DISNEY +
The Mandalorian
‘Is it true that you guys never take off your helmets?’ a prisoner asks his captor, the eponymous Mandalorian in the first episode of this eight-episode Star Wars spin-off.
‘Is it true that you guys never take off your helmets?’ a prisoner asks his captor, the eponymous Mandalorian in the first episode of this eight-episode Star Wars spin-off
It seems so. The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal – apparently) is a Clint Eastwood-esque gun-for-hire bounty hunter commissioned by a mysterious client (improbably played by the great German filmmaker Werner Herzog) to bring in alive an ‘asset’ who turns out to be an infant of the same species as Yoda.
Hugely enjoyable escapism. From Tuesday
Lady And The Tramp
A timeless retelling of the 1955 animated classic. An upper-middle-class pampered American cocker spaniel named Lady and a tough but loveable stray called Tramp embark on an unexpected adventure and, despite their differences, grow closer and come to understand the value of home.
Directed by Charlie Bean and starring the voices of Tessa Thompson, Justin Theroux and Janelle Monáe, it features real dogs taking the roles of the film’s main characters, rather than CGI (like last year’s The Lion King).
An upper-middle-class pampered American cocker spaniel named Lady and a tough but loveable stray called Tramp embark on an unexpected adventure
This is the first Disney remake not to receive a theatrical release and go straight to an ondemand streaming service. Grab a bowl of spaghetti meatballs and have a bella notte with your loved ones. From Tuesday
The World According To Jeff Goldblum
He’s among the world’s most eccentric actors, an unmissable presence in movies, ranging from The Fly and The Big Chill to Jurassic Park and Independence Day. Now Goldblum has his own TV series – and about time too; he was made for such a venture.
Each episode sees him waxing lyrical about an eclectic range of subjects he knows and loves. He’ll also chat to various experts, although it’s likely the star will know just as much, if not more than they do.
Topics under discussion in the first series (a second has been commissioned) include video games, ice-cream, tattoos and coffee. The mind boggles. From Tuesday
NETFLIX
Ozark
There’s more than a hint of Breaking Bad to this gripping crime drama. Jason Bateman is award-winningly brilliant as the intrepid Marty Byrde, a one-time financial adviser who drags his wife (Laura Linney) and family from Chicago to the wilds of Missouri to launder millions for a crime boss.
Jason Bateman is award-winningly brilliant as the intrepid Marty Byrde, a one-time financial adviser who drags his wife (Laura Linney, above) and family to the wilds of Missouri
The morally dubious Marty cooks up all manner of scams to keep the family afloat – and alive. It’s sharp, inventive and totally addictive. Catch up with the first two seasons now before season three arrives this week. From Friday
Crip Camp
Executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, this heartfelt documentary charts the inspiring work carried out at a summer camp for disabled children and teenagers at Woodstock in upstate New York during the Sixties and Seventies.
At the centre of the story is Jim LeBrecht, a renowned sound designer for theatre and film and disability rights activist who co-directed and produced the film. He discusses how the place changed his life, giving him and other attendees a newfound sense of freedom. From Wednesday
Freud
Fin-de-siecle Vienna, 1886. Young Sigmund Freud (Robert Finster) is a bold thinker but his theories about the human mind aren’t gaining a lot of traction with the medical establishment.
However they do attract the attention of a ‘psychic’, Fleur Salome (Ella Rumpf), and traumatised war veteran and police officer Alfred Kiss (Georg Friedrich). The three join forces to solve a series of bloody murders that has shaken high society.
There is a heady mix of séances, hypnosis and conspiracy in this eight-episode Austrian show. From Tuesday
Money Heist
Holding up banks? Tunnelling into safe deposits? Pah – that’s old hat. The robbers in Money Heist go one better – they raid the Royal Mint of Spain, take the staff hostage and print as much money as they can.
At least, that’s the plan… The plot unfolds deliciously slowly in this ingenious thriller, packed with drama and back story. Start from the beginning and you’ll soon find yourself in a quandary: who are you rooting for – and how can any of this possibly end well?
