TVIf you only watch one, make it \u2026Industry<\/p>\n
BBC iPlayer from Monday<\/p>\n
Summed up in a sentence The banking drama returns with its best series ever \u2013 which is notably darker and more debauched.
What our reviewer said \u201cTruly top-tier television that\u2019s surely destined for end-of-year lists, a serious feat when we\u2019re barely a week into January.\u201d Hannah J Davies<\/p>\n
Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Pick of the restGirl Taken<\/p>\n Paramount+<\/p>\n Talluluh Evans and Delphi Evans in Girl Taken. Photograph: Clapperboard TV\/Paramount +<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence A deeply engaging, psychologically complex thriller about a kidnapped teen, starring Alfie Allen as a monstrous predator. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n You may have missed \u2026Trespasses<\/p>\n Channel 4<\/p>\n Lola Petticrew and Michael Agnew in Trespasses. Photograph: Peter Marley\/Channel 4<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence A deceptively skilful adaptation of Louise Kennedy\u2019s masterly novel, set in 70s Belfast, featuring a Catholic teacher drawn into a dangerous affair with a Protestant barrister. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading Trespasses: \u200bGillian Anderson steals every scene in this miraculous TV heartbreaker<\/a><\/p>\n FilmIf you only watch one, make it \u2026Hamnet<\/p>\n In cinemas now<\/p>\n Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal in Hamnet. Photograph: 2025 Focus Features LLC\/PA<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley star in a masterly Shakespearean tragedy adapted from Maggie O\u2019Farrell\u2019s novel that reimagines the agonising loss of a child as the source of Hamlet\u2019s grand stage drama. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading One awards battle after another: A-listers face off at this year\u2019s Golden Globes<\/a><\/p>\n Pick of the restBecoming Victoria Wood<\/p>\n In cinemas now<\/p>\n Victoria Wood.<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Portrait of the trailblazing comic featuring Wood herself plus famous sidekicks such as Julie Waters and Celia Imrie and other female standups. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading Lake District theatre to be renamed after Victoria Wood and unveil new musical of her songs<\/a><\/p>\n Blue Velvet<\/p>\n In cinemas now<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence David Lynch\u2019s macabre, intensely 80s drama coolly retains a sense of the dread hiding in plain sight of picket-fence America. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading The strangest David Lynch facts \u2013 ranked!<\/a><\/p>\n Labyrinth<\/p>\n In cinemas now<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Jennifer Connelly plays a teenager having whimsical Alice in Wonderland-ish adventures in Jim Henson\u2019s charmingly eccentric 80s classic. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading Ten years after his death, is David Bowie\u2019s musical legacy at risk of fading from view?<\/a><\/p>\n BooksIf you only read one, make it \u2026The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers<\/p>\n Reviewed by Dina Nayeri<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Buzzy black comedy about midlife adultery for an anxious generation. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Pick of the restMade in America: The Dark History That Led to Donald Trump by Edward Stourton<\/p>\n Reviewed by Charlie English<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Why Trump is less of an anomaly than you might think. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n This, My Second Life by Patrick Charnley<\/p>\n Reviewed by Christobel Kent<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Acclaimed debut about a near-death experience, inspired by the author\u2019s life. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n The Score: How to Stop Playing Someone Else\u2019s Game by C Thi Nguyen<\/p>\n Reviewed by Tim Clare<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence How to resist the gamification of everyday life. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n You may have missed \u2026The Pretender by Jo Harkin<\/p>\n Reviewed by Imogen Hermes Gowar<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence In 15th-century Oxfordshire, a farmer\u2019s son discovers he has a claim to the throne of England. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n AlbumsIf you only listen to one, make it \u2026The Cribs: Selling a Vibe<\/p>\n Out now<\/p>\n The Cribs. Photograph: Steve Gullick<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence The Jarman brothers\u2019 ninth album adds a little 80s pop sheen to their distorted guitars and confident indie songwriting. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Pick of the restToni Geitani: Wahj<\/p>\n Out now<\/p>\n Toni Geitani.<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence The Beirut-born producer\u2019s masterly second album revels in dark tension to cinematic effect, finding beauty in ruinous sound. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Jenny on Holiday: Quicksand Heart<\/p>\n Out now<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence In the Let\u2019s Eat Grandma member\u2019s first solo venture, her singular songwriting powers shine in swooping vocals and transcendent pop melodies. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Eric Lu: Schubert Impromptus<\/p>\n Out now<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence In this recording of some of Schubert\u2019s most profound music, the pianist cements his place as a serious talent.
What our reviewer said \u201cA much more deeply engaging and psychologically complex thriller than we customarily expect from such a setup, and \u2013 in asking what it really means to survive an act of profound violence \u2013 harrowing in a more valuable way.\u201d Lucy Mangan<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThe tragedy of sweethearts caught up in conflict, their love overcome by others\u2019 hate, is an old and powerful story. Trespasses, written by Ailbhe Keogan, hits that nerve.\u201d Jack Seale<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThere is such terrific daring in Chlo\u00e9 Zhao and Maggie O\u2019Farrell\u2019s stretch: a thrilling act of creative audacity, reaching back through the centuries to embrace Shakespeare and Agnes as human beings.\u201d Peter Bradshaw<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cIn 1985, when season one of Wood\u2019s sketch show As Seen on TV aired on BBC Two, there were sniffs of doubt that a woman could front a comedy programme, let alone a northern woman. How wrong they were. Clips from the show are a hoot: high on a tipsy energy, the performers are all on the edge of collapsing into giggles.\u201d Cath Clarke<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThe film releases a toxic narcosis of fear. The standing-up dead man in the yellow suit \u2013 kept upright by some kind of rigor mortis or final act of will \u2013 is an invention of pure horror.\u201d Peter Bradshaw<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThis is a very analogue-era movie with analogue-type storytelling and dialogue: it is not driven with the same hyperactive focused energy that modern Pixar\/Disney films have. The action often ambles and dawdles and the dialogue, written by Terry Jones, has a casually constructed but often very funny humour.\u201d Peter Bradshaw<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cI loved this razor-sharp, hilarious, finely observed novel, written with such withering exactitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThere are precedents here for almost all of Trump\u2019s actions in US history, from summary arrests and deportations to attacks on the \u2018fake news\u2019 media.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThe prose is spare and beautiful, the narrative simple but sound \u2013 it is as finely wrought as poetry, luminous with Jago\u2019s sheer delight in the world, electric with his fear that it might still at any moment be snatched away.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cHe argues that mistaking points for the point is a pervasive error that leads us to build our lives and societies around things we don\u2019t want.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cOver the course of this fantastically accomplished novel, the many-named boy will travel from Oxford to Burgundy then Ireland, and at last into the paranoid and double-crossing heart of Henry VII\u2019s court.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said Time and again, they hit a perfect balance: nothing here feels slick or overworked, but the melodies soar, the choruses hit, everything clicks faultlessly. Alexis Petridis<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cGeitani keeps a deft handle on his world-building, ensuring that threads of unease keep listeners guessing.\u201d Ammar Kalia<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThe moment Hollingworth lands on an irresistible melody \u2013 see: Every Ounce of Me, whose bittersweet bounce bridges the gap between Olivia Rodrigo and the Waterboys \u2013 the effect is transcendent.\u201d Rachel Aroesti<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cLu is very much attuned to the way in which Schubert creates overarching structures, conjuring a mesmerising feeling of stasis with music that\u2019s alive with detail under the surface.\u201d Erica Jeal<\/p>\n