The Riddle of the Sands (1978)

Channel 4, 1.35pm

Set at the dawn of the 20th century, this classic ripping yarn stars Simon MacCorkindale and Michael York as British sailing enthusiasts who become amateur sleuths when they begin to suspect that sinister Germans are hatching dastardly schemes in a remote island chain in the North Sea. Based on the Erskine Childers novel, The Riddle of the Sands is a handsomely filmed but oddly clunky and old-fashioned affair, right down to its beastly Bosch villains in pointy hats. Jenny Agutter and Alan Badel co-star. (102min)

Howards End (1992)

Film4, 6.15pm

The last of the Merchant Ivory team's sumptuous E.M. Forster adaptations almost feels like a greatest hits collection, wheeling on an all-star luvvie-fest of regulars including Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins and Helena Bonham Carter. Forster's wryly observed social drama concerns two Edwardian families, the snobby Schlegels and the nouveau- riche Wilcoxes, thrown together by ill- fated romance and a grand old house on which both claim ownership. Thompson's droll, understated performance and the screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's crisp screenplay both won Oscars. (140min)

That Thing You Do! (1996)

Channel 4, 1.35am

Tom Hanks made his feature directing debut with this sunny, rose-tinted evocation of the early days of rock'n'roll. In 1964 a clean-cut quartet from Pennsylvania (left) rocket to overnight fame when their bouncy, Beatles-ish hit single becomes a national sensation. Hanks himself co-stars as the band's cheerfully cynical manager, while Tom Everett Scott and Johnathon Schaech play the peachy keen pop hopefuls on the bumpy road to fickle fame. Sweetly nostalgic but a little too vanilla flavoured, That Thing You Do! is as charmingly bland as its superstar director. (108min)

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