Geek shows and movies on UK TV in the coming week

We may be a week or two behind the US convoy of new series and shows, but the next seven days see UK telly pressing hard on the pedal and catching up with new episodes fresh off the showroom floors.

Those who've been left adrift with the Destiny and its crew can find out what happens next on Stargate Universe, Tuesday October 5th at 9:00pm on Sky1 in the second season opener, Intervention. It's the first of twenty episodes starring Robert Carlyle and a cast of interesting characters in space. If their fate's grown a bit blurry since you last watched, you can catch up with the maiden season cliffhanger episodes of Incursion, parts one and two, on Saturday, October 2nd starting at 11:00am on Sky2.

Also on Tuesday, October 5th, vampiric drama lovers who aren't that thrilled with space adventure can tune to ITV2 for The Vampire Diaries' second season premiere. The first of twenty-two episodes is aptly entitled The Return. Fans of the show with SGU supporter partners, hide the remotes early. That's our best advice.

That saying of 'feast or famine' is appropriate this week, with yet another Tuesday night show. Whichever you settled on at 9:00, you can follow it up at 10:00pm on Sky1, October 5th, with the Fringe season 3 premiere, Olivia. Clever fans of the sci-fi show will guess the focus of this first of twenty-two episodes. But, which Olivia will it be?

The US comedy, Modern Family, returns with a second run of twenty-two episodes on Thursday, October 7th at 8:00pm on Sky1. The season premiere's entitled The Old Wagon and deals with letting go, in the most hilarious ways possible. The show's a fresh and funny take on family interaction and if you haven't seen it yet, Thursday's the day.

Thursday's also the day to try the untested new series, Nikita. The Pilot episode airs at 9:00pm on October 7th on Living. Now, before you get all worked up about that being a girly channel, and the little sister or older aunt of laddish Bravo, bear in mind that, in this space next week, we'll be announcing geeky boy spy Chuck will be moving to that same station for his fourth series, following Nikita weekly at 10pm.

Now, on to the films showing through the weekend and a bit beyond. 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 '2nd' in your browser's Find box or window to highlight and/or tab through all movies shown on Saturday. Enjoy!

Army of Darkness
On: TCM
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 11:35pm

Bananas
On: TCM
Date: Sunday 3rd October
Time: 02:20am

Batman Begins
On: TCM
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 9:00pm (and 10/11:00pm 5th Oct ITV2/+1)

Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey
On: Sky Movies Family
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 10:25am (and 9:35pm)

Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure
On: ITV2
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 5:10pm (and 6:10pm ITV2+1, noon/1:pm 3rd Oct)

Black Book
On: more4
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 11:05pm

Blade
On: TCM
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 11:50pm (and 11:35pm 5th Oct)

Bulletproof Monk
On: Film4
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

Children of Men
On: ITV4
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 11:50pm (and 00:50pm ITV4+1)

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
On: Sky Movies Premiere
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 6:00pm (and 7:00pm Premiere+1, 11:50am/12:50pm 2nd Oct, then daily at similar times through 14th Oct)

Die Hard 2
On: Channel 4
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm 4+1)

Doctor Strange
On: Sky Movies Family
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 09:05am (and 5:00pm)

Downfall
On: more4
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 9:00pm (and 1:00am 2nd Oct)

Enter The Dragon
On: Five USA
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 10:55pm (and 11:55pm FiveUSA+1, 10:55/11:55pm 4th Oct)

Eragon
On: Film4
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

Event Horizon
On: ITV4
Date: Monday 4th October
Time: 00:45am (and 1:45am ITV4+1)

Five Children And It
On: BBC 2
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 3:10pm

Ghost Rider
On: Five
Date: Sunday 3rd October
Time: 9:00pm

Hot Fuzz
On: ITV1
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 10:15pm

Inherit The Wind
On: TCM
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 3:00pm (and 7:00am 2nd Oct)

Kes
On: TCM
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 3:00pm (and 7:10am 3rd Oct)

Layer Cake
On: FIVER
Date: Sunday 3rd October
Time: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm Fiver+1, 9/10:00pm 4th Oct)

Mars Attacks!
On: ITV4
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 7:55pm (and 8:55pm ITV4+1)

Mercury Rising
On: ITV4
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm ITV4+1)

Ned Kelly
On: ITV4
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: midnight (and 1:00am 2nd Oct ITV4+1)

Never Say Never Again
On: ITV1
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 1:55pm

Night At The Museum
On: Film4
Date: Sunday 3rd October
Time: 6:50pm (and 7:50pm Film4+1)

Phone Booth
On: Channel 4
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 11:15pm (and 00:15am 3rd Oct 4+1)

Project X
On: Film4
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 4:35pm (and 5:35pm Film4+1)

Ravenous
On: horror channel
Date: Sunday 3rd October
Time: 9:00pm

Saturday Night And Sunday Morning
On: TCM
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 1:00pm (and 5:00am 2nd Oct)

Stargate Continuum
On: Sky2
Date: Monday 4th October
Time: 10:00pm

The Basketball Diaries
On: TCM
Date: Monday 4th October
Time: 00:55am

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage
On: horror channel
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 11:10pm

The Day After Tomorrow
On: Film4
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 6:40pm (and 7:40pm Film4+1)

The Hound Of The Baskervilles
On: TCM
Date: Monday 4th October
Time: 3:00pm (and 7:20am 5th Oct)

The Karate Kid, Part II
On: Watch
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 4:50pm (and 5:50pm Watch+1, 2:50/3:50pm 3rd Oct)

The Omen
On: Film4
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 11:00pm (and midnight Film4+1)

The Pianist
On: ITV3
Date: Sunday 3rd October
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm ITV3+1)

The Recruit
On: Watch
Date: Saturday 2nd October
Time: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm Watch+1, 9/10:00pm 3rd Oct)

The Sixth Sense
On: ITV2
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 11:10pm (and 00:10am 2nd Oct ITV2+1)

The Time Traveler's Wife
On: Sky Movies Premiere
Date: Friday 1st October
Time: 10:00am (and 11:00am Premiere+1 & 8/9:00pm then daily at similar times through 7th Oct)

Wise Blood
On: BBC 2
Date: Sunday 3rd October
Time: 01:40am