Sky UK TV Guide

06:00 Here Comes the Son
Film Based on a true story, this is a typically sudsy affair which nevertheless gives Scott Bakula (who also executive produces) a break from the sci-fi roles he is usually associated with. He plays a confirmed bachelor who unexpectedly discovers that he's become a father, but nevertheless resolves to bring up the child himself. He then finds himself embroiled in a nasty custody battle with an old flame. Director Paul Schneider and writer Joe Cacaci stick resolutely to the true story template and fans of the genre won't be disappointed.

07:45 Air Bud: World Pup
Film Having mastered basketball in the first film and American football in the second, cute golden retriever Air Bud tries his hand at soccer in this third sports adventure. There are cameo roles for such real-life female soccer stars as Brandi Chastain and Briana Scurry, and even time for a romance that leads to the arrival of six puppies. Youngsters will enjoy the resulting 101 Dalmatians-style pup-snatching plot, but grown-ups may not be able to concentrate until the final whistle.

09:15 The Thief Lord
Film Orphan brothers embark on a curious adventure in this limp family fantasy, based on Cornelia Funke's bestselling children's novel. After escaping their cruel aunt and uncle, Prosper (Aaron Johnson) and the younger Bo (Jasper Harris) head to Venice and fall in with a group of fellow child runaways, led by Scipio (Rollo Weeks), the teenage self-styled "Thief Lord". Supporting themselves by stealing for a crooked antiques dealer (a cartoonish Alexei Sayle), the gang end up commissioned to find a magical artefact. Though the events that follow contain a sprinkling of mystery and enchantment, the overall storyline is woefully underdeveloped. Intriguing ideas are annoyingly squandered in favour of constant fleeing from grown-ups, leaving plot threads dangling. Worse still, the acting is appallingly wooden (with not a single Italian accent to be heard!), making everything feel flat and amateurish. Consequently, while the under-10s might enjoy the cheeky dialogue and scenes of adult humiliation, few others will share their enthusiasm.

11:00 Family Close-Up
Interests News and celebrity interviews on new films coming to Sky Movies Family, plus a look at big-screen releases from the UK and US.

11:30 Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch
Film The golden retriever returns for more canine antics when he helps Andrea Framm in her bid to achieve success on the school baseball team. However, a pair of scientists are determined to kidnap Buddy and his offspring in order to create a breed of sporting super dogs.

13:15 Tom and Jerry in Shiver Me Whiskers
Film Animated adventure in which Tom and Jerry are marooned on an island and battle it out over a treasure map, with pirates on their tails.

14:45 Family Close-Up
Interests News and celebrity interviews on new films coming to Sky Movies Family, plus a look at big-screen releases from the UK and US.

15:15 The Reef
Film After Pixar's Finding Nemo and DreamWorks's Shark Tale, this aquatic animated adventure proves to be a bit of a letdown. The story centres on Pi (voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr), a cute little fish who's left alone when his parents fall foul of a trawler's nets, and then heads for the Reef to live with his Aunt Pearl. There, he has to compete with bully boy shark Troy (Donal Logue) for the affections of the lovely Cordelia (Evan Rachel Wood), the fish of his dreams. The CGI-animation - co-produced by Korean studios Digiart and FX Digital - is fairly bright and breezy, and will doubtless appeal to younger viewers who can't get enough of the deep-sea likes of Nemo. But others may feel that they have seen it all before, and usually rather better done.

16:45 Chill Out, Scooby-Doo!
Film Animated fun with the crime-solving gang, whose trip to Paris disrupted when Scooby and Shaggy miss their flight and end up doing battle with the Yeti in the Himalayas.

18:15 Baby's Day Out
Film Love him or hate him, John Hughes certainly hit upon a winning formula with Home Alone. Here he comes up with another successful spin on the small-things-humiliating-adults theme, with a wee baby standing in for Macaulay Culkin. The little tot - the precious child of a wealthy family - is snatched by a bungling trio of kidnappers and blithely proceeds to make their life hell. Unsurprisingly, wit and subtlety are hardly to the fore and at times the film is a little too cosy for its own good. However, the action does rip along at a cracking pace, the comic set pieces are executed with precision, and Joe Mantegna, Joe Pantoliano and Brian Haley are good fun as the incompetent crooks.

20:00 TMNT
Film If you haven't already guessed from the title, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back in a new feature-length cartoon. While previous Turtles movies were live-action efforts, this new adventure employs CGI animation - presumably in an attempt to appeal to both ageing fans of the original 1980s comics and a new generation of kids. Writer/director Kevin Munroe here tones down the turtles' usual pizza-munching comedy in favour of something slightly darker and less camp. A routine plot about an army of monsters terrorising Manhattan allows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael to do their ninja stuff, while showcasing state-of-the-art visuals and supporting vocal work from the likes of Sarah Michelle Gellar and Patrick Stewart. It's not quite as grown-up as it wants to be, but it's still a polished revival of a franchise that many thought long dead.

21:30 Memphis Belle
Film David Puttnam - here co-producing with Catherine Wyler, whose father, director William Wyler, made 1944's classic documentary of the same name - was the force behind this moving and nostalgic trip back to the Second World War that focuses on the crew members of a B-17 bomber who are bidding to complete their final mission. It's a bit too predictable - the usual "will they make it back or not" heroics - but the characters (slickly played by a strong cast that includes Matthew Modine and Eric Stoltz) are endearing and the crew's final flight is grippingly filmed. Most of the plaudits, though, must go to the stunning aerial effects and photography, and, of course, to the real heroes of this true-life story.

23:30 Diggity's Treasure
Film Children's comedy about a young angel trying to earn his wings by saving an old church from a curmudgeonly landowner and helping a lonely young man find love.