Event lines up the top 100 cultural attractions of 2020

Event lines up the 100 best things to see and do in 2020. Whether you want a night out at the movies, a good old binge-watch at home or to sample the best of the country’s theatres and museums, look no further when planning your cultural exploits of 2020

FILM 

1. The Personal History Of David Copperfield

Out January 24

Slumdog Millionaire and Lion star Dev Patel plays the title character in this new adaptation of the much-loved Charles Dickens classic, co-written and directed by Armando Iannucci of Veep and The Death Of Stalin fame. Look out for Iannucci regular Peter Capaldi as Mr Micawber, Ben Whishaw as Uriah Heep and Tilda Swinton as Betsey Trotwood.

2. Dolittle

Out February 7

Robert Downey Jr stars as the doctor who can talk to animals, although the surprise – at least according to the trailer – is that he seems to be sporting a Welsh accent. Still, visual effects have at last caught up with Hugh Lofting’s extraordinarily vivid imagination, so the animals look stunning, and Stephen Gaghan directs a cast that also includes Antonio Banderas, Marion Cotillard, Ralph Fiennes and Emma Thompson.

3. Radioactive

Out March 20

What The Theory Of Everything did for Stephen Hawking, Marjane Satrapi’s unconventional-looking biopic hopes to do for Marie Curie, the Polish-French scientist whose pioneering work in the field of radioactivity won her the Nobel Prize not once but twice. Rosamund Pike heads a cast that also includes Sam Riley, Anya Taylor-Joy and Aneurin Barnard.

4. Mulan

Out March 27

Disney continues to plunder its own back catalogue of animated classics, turning them into lucrative live-action remakes. This year it’s Mulan, with our young Chinese heroine torn between family duty to make a good marriage and fulfilling her destiny, and possibly saving her father’s life, by becoming a warrior. It’s not yet clear whether Mushu, the mayhem-loving dragon, will be returning.

5. No Time To Die

Out April 3

Ah, we’ve been expecting you, Mr Bond. Yes, five years after Spectre, Daniel Craig is back in his much-awaited final outing as 007. And he’s brought some familiar faces with him, with Léa Seydoux and Christoph Waltz returning as Madeleine Swann and Ernst Blofeld respectively, while franchise regular Jeffrey Wright is back once more as Felix Leiter. Look out for Bohemian Rhapsody star Rami Malek as evil new baddie Safin, and Lashana Lynch, the beautiful double-0 agent who’s after Bond’s, er… job.

6. The Secret Garden

Out April 17

David Heyman, producer of the Harry Potter and Paddington films, lends his considerable film-making heft to a new adaptation of Francis Hodgson Burnett’s enduring children’s classic. Colin Firth plays Lord Craven, Julie Walters is a housekeeper for about the 300th time, while Mary, Colin and Dickon, the eternal childhood triangle at the story’s heart, will obviously be there. But any hint of ‘magic’ will certainly upset purists and, indeed, gardeners.

7. Black Widow

Out May 1

Given the outcome of Avengers: Endgame, we’re inevitably going back in time to explore the life and times of Natasha Romanoff, aka the Black Widow. Scarlett Johansson returns to the role, while Florence Pugh – fresh from her success with Little Women – plays her equally kick-ass ‘sister’, Yelena. Will any of the other Avengers turn up? We’ll have to wait and see.

8. Greyhound

Out May 8

This is based on the 1955 novel The Good Shepherd, by CS Forester. Tom Hanks plays the captain of an American Merchant Marine vessel leading a convoy of ships through the U-boat-filled seas of the Atlantic Ocean. But America is new to the Second World War and the captain’s experience is modest.

9. The Woman In The Window

Out May 15

No, not a remake of the Edward G Robinson film noir of the same title but certainly sounding a lot like Hitchcock’s Rear Window, this sees Amy Adams playing an agoraphobic New York woman who starts spying on her neighbours and sees… well, I’m guessing nothing nice. Julianne Moore and Gary Oldman lead a classy-looking supporting cast.

10. Wonder Woman 1984

Out June 5

Three years ago, the original film not only introduced the world to the Israeli actress Gal Gadot, but was also widely credited with rescuing the entire DC Comics universe. Now Diana Prince, aka Wonder Woman, returns, with little known about the sequel’s plot except we’ve jumped seven decades forward in time, Chris Pine is inexplicably back too, and bad things seem to be happening at the White House. Kristen Wiig makes her debut as arch-enemy Cheetah.

11. Top Gun: Maverick

Out July 17

Tom Cruise has described this long-anticipated sequel to the 1986 original as ‘a love letter to aviation’, so I think we can confidently expect planes, lots of planes. What else? The trailer revealed few plot details so all we know is that 49-year-old Jennifer Connelly joins the cast, 62-year-old Kelly McGillis – who played Charlie in the original – is a notable absentee, and that dog-fight-loving fighter pilots such as Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell (57-year-old Cruise) are facing the end of an era. ‘But not today, sir, not today.’

