Best films to watch on TV today, tonight and this week
Whatever your taste, there's a movie on for everyone.
While there are more than enough streamers and streaming options for movie lovers out there, nothing quite beats the feeling of finding a hidden gem while flicking through the TV.
There are plenty of options – old and new – to pick from this week, from iconic romcoms like Notting Hill to modern epics like The Northman, so there really is something for everyone.
If you're wondering where to find some of the best films on the terrestrial channels this week, we've got you sorted with our picks for the next seven days.
With so many amazing films airing, we've compiled a list of the best flicks for you to choose from below.
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Friday 13th September
Raiders of the Lost Ark - 6:40pm, Film4
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Action adventure starring Harrison Ford and Karen Allen. Indiana Jones's outrageous exploits take him around the world in search of the legendary Ark of the Covenant, a religious artefact of unspeakable power wanted by the Nazis. With the help of an old flame, Indy takes on his enemies in a terrifying and death-defying battle to the finish. Read our full review
Alien - 10pm, BBC One
Sci-fi horror thriller starring Sigourney Weaver. On its way back to Earth at the end of a routine voyage, the spacecraft Nostromo picks up signals from a nearby planet. When three of the crew go to investigate, one of them is attacked by a mysterious creature that emerges from a repository of eggs. Read our full review
Filth - 11:50pm, Film4
Comedy drama based on the novel by Irvine Welsh, starring James McAvoy. Corrupt police officer Bruce Robertson will stop at nothing to attain the promotion he thinks is coming his way, including the moral destruction of his colleagues. But with a debilitating drink and drugs habit plus a personality disorder, Bruce has to fight a host of inner demons first. Read our full review
Saturday 14th September
Earthquake - 3pm, Legend
All-star disaster movie starring Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner. The bustling and glamorous city of Los Angeles, perched precariously on the San Andreas Fault, is about to experience the ultimate horror - a series of devastating tremors that spell disaster for those who live or work there. Read our full review
Source Code - 9pm, Great Movies
Sci-fi thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan. Army pilot Colter Stevens wakes up to discover that he has assumed the identity of another man. As he struggles to come to terms with this bizarre situation, the train on which he is travelling is blown up and Colter finds himself at the heart of a secret military operation to identify the culprit. Read our full review
The Northman - 9pm, Channel 4
Historical action adventure starring Alexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman and Claes Bang. Viking nobleman Amleth spends years in exile, bent on pursuing revenge against his uncle Fjölnir, who murdered Amleth's father and married his mother, Gudrún. When he hears of Fjölnir's own exile into the Icelandic wilderness, Amleth spies his chance... Read our full review
21 Jump Street - 9pm, ITV2
Action comedy starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. Underachieving rookie cops Jenko and Schmidt are given the chance to make their names when they are sent back to their old high school to infiltrate a drugs ring. But unfortunately the new boys don't blend in as well as was hoped. Read our full review
Notting Hill - 9pm, Film4
Romantic comedy starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. An American film star bumps into a humble bookshop owner and they begin an unlikely affair. But their relationship is put under strain when the press finds out. Read our full review
Sunday 15th September
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes - 4pm, Great Movies
Sci-fi adventure starring Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke and Andy Serkis. With most of the human population wiped out, the world is now ruled by super-intelligent apes. But their chimp leader Caesar finds his loyalties divided when a small band of human survivors strike back. Read our full review
Hobson’s Choice - 6:25pm, Talking Pictures TV
Classic comedy starring Charles Laughton and John Mills. While his three unmarried daughters run his business, boot-shop owner Henry Hobson passes the time drinking. But Hobson's livelihood is threatened after his eldest daughter marries his assistant, meek Willie Mossop. Read our full review
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - 6:30pm, Film4
Action adventure starring Harrison Ford, Sean Connery and Denholm Elliott. When archaeologist Henry Jones disappears, his son Indiana joins in the search for him. In a desperate race against time, Indy encounters some old enemies and once again finds himself in pursuit of an ancient religious artefact. Read our full review
Kong: Skull Island - 6:45pm, ITV2
Fantasy adventure starring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and Samuel L Jackson. A group of scientists and mercenaries are sent to a newly discovered Pacific island to investigate its unusual fauna. When their convoy is destroyed, the team faces a battle for survival against Skull Island's monstrous inhabitants - among them a certain giant ape. Read our full review
Peterloo - 11:55pm, BBC Two
Historical drama starring Rory Kinnear and Maxine Peake. In the late 1810s, the Industrial Revolution creates new challenges for Britain's working class. When a Manchester family get involved in the emerging radical political movement, interest swells around noted orator Henry Hunt, and events build to a protest that turns deadly - and alters the country's history for ever. Read our full review
Monday 16th September
Gideon’s Day - 11am, Film4
