TV PICKS OF THE WEEK By Lisa Jewell

Whether you’re staying in or setting the DVR, we’ve your top TV picks for the week ahead.

Film – 12 Years a Slave

Wednesday 2 November, 9pm, Film Four

The Best Picture Oscar Winner from 2014 tells the true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man from New York who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South.

The film is unflinching in its portrayal of cruelty to slaves and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s portrayal of Northup is emotionally honest and draws the viewer in as we journey through the 12 years’ of his incarceration. The film also stars Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’o, Paul Dano and Sarah Paulson.

Documentary – The Gun Shop

Thursday 3 November, 9pm, Channel 4

We haven’t seen much from the Cutting Edge documentary series, which began on Channel 4 in 1990, in a while and we’ve been the worse for it. But the series returns with this documentary which follows the staff and customers of Freedom Firearms, a small gun shop in Michigan.

What comes across in the programme is just how everyday gun ownership is in the States and the very deep relationship that some Americans have with their guns and what they symbolize to them.

The documentary is fixed rig, meaning that the makers recorded hours and hours of footage and then edited together the best bits. This style of documentary often reveals more intimate moments when the subjects start to forget they’re even being filmed.

Film – The Impossible

Saturday 5 November, 10pm, Channel 4

Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor head the cast in this 2012 film which tells the true story of a family caught up in the Asian tsunami in December 2004. The original story is that of a Spanish family but here, it is turned into that of a British couple Maria and Henry and their three sons.

Enjoying a relaxing holiday at a Thai resort, the family are soon separated and thrown into chaos when a massive wave engulfs their hotel grounds.

The film is visually arresting with excellent special effects but the acting and storyline manage to deliver an emotional impact as we follow the family’s story over the course of a few days.

The film received criticism after its release for its focus on a western perspective during the tsunami rather than showing how it affected huge numbers of local people. However, the criticism is unjust as the film sets out to tell the narrative of a particular family and would have lost that emotional connection to the characters if it spread its net too wide.