Geek shows and movies on UK TV in the coming week

Comedy veterans return, the new guard challenges, and a freshly peeled sitcom is brewing on the burners. Plus, a brilliant little bit of geek film lovers' animation wraps up the next seven days of telly goodies.

Ask Rhod Gilbert is new to BBC1 and airs Monday at 10:35pm. The first of an eight episode run sees the stand-up comedian answer questions, from the considered to the ridiculous, with the help of guest comedians and other personalities joining regulars Greg Davies and Lloyd Langford.

Another new series, this time on BBC2, is Whites, starring Alan Davies as a country house hotel chef. A similar role was this TV fan's favourite performance by Lenny Henry in Chef! (apart from the wonderful Christmas fantasy flick, Bernard And The Genie, of course!), so we're willing to give this a go. Co-starring are Darren Boyd (Saxondale), Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) Isy Suttie (Peep Show) and Stephen Wight (Ashes To Ashes and Misfits) and the first of six episodes starts on Tuesday, September 28th at 9:00pm.

Right on its tail are veteran comedians Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse, returning for a third series of Harry & Paul, Tuesday, September 28th at 9:30pm. Expect spoofs of other shows you love and love to hate and the pair's unique character creations in lots of make-up and wigs in the first of a six-episode stay on BBC2.

If you can handle an abrubt change of emotions, then switch over to Channel 4 on Tuesday, September 28th at 10:00pm where the concluding episode of This Is England '86 threatens to deliver quite a violent and shocking finale to the short four episode run of the dramatic series. If you need to catch up, 4OD has all three preceeding episodes here.

Wednesday, September 26th, and the FX channel grant another opportunity to watch a Burn Notice double bill with season 3's first two episodes, Friends And Family and Question And Answer. Besides being a fun watch, it's also a great excuse for a mid-week mojito and the chance to chant "Mooyami" along with an accent-confused Fi, in the opening title sequence, starting at 6:00pm.

Blink and you'll miss it, on Thursday at 20 past midnight (Okay, that's technically Friday, but this list goes through Thursdays and it'll be lost if we don't catch it here) Crash, Bang, Wallow, a brilliant, but brief animation about ex-stuntman, Larry LeTan, born moustachioed and a bit too big for a baby, tells his sad Hollywood tale on Channel 4. It's on YouTube in its entirety, but Larry's ballad deserves a big screen, as we're sure you'll agree once you've seen him in his iconic scenes aside the action stars we know so well. Or do we?

Now, on to the films showing through the weekend and a bit beyond. This week there's a collection of stoner and gross-out comedies amid gut wrenching and stomach churning horror films. Choose your poison and, as always, if we missed anything interesting, have a shout in the comments, with our thanks.

Please also note: the ordinal numbers for dates will help you scan through this simple list with your browser's search function. Enter '25th' in your browser's Find box or window to highlight and/or tab through all movies shown on Saturday. Enjoy!

9
On: Sky Movies Premiere
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 4:00pm (and 5:00pm Premiere+1, 11:45/12:45pm 25th Sept, and similar times daily through 7th Oct)

300
On: Five
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 9:00pm

(500) Days Of Summer
On: Sky Movies Premiere
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm Premiere+1, then daily at similar times through 30th Sept)

A View To A Kill
On: ITV1
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 1:50pm

Alien Nation: Body and Soul
On: horror channel
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 4:00pm (and noon 25th Sept)

Alien Nation: Dark Horizon
On: horror channel
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: noon

Alien Nation: Millenium
On: horror channel
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 4:00pm (and noon 26th Sept)

Alien Nation: The Enemy Within
On: horror channel
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 4:00pm (and noon 27th Sept)

American Pie
On: ITV1
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 10:35pm

Big
On: Channel 4
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 5:30pm (and 6:30pm 4+1)

Boomerang
On: Film4
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 1:05pm (and 2:05pm Film4+1, 1:25/2:25pm 30th Sept)

