donlevy and Susan Hayward. Oregon, 1854: a bank manager's addiction to gambling and his habit of using customers' money to pay off his debts lead to murder. Read our full review

Sisu - 9:30pm, Film4

Second World War action thriller starring Jorma Tommila. Finland, late 1944: stoic, battle-worn Aatami Korpi toils in the wild as a lone prospector. While transporting a hefty bounty of gold nuggets, Aatami is accosted by a Nazi platoon who discover his wares. He initially escapes and the Nazis go in hot pursuit, but they soon discover that their prey is no ordinary miner. Read our full review

A Bigger Splash - 11pm, BBC Two

Drama starring Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes. Rock star Marianne Lane enjoys a holiday with her lover on a remote Sicilian island, but tensions arise when her hedonistic ex-husband Harry arrives with a young woman in tow. Read our full review

Tuesday 12 May

Twelve O’Clock High - 12:40pm, Film4

Second World War drama starring Gregory Peck. Bomber pilots at a US air base in England become restless when martinet General Frank Savage takes over command from an officer who had become too emotionally involved in the job. Read our full review

Inside Man - 9pm, Legend

Crime thriller from director Spike Lee, starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster. When police detective Keith Frazier is called in as a hostage negotiator following a siege at a Manhattan bank, he thinks he's dealing with a straightforward crime scenario. However, the criminal ringleader scuppers all police attempts to take control of the situation and events are further complicated by the appearance of shady power broker Madeleine White, whose main objective is to protect the personal interests of the bank's president rather than aiding and abetting the police operation. Read our full review

The Theory of Everything - 11:50pm, BBC Two

Biographical drama starring Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones. Based on a memoir by Stephen Hawking's first wife, Jane, this story about the personal and professional life of the renowned scientist follows him from his undergraduate days at Oxford, to the onset of his crippling motor neurone disease and his ground-breaking work in the field of physics. Read our full review

Wednesday 13 May

The Proud Rebel - 4:35pm, Talking Pictures TV

A Confederate veteran struggles with his son's shock-induced muteness. Read our full review

Robin and Marian - 5:05pm, Film4

Adventure starring Sean Connery, Audrey Hepburn and Robert Shaw. After fighting in the Crusades and following the death of King Richard, Robin Hood and his long-time companion Little John return to Sherwood Forest to be reunited with Maid Marian and once again confront the evil Sheriff of Nottingham. Read our full review

GoldenEye - 7:20pm, ITV4

Spy adventure starring Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean. When a Russian general and his beautiful accomplice steal a deadly weapon called the GoldenEye from a base in Siberia, secret agent James Bond sets out to apprehend the villains before their lethal acquisition is put to use. Read our full review

Thursday 14 May

Imitation of Love - 3:25pm, Film4

Classic melodrama from director Douglas Sirk, starring Lana Turner. Aspiring actress Lora Meredith and her black housekeeper Annie Johnson both struggle to cope with the growing pains and problems of their daughters. Read our full review

Three Days of the Condor - 9pm, Legend

Thriller starring Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway. After the offices of a CIA research branch are attacked, only Joe Turner is left alive. On the run from the killers, Turner seeks help from his bosses, but discovers there is a traitor among them. Read our full review

Sightseers - 11:35pm, BBC Four

Black comedy from Kill List director Ben Wheatley, starring Alice Lowe and Steve Oram. A couple from the Midlands set off on a week-long caravan holiday in the English countryside. However, their vacation soon takes a violent turn. Read our full review

Friday 15 May

It Came from Outer Space - 3pm, Film4

Classic science-fiction drama based on a story by Ray Bradbury, starring Richard Carlson and Barbara Rush. Amateur astronomer John Putnam discovers a strange craft that has crash-landed in the desert. When he reports it to the local sheriff he faces ridicule, until the townspeople start to disappear. Read our full review

Two Mules for Sister Sara - 4:40pm, 5 Action

Western starring Clint Eastwood and Shirley MacLaine. The Mexican Desert: when Hogan, lean, dusty and unshaven, saves a woman from a fate worse than death, he gets more than he bargained for. She turns out to be Sister Sara, a nun on a mission from God, and not Hogan's usual kind of woman. Read our full review

The Dark Knight Rises - 10:45pm, ITV1

Action fantasy concluding Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, starring Christian Bale, Tom Hardy and Anne Hathaway. There has been no sign of Batman in Gotham City since the defeat of the Joker eight years earlier. Bruce Wayne has become a recluse, but he is forced to abandon his seclusion and don cape and cowl once more when merciless terrorist Bane threatens the city with annihilation. Read our full review

Triangle of Sadness - 11pm, BBC Two

Satirical comedy drama starring Charlbi Dean and Harris Dickinson. Following a major argument, up-and-coming influencer couple Yaya and Carl join a luxury cruise holiday on a superyacht. Their unstable relationship is further challenged when a nautical disaster leaves the couple, along with a handful of fellow passengers, stranded on a remote beach. Read our full review

If you have Netflix, we have rounded up the best movies on Netflix and the best series on Netflix to watch now – and Disney Plus viewers can check out our best movies on Disney Plus guide. Got Prime Video? We also have the best movies on Amazon Prime.

Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.