Freeview film of the day: Bridesmaids

In 2011, a curious new kind of comedy film was invented. It was written by women and starred women, and you had to run your finger way down the cast to get to token bloke Chris O’Dowd. Admittedly made by male producer Judd Apatow and male director Paul Feig, Bridesmaids was the signature work of Kristen Wiig – who had impressed Apatow in Knocked Up – and Annie Mumolo: a rip-roaringly bawdy, foul-mouthed comedy of social manners whose matrimonial hook is Wiig’s accident-prone singleton-cum-maid of honour locking horns with the more capable Rose Byrne prior to best friend Maya Rudolph’s wedding. Then-sitcom star Melissa McCarthy provides a big blast of raunch-pot energy, and gross-out highlights include a bridal-shop fitting ruined by food poisoning and a tantrum at a chocolate fountain. A $288 million smash, it sparked an overdue gender revolution, with Lena Dunham and Amy Schumer surfing its waves.

For more of today’s free-to-air films, see our TV listings

Order your copy of the Radio Times Guide to Films 2017