It’s the most popular non-language show on Netflix, and with good reason. Think Ocean’s Eleven on steroids (and with subtitles). Available now; season four begins next week
Why is there such a buzz about..?
Westworld (Now TV)
Even the third-season trailer, released a few weeks ago, looked epic and prompted a social media meltdown. And the show itself fully lives up to expectations.
Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) has escaped and made it into the real world
In the first two series we watched the collapse of Westworld, an immersive Wild West theme park in which wealthy guests could act out their darkest desires on artificially intelligent ‘hosts’ – androids indistinguishable from humans – who were gradually achieving self-awareness.
Now, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), a repeatedly abused host, has escaped and made it into the real world. And she’s very, very angry. She’s attempting nothing less than a global revolution and she’s channelling James Bond and The Terminator to achieve it.
Westworld has been criticised for being confusing, and this season could hardly be described as a paragon of clarity but, frankly, when a show looks this stylish and has such spectacular action sequences, who cares?
Watch out for a fabulous Game Of Thrones visual gag in the second episode.
Neil Armstrong
SKY, BRITBOX & AMAZON
Big Little Lies
Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern are just some of the A-list names gracing the cast of this blackly comic thriller, centring on the relationship between friends Celeste (Kidman), Madeline (Witherspoon) and newcomer Jane (Shailene Woodley).
Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern (above) are just some of the A-list names gracing the cast of this blackly comic thriller
Tensions arise when Jane’s son is accused of bullying and their idyllic lives come crashing down around them when somebody dies at the school fundraiser. Meryl Streep joins the cast as Celeste’s mother-in-law in season two. Sky On Demand, from Friday
Deadwood: The Movie
When the acclaimed US western series was cancelled in 2006, fans were horrified. After three seasons, the story of the lawless mining town was unfinished, leaving fans frustrated that they would never find out what happened to such colourful characters as foul-mouthed saloon-owner Al Swearengen and local sheriff Seth Bullock.
Thirteen years on, this movie sequel was released, going some way to tying up many of those loose ends. The story begins as the residents gather to commemorate Dakota’s statehood in 1889.
Ian McShane, Timothy Olyphant, Molly Parker and Gerald McRaney star. Sky On Demand, from Friday
Baptiste
Spinning off from the Williams’ brothers absorbing, Bafta-nominated series The Missing, this six-parter focuses on stubborn French investigator Julien Baptiste, played by the charismatic Tcheky Karyo.
The crime-fighting old codger limps his way around Amsterdam pursuing a Romanian criminal gang in tandem with Englishman Edward Stratton (Tom Hollander), who is ostensibly searching for his missing niece.
Throw in Jessica Raine as a no-nonsense intelligence officer and the stage is set. Britbox, from Thursday
The Life And Loves Of A She-devil
This four-part drama, based on Fay Weldon’s novel, was originally shown in 1986. It centres on downtrodden wife and mother Ruth, whose husband Bobbo starts an affair with glamorous romantic novelist Mary.
But rather than sneak around, he gloats about his lover. Ruth is desperate to win him back, so she tries changing the way she looks, but when that fails she plots revenge. And that’s when things get interesting…
Julie T Wallace plays Ruth in what was, at the time, a star-making turn, with Dennis Waterman and Patricia Hodge as the lovers. Britbox, available now
Making The Cut
Yes, that is Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, but this isn’t Project Runway, the first fashion competition show on which they were paired. Instead, Making The Cut is a slightly tweaked take on the format, with an added pinch of Dragons’ Den, in which a dozen entrepreneurs and designers set out to build a fashion brand.
The winner bags a $1 million investment, while Amazon promises to make each week’s winning look available to buy for under $100 – hopefully British viewers can stay ahead of the trends by buying them too. Amazon Prime, from Friday
BBC iPLAYER & ALL 4
French And Saunders
For six wonderful series, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders delivered near-perfect sketch comedy, combining satire, parody and sublime silliness to glorious effect. Now, every last one of them (plus all nine specials) is coming to the iPlayer, from the first episode guest-starring game-for-a-laugh singer Alison Moyet to the final outing with Maggie Steed.
