THE KING’S SPEECH (Momentum). Who would have thought speech impediment to be world box office? One thing is absolutely certain and that is, what with the royal wedding last week, and the release of this DVD this week, the propaganda for the royal family is excellent. The film will do them nothing but good. If you have tears to shed, be prepared to shed them now. The heart-warming story is extremely well told. Colin Firth as George VI deservedly got an award for his performance. Geoffrey Rush, as the speech therapist, should also have got an award for his. The two performances are inseparable and together they provide first-rate entertainment.

ALAN PLATER AT ITV (Network). Plater was one of the best British television writers and also one of the most prolific. All his work is informed by his left wing political views. The high spot of this selection of seven plays is Coming Through (premiered in 1985) which describes the beginnings of the affair D H Lawrence (Kenneth Branagh in one of his best performances`) had with the married Frieda Weekly (Helen Mirren).

ABEL (Network).  Mexican actor Diego Luna in his directorial feature debut addresses the serious problem of absentee fathers in Mexico. A 9-year-old bipolar boy, released from a psychiatric hospital, decides, in his father absence, to be father to his family and behaves in a disturbingly adult manner Christopher Ruiz-Esparza, a boy with big piercing eyes, is amazing.

DANIEL DERONDA  (Second Sight). The Victorian novel is perfect for television and though this is not one of George Eliot’s best novels, it is a pleasant enough way to spend an evening or two. Heritage production values are high. The archery, for instance, is fascinating. The cast is as solid and reliable, as you would expect, and is headed by Hugh Dancy as the noble, good and caring Daniel. Romola Garai is the selfish Gwendolen.  

THE TUNNEL (Second Sight). This German film made for television is set during the Cold War when the Berlin Wall was up and East Berliners were regularly building tunnels under the wall, and trying to escape from the Communist regime for the much longed-for freedom in the West. This is a straight-forward, well-meaning, worthy account, freely based on one such attempt. The most moving scene shows a young lad attempting to climb the wall and being shot and left to die.

MOVE OVER DARLING (Second Sight). Man gets married for a second time. His first wife, long presumed dead, turns up at the hotel where he is spending his wedding night.  This poor fluffy romantic nonsense needs gifted farceurs who are familiar with the Hollywood screwball comedies of the 1930s. Doris Day and James Garner are miscast.

EARLY KUROSAWA (BFI). A feast for students of Kurosawa but probably not for anybody else.

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