Crime drama starring Jack Hawkins. Over the course of one day, busy Scotland Yard Inspector George Gideon encounters a myriad of problems: allegations of corruption among the staff, a hit-and-run death and a killer on the loose. Read our full review
Hidden Figures - 6:25pm, Film4
Drama based on a true story, starring Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe. Three African-American women working as Nasa mathematicians in the 1960s do their bit for the space race, battling institutionalised racism and sexism in the process. Read our full review
Assault on Precinct 13 - 11pm, Legend
Drama based on a true story, starring Taraji P Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe. Three African-American women working as Nasa mathematicians in the 1960s do their bit for the space race, battling institutionalised racism and sexism in the process. Read our full review
Tuesday 17th September
Ice Cold in Alex - 11am, Film4
Second World War drama starring John Mills, Sylvia Syms and Anthony Quayle. Libya 1942: an army officer with a drink problem leads a small party in an ambulance on a hazardous cross-desert journey to Alexandria. Read our full review
The Great Debaters - 6:25pm, Film4
Drama, based on a true story, starring Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker. Texas, 1935: at minor African-American Wiley College, professor Melvin B Tolson forms a student debating team, which does so well against local colleges that Tolson soon sets his sights on national glory. But if his team is to debate against the best, racism and the team's own shaky estimation of its abilities will have to be tackled head on. Read our full review
On the Basis of Sex - 11:05pm, BBC Two
Drama based on a true story, starring Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer. In the 1950s, Ruth Bader Ginsburg works day and night to complete a law degree while taking care of her infant daughter and her husband, who is in recovery from cancer. In 1970, despite her career being hampered by sexist discrimination, she is asked to fight a minor civil rights case that will become a legal landmark and make her reputation. Read our full review
Wednesday 18th September
Rio Grande - 11am, Film4
Classic John Ford western starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. On the Mexican border in the 1880s, Lieutenant Colonel Yorke of the US cavalry is conducting a lonely, vain campaign against marauding Apaches. When his trooper son arrives at the fort, followed by Yorke's estranged wife, family conflict adds to his troubles. Read our full review
True Grit - 11:05pm, 5 Action
Remake of the John Wayne western from the Coen brothers, starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. When farmer Frank Ross is murdered by a hired hand, his teenage daughter Mattie decides to take the matter in hand and find a man with "true grit" to bring the killer to justice. Mattie's search leads her to "Rooster" Cogburn, a hard-drinking, one-eyed US marshal with a fearsome reputation. Read our full review
Monster - 1:50am, Film 4
Oscar-winning crime drama based on the true story of executed serial killer Aileen Wuornos, starring Charlize Theron and featuring Christina Ricci. When sex worker Aileen Wuornos meets lesbian Selby Wall in a bar, they strike up a friendship that blossoms into romance. But Aileen's dangerous occupation leads her into a cycle of violence that will cast a shadow over their relationship. Read our full review
Thursday 19th September
The Quiet Man - 3:30pm, Film4
Romantic comedy starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Sean Thornton returns to his native Galway to settle down in peace after growing up in America. The quiet life still eludes him, however, as he finds himself reluctantly sparring with his neighbours, his sweetheart and his conscience. Read our full review
Easy A - 9pm, BBC Three
Comedy starring Emma Stone. When a little white lie about losing her virginity makes the previously anonymous Olive Penderghast the talk of school, she decides to exploit her new-found notoriety to improve her social standing. But being "easy" comes with mixed blessings Read our full review
El Cid - 11:25am, BBC Four
Epic historical adventure starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren. During the 11th century, Spain is a country divided between small Christian kingdoms and Moorish strongholds. From the confusion of warring factions there emerges an intrepid knight whose exploits earn him the name El Cid. Read our full review
Friday 20th September
The Last Wagon - 11:45am, 5 Action
Western starring Richard Widmark and Felicia Farr. A hardened trapper on his way to jail for murder finds himself responsible for the only survivors of an Apache attack on a wagon train. Read our full review
Born Free - 2:30pm, Film4
Biographical wildlife adventure, starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers. George Adamson, a game warden in Kenya, brings home three lion cubs whose mother he has shot. With his wife Joy he sets about rearing them and Joy becomes particularly attached to the smallest cub, Elsa. Read our full review
2 Guns - 9pm, Great Movies
Crime drama starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. Two undercover agents working for different organisations are planted in the same criminal gang, unaware of each other's true identity. While getting in each other's way, the danger is that a powerful Mob boss will escape justice. Read our full review
The Outfit - 10:40pm, BBC One
Crime drama starring Mark Rylance and Zoey Deutch. In the 1950s, English tailor Leonard moves from Savile Row to ply his trade in Chicago, where he has no choice but to make clothes for a family of vicious gangsters. When a turf war erupts and rumours of a snitch spread around the neighbourhood, Leonard realises he will need his wits about him to survive. 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.
