THE WIZARD OF LIES, SKY ATLANTIC, 9pm

YET more Hollywood stars come streaming on to the TV screen, proving this is now the place to be.

Here you have Robert de Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer in a feature-length drama.

It tells the story of the New York conman, Bernie Madoff, who lured Americans into a Ponzi scheme whereby people invest in a non-existent deal, and receive their returns via monies paid in by future victims. It works as long as people keep investing, but the 2008 financial crash brought his scheme crashing down, and Madoff was jailed for 150 years.

De Niro plays the old conman, and Pfeiffer his wife. The story is told from prison, where he’s visited by the New York Times reporter, Diana B Henriques, who plays herself here, and who encourages him to consider the damage he has done to people’s lives. Outside jail his family need to deal with the fame and shame of being part of the Madoff clan.

PAULA, BBC2, 9pm

WHICH way will this drama go? It could be a straight thriller or a weird supernatural story.

Scary rats in the basement, and ghostly glimpses of bloodied children in the back of a van point one direction, whereas the scenes of bored teachers indulging in some extramarital sex, and being nagged about it, points in a more conventional direction.

Tonight’s opening scene is creepy and wouldn’t be out of place in a stylish horror film, but then a spectacular cat fight between Paula and the betrayed widow pushes it back to standard thriller territory.

Tonight Phillip is laid to rest, but there are some determined to believe his death was a suicide. When Paula is home alone she notices some things are missing from her house, and begins to wonder if James could have been involved in Phillip’s death – but who will believe the scarlet woman, especially when tonight she adds another lover to her list?