12. Tenet

Out July 17

Only Christoper Nolan could come up with a film rumoured to combine international espionage, time travel and evolution. But whatever it actually turns out to be about, there’s no doubt a Nolan film is always a big cinematic event – his last was Dunkirk, of course – and that he’s attracted a top-notch cast including John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh and Michael Caine.

13. Death On The Nile

Out October 9

Will cobras still be found in first-class cabins? We’ll find out as Kenneth Branagh bravely steps into the Hercule Poirot story most closely associated with the late Peter Ustinov and embarks on an inevitably deadly river cruise down the Nile. An eclectic supporting cast includes Gal Gadot, Armie Hammer, Annette Bening… oh, and Russell Brand, Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders too.

14. The Witches

Out October 16

Can it really be 30 years since Anjelica Huston gave us her delicious turn as the Grand High Witch in Nicolas Roeg’s adaptation of the particularly dark Roald Dahl story of a little boy who is turned into a mouse by a coven of witches? Apparently it can, so high time for a state-of-the-art remake with visual-effects specialist Robert Zemeckis directing, Anne Hathaway as the Grand High Witch and Stanley Tucci, Octavia Spencer and Chris Rock leading the supporting cast.

15. West Side Story

Out December 18

First there was William Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet, then came the Broadway show that pitched Jets against Sharks, featured music and lyrics by the great Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim respectively and was turned into a 1961 film that won an astonishing ten Oscars. Now, Steven Spielberg is having another go, with Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler as the star-crossed lovers and – quite amazingly – Rita Moreno returning from the original cast.  

TV 

16. Avenue 5

Sky One, January 22

Armando Iannucci follows up Veep with this space-tourism comedy starring Hugh Laurie as the suave captain of a cruiser in the solar system. Disaster strikes while orbiting Saturn and the crew are ill-equipped to cope.

17. Hitmen

Sky One, spring

After many years in comedy, partners-in-laughs Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc star in their first sitcom. They play an unlikely and spectacularly useless pair of assassins in this killer new series.

18. Belgravia

ITV, spring

The new Downton Abbey is nigh: Julian Fellowes’ follow-up details the secrets, lies and, you guessed it, scandal among the upper echelons of 19th-century London society on the eve of the battle of Waterloo. Stars Tamsin Greig, Philip Glenister and Harriet Walter.

19. Salisbury

BBC2, spring

Three-part drama following the fallout from the 2018 novichok poisonings on the Wiltshire community, starring Anne-Marie Duff, Rafe Spall, Mark Addy and MyAnna Buring.

20. Quiz

ITV, spring

Ahem! Michael Sheen plays Chris Tarrant in the extraordinary 2001 story of the ‘coughing Major’ and his wife’s attempted heist on quiz show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Support from Matthew Macfadyen, Sian Clifford and Helen McCrory.

21. The Undoing

Sky Atlantic, summer

Nicole Kidman reunites with Big Little Lies creator David E Kelley to play a therapist whose life is torn apart overnight in a psycho-thriller co-starring Hugh Grant and Donald Sutherland.

22. Space Force

Netflix, 2020

Steve Carell’s workplace comedy follows the misadventures of a new Trumpian branch of the US armed forces defending satellites from attack. Also starring John Malkovich.

23. Four Lives

BBC1, 2020

It’s a far cry from Extras as Stephen Merchant takes on the grim role of ‘Grindr killer’ Stephen Port, convicted of the murder of four young men in 2016. Three-part drama, co-written by Jeff Philomena Pope and co-starring Sheridan Smith.

24. Roadkill

BBC1, 2020

David Hare’s political thriller casts Hugh Laurie as a narcissistic Tory minister attempting to out-run revelations about his private life. Unlikely to help the Beeb’s ongoing spat with Boris Johnson’s Government. Helen McCrory plays the PM.

25. LIFE

BBC1, 2020

Mike (Doctor Foster) Bartlett’s multi-stranded drama follows the ups and downs of the seemingly ordinary residents sharing a four-flat house in Manchester. The ensemble cast is headed by the always wonderful Alison Steadman.

26. Us

BBC1, 2020

Tom Hollander and Saskia Reeves play the mismatched couple at the centre of this four-part adaptation of David Nicholls’s hugely popular comic novel. The Killing’s Sofie Gråbøl also stars.

27. The North Water

BBC2, late 2020

Period thriller charting an ill-fated 19th-century whaling expedition to the Arctic. On board are a murderous psychopath and enough harpoons to last all four episodes. The top-notch, male-dominated cast includes Colin Farrell, Stephen Graham and Tom Courtenay.

