TVIf you only watch one, make it \u2026The Traitors<\/p>\n
BBC iPlayer; next episode Saturday<\/p>\n
Summed up in a sentence Series four of the \u201ccivilian\u201d Traitors introduces an audacious new wrinkle to keep its players \u2013 and its viewers \u2013 on their toes.
What our reviewer said \u201cHaving grown the series\u2019 following with The Celebrity Traitors, the BBC could easily have rolled out another civilian season using past templates and felt sure of a record-breaking audience. Instead, they\u2019ve upped the ante and made the format even twistier.\u201d Elle Hunt<\/p>\n
Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading New Traitors contestants include detective, crime writer and psychologist<\/a><\/p>\n Pick of the restWild London<\/p>\n BBC iPlayer<\/p>\n Wild London. Photograph: BBC\/Passion Planet Ltd\/Joe Loncraine<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence David Attenborough brings his lifelong sense of wonder to the city\u2019s wildlife, from foxes to peregrine falcons, in this exquisite special. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading \u2018Cities need nature to be happy\u2019: David Attenborough seeks out London\u2019s hidden wildlife<\/a><\/p>\n The Hunting Wives<\/p>\n ITVX<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Blackmail! Murder! Horny Republicans! This starry bonkbuster is about as good as nonsense television gets. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n The Night Manager<\/p>\n BBC iPlayer<\/p>\n Olivia Colman and Tom Hiddleston in The Night Manager. Photograph: BBC\/Ink Factory\/Des Willie<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence The racy espionage blockbuster returns after a decade away, with Tom Hiddleston back as MI6 agent Jonathan Pine. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading \u2018We\u2019re your dream throuple!\u2019 The Night Manager is back \u2013 and it\u2019s even steamier<\/a><\/p>\n Titanic Sinks Tonight<\/p>\n BBC iPlayer<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence This four-part docudrama is a truly intense watch, making you feel as if you\u2019re onboard the doomed ship. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n FilmIf you only watch one, make it \u2026Song Sung Blue<\/p>\n In cinemas now<\/p>\n Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman in Song Sung Blue. Photograph: Focus Features\/PA<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence This undeniably entertaining drama sees Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson play a real-life couple who rose to fame with a Neil Diamond tribute act. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading Kate Hudson on taking risks, rejecting compromise \u2013 and finding her voice at 46<\/a><\/p>\n Pick of the rest<\/p>\n In cinemas now<\/p>\n Menus-Plaisirs: Les Troisgros. Photograph: Capital Pictures\/Alamy<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Over four hours of documentary, cinema-verite demigod Frederick Wiseman takes a gastronomic tour through the minutiae of running a triple-starred Michelin restaurant. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Now streamingI\u2019m Chevy Chase and You\u2019re Not<\/p>\n Sky Documentaries & Now<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Marina Zenovich\u2019s documentary profiles the talented, if often obnoxious, actor and comedian. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading \u2018He has come back from the dead\u2019: Chevy Chase spent eight days in a coma during Covid pandemic<\/a><\/p>\n A French Youth<\/p>\n True Story<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence J\u00e9r\u00e9mie Battaglia\u2019s captivating documentary follows two north African raseteurs battling bulls and systemic racism in southern France. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n BooksIf you only read one, make it \u2026This Is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin<\/p>\n Reviewed by Patrick Gale<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence A standout debut novel from the acclaimed short story writer. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading Books to look out for in 2026 \u2013 fiction<\/a><\/p>\n Pick of the restCape Fever by Nadia Davids<\/p>\n Reviewed by Claire Adam<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence South African colonial-era tale of a battle of wills between maid and employer. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n The Zorg by Siddharth Kara<\/p>\n Reviewed by Farrah Jarral<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence The gruesome story of a slave ship. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading Books to look out for in 2026 \u2013 nonfiction<\/a><\/p>\n The Dead Don\u2019t Bleed by Neil Rollinson<\/p>\n Reviewed by Jonathan Lee<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence Set in Northumberland and Spain, the poet\u2019s debut novel is a tense portrait of two brothers trying to escape their father\u2019s gangland past. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n You may have missed \u2026Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy<\/p>\n Reviewed by Amit Chaudhuri<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence The first memoir by the Booker-winning novelist and political activist. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Further reading Where to start with: Arundhati Roy<\/a><\/p>\n AlbumsIf you only listen to one, make it \u2026Dry Cleaning: Secret Love<\/p>\n Out 9 January<\/p>\n Dry Cleaning. Photograph: Max Miechowski<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence The standout act in the sprechgesang wave, the four-piece\u2019s newly expansive sound carries singer Florence Shaw\u2019s distinctive tales of mundane lives spiralling out of control. Read the full review<\/a><\/p>\n Pick of the restIain Ballamy: Riversphere Vol 1<\/p>\n Out now<\/p>\n Iain Ballamy. Photograph: Dave McKean<\/p>\n Summed up in a sentence The 80s sax star leads an A-list quartet in an exquisite flow of genre, harmony and improv.
What our reviewer said \u201cThis one human animal has changed the way we see the natural world. Whatever will we do without him?\u201d Chitra Ramaswamy<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThis is your reward. For getting through Christmas, for getting through the crisis-laden sorrowfest that was 2025, the gods of television have vouchsafed us eight episodes of the most perfect trash to fill our screens since \u2013 well, I don\u2019t even know when.\u201d Lucy Mangan<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cIt still floats far above most of the competition.\u201d Jack Seale<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThere\u2019s no denying that it sates our appetite for Titanic-themed content. However, in centring the words and memories of those who lived through the terror of that night, it restores them much-needed agency.\u201d Hannah J Davies<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cIts feelgood flavour won\u2019t prepare you for the way the plot repeatedly and savagely twists like an unsafe fairground ride. I actually had my eyes closed and mouth open at certain key points, and was grabbing the seat in front of me with both fists.\u201d Peter Bradshaw<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThere is no drama here; no Gordon Ramsay tantrums, no Anton Ego-type food critics<\/a> keeping everyone on their toes. Just monastic absorption in pure process in a workspace that the Troisgros keep studiously calm, all the better to create.\u201d Phil Hoad<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cZenovich and her editor, splicing and dicing 50 years of archive material, get across Chase\u2019s abundant talent at its best, particularly his masterly command of the pratfall, and his immaculate comic timing.\u201d Leslie Felperin<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cBattaglia\u2019s poignant film is more than a tribute to the talents of these extraordinary men: it also lays bare how integration is rarely a two-way process\u201d Phuong Le<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cMueenuddin\u2019s writing is always fluent and often very funny. He brings the smells and tastes of Pakistan to vibrant life; the birds and trees feel as present as the weight of history and the impossible tangles within tangles of corruption and responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cCape Fever is a cleverly told and ultimately satisfying novel, by an author bold enough to reveal uncomfortable truths.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cPart thriller, part serious nonfiction, The Zorg effectively illuminates one of the darkest chapters in our history.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cOne of this novel\u2019s many successes is in capturing the terror of illicit attraction \u2013 of admitting to yourself that you secretly want something more.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThe world described in the first part of the book provides much of the material for The God of Small Things. But even if she had never written her novel they would be utterly absorbing.\u201d<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cThe sense of a band who have outgrown their original remit, outstripped their initial WTF? novelty value, and are shifting confidently into new spaces, is difficult to miss.\u201d Alexis Petridis<\/p>\n
What our reviewer said \u201cRiversphere likens the interweaving of rivers to the flows of music-making between genres, individuals and across the blurred lines of composition and improv.\u201d John Fordham<\/p>\n