Geek shows and movies on UK TV in the coming week

One of the highlights of the telly weekend arrives tonight, Friday  November 5th in the highly anticipated debut of The Walking Dead, at 10:00pm on FX. The first of six episodes of the comic book-based zombie series is entitled Days Gone Bye, and gets off to a gruesome start from soon after the first few frames. We're sure you'll be hooked, if you can handle the extremely realistic effects, that is. Once you've watched it, catch up with our US speed review here and share your thoughts.

The ninth series of Spooks concludes with its final episode airing on Monday, November 8th at 9:00pm on BBC1. We'll see how tightly the plot threads and nooses will be tied in what's certain to be an action-packed ending. Who will survive and whether the series lives on remains to be seen, but we'll be watching.

Here's a bit of a personal admission, if I may. The flight that took me to my new country of England showed a marathon run of Only Fools And Horses, which I'd never seen before on the PBS channels that featured British shows in the US. While it took another year for me to figure out what the title meant, I understood the show and laughed along with everybody else.

But, as a transplanted American, I didn't get The Royle Family at first. Although the concept eluded me, I knew I was watching something truly unique and I stuck with it long enough to be totally entranced by this family that rarely got off the couch. Now it's a favourite and I'm happy to catch reruns and holiday specials any time they're shown. So, I'm very much looking forward to two specials about the family that bickered, but never barked. The first airs this week and features cast and crew interviews and outtakes on The Royle Family: Behind The Sofa on Wednesday, November 10th at 9:00pm on Gold. I'll be there on mine. Should be fun!

We're truly being treated to the good stuff this week as the second series of the surprise hit, Misfits, hits our screens on Thursday, November 11th at 10:00 on E4. The first series was much more than we'd anticipated in a show described as ASBO owners with superpowers and the strong writing and portrayals made this programme much more than preteen snack viewing. We can't wait to see where the dirt's settled and hope to have a review soon after the episode airs.

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 '6th' in your browser's Find box or window to highlight and/or tab through all movies shown on Saturday. Enjoy!

28 Weeks Later
On: Film4
Date: Wednesday 10th November
Time: 11:15pm

Audition
On: horror channel
Date: Wednesday 10th November
Time: 02:05am

Back To The Future
On: ITV2   
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 5:45pm (and 6:45pm ITV2+1)

Beetlejuice
On: Five
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 3:30pm

Blade
On: TCM
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 11:35pm

Blade Runner
On: BBC 3
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 11:45pm

Bugsy Malone
On: Film4  
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 5:10pm (and 6:10pm Film4+1)

Casino Royale (1967)
On: ITV4
Date: Monday 8th November
Time: 7:20pm (and 8:20pm ITV4+1, 6:20/7:20pm 9th Nov)

Crash
On: Film4
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
On: Film4
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

Day Of The Dead (1985)
On: BBC 2
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 00:50am

Dragnet
On: ITV4
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 6:50pm (and 7:50pm ITV4+1)

Dressed to Kill (1980)
On: TCM
Date: Wednesday 10th November
Time: 11:05pm

El Mariachi
On: Sky Movies Indie   
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 11:45am (and 10:00pm)

Ghostbusters
On: FIVER
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Fiver+1, 5:50/6:50pm 6th Nov)

Harold And Kumar Get The Munchies
On: Five
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 11:15pm

Honey, I Shrunk The Kids
On: E4
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 2:35pm (and 3:35pm E4+1)

Hostage
On: E4  
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm E4+1, 10/11:00pm 9th Nov)

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)
On: more4
Date: Thursday 11th November
Time: 11:50am

Lethal Weapon
On: TCM
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 01:20am

Mr Saturday Night
On: ITV3
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 01:05am (and 2:05am ITV3+1)

Planes, Trains And Automobiles
On: Sky Movies Comedy   
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 08:35am

Ray
On: ITV3
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 11:10pm (and 00:10am 6th Nov ITV3+1)

RoboCop
On: TCM
Date: Saturday 6th November 2
Time: 11:15pm

Se7en
On: Five   
Date: Monday 8th November
Time: 10:00pm

South Park: Bigger, Longer And Uncut
On: Comedy Central
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: midnight Friday 5th November (and 1:00am 6th Nov CC+1)

Stand By Me
On: Five
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 2:40pm

Star Trek: The Motion Picture
On: Film4
Date: Sunday 7th November 2
Time: 6:25pm (and 7:25pm Film4+1)

Stir Of Echoes
On: SyFy  
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 11:40pm (and 00:40am 6th Nov Syfy+1)

Tenebrae
On: horror channel  
Date: Thursday 11th November
Time: 00:50am

The Cat O' Nine Tails
On: horror channel  
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 10:55pm

The Cannonball Run
On: Five USA
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 8:05pm (and 9:05pm Five USA+1, 12:15/1:15pm 7th Nov)

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)
On: more4
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 12:55pm

The Dirty Dozen
On: Five
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 6:05pm

The Long Kiss Goodnight
On: ITV4  
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 11:50pm (and 00:50am 6th Nov ITV4+1)

The Matrix Reloaded
On: ITV2    
Date: Monday 8th November
Time: 11:45pm (and 00:45am 9th Nov ITV2+)

The Night Of The Hunter
On: TCM
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 9:00pm (and 1:20am 8th Nov)

The Parallax View
On: Sky Movies Crime and Thriller  
Date: Monday 8th November
Time: 09:00am (and 5:00pm)

The Secret Of My Succe$s
On: ITV3
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 3:10pm (and 4:10pm ITV3+1)

The Way Of The Dragon
On: SyFy
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm Syfy+1)

The Witches
On: Five
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 1:40pm (and 2:10pm Five+1)

The X Files
On: Film4
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

Tron
On: Sky Movies Sci-Fi/Horror   
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: 09:45am (and 3:50am 8th Nov, 3:20pm 10th Nov)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
On: horror channel  
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 10:55pm

Unforgiven
On: TCM  
Date: Friday 5th November
Time: 9:00pm (and 1:55am 6th Nov, 10:45/11:45pm 7th Nov ITV4/+1)

V For Vendetta
On: Watch
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm Watch+1, 9/10:00pm 7th Nov)

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory
On: ITV3
Date: Sunday 7th November
Time: noon (and 1:00pm ITV3+1)

You Only Live Twice
On: ITV1
Date: Saturday 6th November
Time: 3:15pm

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