Classic spoofs worth revisiting include a parody of Thelma And Louise and the pair sparring as Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in a spot-on parody of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?
Classic spoofs worth revisiting include a parody of Thelma And Louise and the pair sparring as Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in a spot-on parody of Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?. BBC iPlayer, from Thursday
Waking The Dead
Catch up on all 92 episodes of the police procedural drama starring Trevor Eve, Sue Johnston and Wil Johnson. Never shying away from a grim subject, across the nine series the show tackled important issues such as war crimes in Bosnia, child abuse in the Catholic Church and our involvement in the Iraq War.
Led by Eve’s DS Boyd, the cold case team used fresh evidence as well as new technology to unlock the secrets of historic crimes across two hour-long episodes. Carey Mulligan, Michelle Dockery, Roger Allam and Peter Capaldi are just some of the familiar faces. BBC iPlayer, from Thursday
Harry Birrell Presents Films Of Love And War
Born in Paisley in 1918, Harry Birrell was given a cine camera at the age of ten and declared it ‘the greatest toy a child could ever wish for’. He spent the rest of his life filming his experiences through the late Thirties and the Second World War, right up to his family life in the Sixties and Seventies.
This feature-length BBC Scotland documentary sifts through a treasure trove of 400 of Birrell’s films, found in the family shed. BBC iPlayer, available now
Home
Actor Rufus Jones, of W1A fame, penned the screenplay for this sitcom. He also stars as Peter, an uptight middle-class chap whose ordered world is shattered when he returns home from a holiday in France with his partner Katy and her son John to find Sami, an illegal immigrant from Damascus, hiding in the boot of his car.
Across two series, we get to see how this mismatched group learn to live with each other – or not, as the case may be. If it sounds preachy, rest assured it isn’t; instead, Home is a an amusing tale with a big heart. All 4, available now
FILMS
Charlie’s Angels
Once there were three crimefighting glamourpusses, led by the portly Boz and answering to the disembodied voice of ‘Charlie’. Now Charlie has gone to join the choir invisible and his Townsend agency has expanded, with multiple teams of Angels worldwide, led by the voice of former operative Kelly (Jaclyn Smith) and guided by a new Bosley, Elizabeth Banks.
Charlie’s Townsend agency has expanded, with multiple teams of Angels worldwide, led by the voice of former operative Kelly (Jaclyn Smith) and guided by a new Bosley, Elizabeth Banks
This new adventure, the third film, has Twilight star Kristen Stewart teamed with Naomi Scott and Ella Balinska, trying to stop an eco device from being turned into a deadly weapon. Sky Store & Rakuten, available to buy from Monday
Mr Jones
George Orwell’s heavily allegorical Animal Farm was said to have been inspired by the revelations of Welsh journalist Gareth Jones, who in 1933 exposed the brutality behind Stalin’s utopian vision of a Soviet Russia.
In this political thriller, Jones is played by James Norton, travelling to Moscow to try to fathom the dictator’s Five Year Plan, only to discover the horrors of a man-made famine, known as the Ukrainian Genocide, that killed millions.
Norton is engaging in a challenging role – a million miles from the Bond job he’s rumoured to be a favourite for. BFI Player, available now
Guns Akimbo
Daniel Radcliffe’s grown-up career has felt like a quest to flee as far from Harry Potter as possible. Now there’s this frenetic hybrid of Edward Scissorhands and Death Race 2000, in which he plays Miles, a computer hacker who dares troll an online death match game and ends up with his hands welded to two huge guns, lined up to be next on the show.
While still wearing his dressing gown and slippers. Comedy and videogame-like violence abound in a film that’s brimming with movie references and a comicbook visual style. Magic, in fact. Oh, sorry Dan. Amazon Prime, from Tuesday