28. McDonald and Dodds

ITV, 2020

TV’s latest crime-fighting duo comprises fiercely ambitious DCI McDonald (newcomer Tala Gouveia) and quietly modest DS Dodds (Jason Watkins), who are thrown together on the mean streets of Bath. Also starring Robert Lindsay and Joanna Scanlan.

29. Hunters

Amazon Prime, 2020

This Nazi-hunter drama from Oscar-winning Jordan (Get Out) Peele is set in 1977 New York as a plot is uncovered to create a Fourth Reich in the US. Al Pacino makes his starring TV debut at the grand old age of 79.

30. Truth Seekers

Amazon Prime, 2020

The X-Files this decidedly ain’t as Simon Pegg and Nick Frost play a pair of part-time paranormal investigators for an online TV channel. The eight-part horror comedy also stars Malcolm McDowell and Julian Barratt.

Mark Wareham

ALBUMS 

31. Pet Shop Boys

Hotspot

Out January 24

Whatever else is happening in the world, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe just keep doing their thing. Their 14th studio album will be followed by a greatest hits tour from May 28 to June 6.

32. The Boomtown Rats

Citizens Of Boomtown 

Out March 13

In 1977 the Rats blazed a trail for The Clash by blending punk with classic rock. By 1984 they were a spent force, and then Bob Geldof started Band Aid, which took over his life. Now they return with Citizens Of Boomtown, their first new album for 36 years. If you’d rather hear the hits, there’s a tour from March 26 to May 2.

33. Ren Harvieu

Revel In The Drama

Out April 3

She came from Salford, released a gorgeous debut album and then disappeared. After seven years of hard knocks, ranging from being dropped by her record company to breaking her spine, the mistress of melodrama is back.

34. Dua Lipa

Future Nostalgia

Out spring

Three years after her self-titled debut, which sold 1.2 million copies worldwide, the pop star is back with the follow-up. Entitled Future Nostalgia, it was apparently inspired by Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Moloko, Blondie and OutKast. The tour of the same name runs from May 26 to June 15.

35. Sparks

Untitled new album

Out early summer

It’s all happening for the Mael brothers in 2020. There’s a documentary about them by Edgar Wright, who used music so well in his film Baby Driver. They’ve written a movie themselves, a musical called Annette, starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. And they have a new album, which is sure to be quirky, fizzy and witty.

Tim de Lisle

GIGS 

36. Eric Clapton And Friends

Eventim Apollo, London, February 17

An evening in memory of Ginger Baker, the late, great, pyrotechnic drummer who joined Clapton in Cream and Blind Faith. Eight days later, at the London Palladium, Mick Fleetwood leads a tribute to another giant of that generation, Peter Green, the guitarist who co-founded Fleetwood Mac with him. The twist is that Green is still alive.

37. Bryan Ferry

Touring March 3-13

His fans would love to see one last tour from Roxy Music, but these days Ferry just wants to be alone. The consolation is that his set list is two-thirds Roxy, all the way from Virginia Plain to Avalon. An album, Live At The Royal Albert Hall, 1974, arrives on February 7.

38. The Pussycat Dolls

Touring April 6-19

Every band reunites in the end, with the possible exception of The Smiths and Talking Heads. The Pussycat Dolls are back together after a decade-long hiatus – although we’ve seen more of Nicole Scherzinger in that time than we ever did before.

39. Harry Styles

Touring April 15-26

His first solo tour was a let-down, but since then the dishiest member of One Direction has proved himself a proper pop star – camp, cartoonish and endlessly willing to be silly.

40. Glastonbury Festival

Pilton, Somerset, June 24-28

Last year, music’s greatest festival gave the golden oldies the cold shoulder. This time, to celebrate its 50th birthday, it welcomes two people who were superstars before it began: Paul McCartney as the Saturday headliner, and Diana Ross in the Sunday-teatime legend slot, ahead of her solo tour (June 30 to July 19). Younger acts will be available, including Taylor Swift as the Sunday headliner.

41. Randy Newman

Touring June 7-10

The gig I’m most looking forward to in 2020. At times it will be like an evening with Jonathan Swift, gleaming with scornful intelligence. Then, once we’ve been softened up, there will be the sudden beauty of Feels Like Home, and a big singalong on You’ve Got A Friend In Me.

42. Billie Eilish

Touring July 21-30

This girl is a star, and she’s only 18. Her first big UK tour consists of seven dates, all sold out, including four at the O2 in London.

43. Eagles: Hotel California

Wembley Stadium, London, August 29 & 30

Until last year, the Eagles had never performed their most famous album in full. They premiered it, only 43 years late, in Las Vegas, backed by an orchestra and choir, and it made a magical evening. I had never seen so many songs receive a standing ovation.

