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!

BananasOn: TCMDate: Sunday 3rd OctoberTime: 02:20am

Batman BeginsOn: TCMDate: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 9:00pm (and 10/11:00pm 5th Oct ITV2/+1)

Bill And Ted’s Bogus JourneyOn: Sky Movies FamilyDate: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 10:25am (and 9:35pm)

Bill And Ted’s Excellent AdventureOn: ITV2Date: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 5:10pm (and 6:10pm ITV2+1, noon/1:pm 3rd Oct)

Black BookOn: more4Date: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 11:05pm

BladeOn: TCMDate: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 11:50pm (and 11:35pm 5th Oct)

Bulletproof MonkOn: Film4Date: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

Children of MenOn: ITV4Date: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 11:50pm (and 00:50pm ITV4+1)

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

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

Doctor StrangeOn: Sky Movies FamilyDate: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 09:05am (and 5:00pm)

DownfallOn: more4Date: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 9:00pm (and 1:00am 2nd Oct)

Enter The DragonOn: Five USADate: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 10:55pm (and 11:55pm FiveUSA+1, 10:55/11:55pm 4th Oct)

EragonOn: Film4Date: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm Film4+1)

Event HorizonOn: ITV4Date: Monday 4th OctoberTime: 00:45am (and 1:45am ITV4+1)

Five Children And ItOn: BBC 2Date: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 3:10pm

Ghost RiderOn: FiveDate: Sunday 3rd OctoberTime: 9:00pm

Hot FuzzOn: ITV1Date: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 10:15pm

Inherit The WindOn: TCMDate: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 3:00pm (and 7:00am 2nd Oct)

KesOn: TCMDate: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 3:00pm (and 7:10am 3rd Oct)

Layer CakeOn: FIVERDate: Sunday 3rd OctoberTime: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm Fiver+1, 9/10:00pm 4th Oct)

Mars Attacks!On: ITV4Date: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 7:55pm (and 8:55pm ITV4+1)

Mercury RisingOn: ITV4Date: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm ITV4+1)

Ned KellyOn: ITV4Date: Friday 1st OctoberTime: midnight (and 1:00am 2nd Oct ITV4+1)

Never Say Never AgainOn: ITV1Date: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 1:55pm

Night At The MuseumOn: Film4Date: Sunday 3rd OctoberTime: 6:50pm (and 7:50pm Film4+1)

Phone BoothOn: Channel 4Date: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 11:15pm (and 00:15am 3rd Oct 4+1)

Project XOn: Film4Date: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 4:35pm (and 5:35pm Film4+1)

RavenousOn: horror channelDate: Sunday 3rd OctoberTime: 9:00pm

Saturday Night And Sunday MorningOn: TCMDate: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 1:00pm (and 5:00am 2nd Oct)

Stargate ContinuumOn: Sky2Date: Monday 4th OctoberTime: 10:00pm

The Basketball DiariesOn: TCMDate: Monday 4th OctoberTime: 00:55am

The Bird With The Crystal PlumageOn: horror channelDate: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 11:10pm

The Day After TomorrowOn: Film4Date: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 6:40pm (and 7:40pm Film4+1)

The Hound Of The BaskervillesOn: TCMDate: Monday 4th OctoberTime: 3:00pm (and 7:20am 5th Oct)

The Karate Kid, Part IIOn: WatchDate: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 4:50pm (and 5:50pm Watch+1, 2:50/3:50pm 3rd Oct)

The OmenOn: Film4Date: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 11:00pm (and midnight Film4+1)

The PianistOn: ITV3Date: Sunday 3rd OctoberTime: 9:00pm (and 10:00pm ITV3+1)

The RecruitOn: WatchDate: Saturday 2nd OctoberTime: 10:00pm (and 11:00pm Watch+1, 9/10:00pm 3rd Oct)

The Sixth SenseOn: ITV2Date: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 11:10pm (and 00:10am 2nd Oct ITV2+1)

The Time Traveler’s WifeOn: Sky Movies PremiereDate: Friday 1st OctoberTime: 10:00am (and 11:00am Premiere+1 & 8/9:00pm then daily at similar times through 7th Oct)

Wise BloodOn: BBC 2Date: Sunday 3rd OctoberTime: 01:40am