Canadian Bacon
On: TCM
Date: Monday 27th September
Time: 7:00pm (and 10:55am 28th Sept)

Children Of Men
On: ITV4
Date: Monday 27th September
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm ITV4+1)

City Of God
On: Film4
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 00:40am (and 1:40am Film4+1)

Cliffhanger
On: Sky1
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 9:00pm (and 9:00pm 26th Sept Sky2, 9:00pm 29th Sept Sky1)

Collateral
On: Channel 4
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm 4+1)

Darkman
On: Sky Movies Sci-Fi/Horror
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 00:45am

Dracula: Prince Of Darkness
On: ITV1
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 02:25am

Falling Down
On: ITV4
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm ITV4+1)

Gorky Park
On: TCM
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: midnight

Hercules (animated, 1997)
On: Five
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 5:25pm

Harold And Kumar Get The Munchies
On: Comedy Central
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm CC+1, 10/11:00pm 30th Sept)

I, Robot
On: Film4
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
On: LIVING
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 01:00am (and 2:00am Living+1)

Isolation
On: Film4
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 11:10pm (and 00:10am 26th Sept Film4+1)

Jackie Chan's First Strike
On: Five
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 7:25pm

Juno
On: Channel 4
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm 4+1)

Kingpin
On: Film4
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 01:00am

Knocked Up
On: ITV1
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 10:05pm

Kontroll
On: Film4
Date: Tuesday 28th September
Time: 00:50am (and 1:50am Film4+1)

Memphis Belle
On: ITV3
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm ITV3+1)

Miller's Crossing
On: Film4
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 11:30pm (and 00:30am 27th Sept Film4+1)

Never Say Never Again
On: ITV1
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 3:50pm

Night at the Museum
On: Film4
Date: Monday 27th September
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

Of Mice And Men
On: TCM
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 6:45pm (and 10:45am 27th Sept)

Pandorum
On: SyFy
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm Syfy+1, 10/11:00pm 26th Sept)

Predator
On: E4
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm E4+1, 9/10:00pm 26th Sept)

Project X
On: Film4
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 1:00pm (and 2:00pm Film4+1)

Ravenous
On: horror channel
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 11:10pm

Rushmore
On: Film4
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 10:55pm (and 11:55pm Film4+1)

Species
On: ITV4
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 10:45pm (and 11:45pm ITV4+1)

Stir Of Echoes
On: SyFy
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 01:00am (and 2:00am Syfy+1, 00:10/1:10am 26th Sept)

Teen Wolf
On: SyFy
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 3:00pm (and 4:00pm Syfy+1)

The Brink's Job
On: TCM
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 1:00pm (and 5:00am 25th Sept)

The Day After Tomorrow
On: Film4
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 6:40pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

The Fly (1958)
On: Film4
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 2:50pm (and 3:50pm Film4+1)

The Fog (1980)
On: ITV4
Date: Monday 27th September
Time: 00:55am (and 1:55am ITV4+1)

The Hangover
On: Sky Movies Premiere
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 10:00am (and 11:00am Premiere+1 & 8/9:00pm, then daily at similar times through 30th Sept)

The Karate Kid
On: Watch
Date: Saturday 25th September
Time: 4:35pm (and 5:35pm Watch+1, 2:35/3:35pm 26th Sept)

The Life Of David Gale
On: ITV3
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 11:10pm (and 00:10am 27th Sept ITV3+1)

The Magnificent Seven
On: Film4
Date: Friday 24th September
Time: 6:30pm (and 7:30pm Film4+1)

Top Gun
On: Channel 4
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 10:50pm (and 11:50pm 4+1)

Triangle
On: SyFy
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm Syfy+1, 11:00/midnight 30th Sept)

Tron
On: Sky Movies Sci-Fi/Horror
Date: Sunday 26th September
Time: 09:40am (and 5:40pm, 3:30pm & 9:00pm 29th Sept)

Whisky
On: Film4
Date: Monday 27th September
Time: 01:45am (and 2:45pm Film4+1)