44. Stormzy

Touring September 2-22

The biggest figure in British black music inspires so much admiration that plenty of fans won’t wait until late summer to catch him – they’ll be on the Eurostar for the start of his European tour in Brussels in February. See you there.

45. Elton John

Touring November 2 to December 17

The Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour may well be the longest goodbye in pop history. Two years after it began, it comes to a close – allegedly – with 23 shows in British and Irish arenas, including no fewer than nine at the O2 in London. There may well be tantrums; there will surely be tears.

Tim de Lisle

PLAYS 

46. Uncle Vanya

Harold Pinter Theatre, London

January 14 to May 2

Chekhov’s hilarious, heartbreaking play of hidden passions set on a crumbling country estate stars Toby Jones in the title role, alongside Richard Armitage (as Astrov), Dearbhla Molloy and Ciarán Hinds. The new adaptation is by Conor McPherson, writer of Girl From The North Country, currently in the West End.

47. Kunene And The King

Ambassadors Theatre, London

January 24 to March 28

Set in modern South Africa, this richly humane play is written by the country’s veteran actor John Kani, who appears as the black, at-home nurse looking after a cantankerous, white, terminally ill Shakespearean actor played by Antony Sher.

48. Leopoldstadt

Wyndham’s Theatre, London

January 25 to June 13

Any new play by the great Sir Tom Stoppard, now 82, is an event. Directed by Patrick Marber, this is a tragi-comic panorama of the life of Vienna’s doomed Jews in the first half of the last century. The cast features Adrian Scarborough and Stoppard’s son, Ed.

49. Endgame

The Old Vic, London

January 27 to March 28

How far from Harry Potter can you get? Daniel Radcliffe stars in Samuel Beckett’s weird and wonderful play as Clov, the servant to Alan Cumming’s wheelchair bound and blind Hamm, and his legless parents who live in dustbins! It’s part of a double-bill with another Beckett short, Rough For Theatre II.

50. Upstart Crow

Gielgud Theatre, London

February 7 to April 25

David Mitchell leaps off the telly to make his West End debut in his role as Shakespeare in Ben Elton’s stage adaptation of his own hit BBC sitcom. We meet Mitchell’s baldy Bard aged 40 and desperate for a hit, set in full authentic Elizabethan period but without the smells. Gemma Whelan also stars.

51. The Seven Streams Of The River 

Ota Lyttelton stage, National Theatre, London 

March 6-22 

A rare chance for buffs to see one of the great theatre events of the Nineties by the French-Canadian director Robert Lepage and his company. This meandering epic starts with the bombing of Hiroshima and expands into a mushroom cloud of theatrical magic. Seven hours long – including several breaks – but utterly worth it.

52. A Doll’s House

Playhouse Theatre, London

June 10 to September 5

The brilliant film star Jessica Chastain – star of The Help and Zero Dark Thirty – makes her West End debut in Ibsen’s early feminist masterpiece. She plays Nora, the mother who finally slams the door on her husband and kids. Jamie Lloyd directs.

53. Semmelweis

Bristol Old Vic

June 13 to July 25

Oscar-winner Mark Rylance makes his Bristol debut with a new play about a 19th-century Hungarian doctor who utterly disregarded medical convention and saved countless lives. The play is a collaboration between writer Stephen Brown, Rylance and director Tom Morris.

54. Life Of Pi

Wyndham’s Theatre, London

June 28 to October 4

The next War Horse has arrived! Expect superb puppetry and video wizardry in this tale – which transfers from Sheffield – about a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, a tiger and a 16-year-old boy, all stuck on a lifeboat in this extraordinary multi-media adaptation of Yann Martel’s best-selling novel.

55. The Dresser

Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, and Theatre Royal, Bath

September 10-19 and 21-26

‘Lord of the Mince’ Julian Clary stars as Norman, the prissy assistant to an old ham actor called ‘Sir’ (Matthew Kelly), on a tatty tour of King Lear in Ronald Harwood’s affectionate, nostalgic backstage play set in wartime Britain.

Robert Gore-Langton

MUSICALS 

56. The Prince Of Egypt

Dominion Theatre, London

February 5 to September 12

British premiere of the stage musical version of the animated 1998 film about Moses and the Children of Israel. Stephen Schwartz – who wrote Wicked and Godspell – has composed new songs, but the show has five from the film, including When You Believe.

57. BE MORE CHILL

The Other Palace, London

February 12 to May 3

A cult hit Broadway musical with a huge teen following. It’s about a boy – the school dork – who takes a pill to make himself popular. The much-streamed score has music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and a cast that includes Renee Lamb and Millie O’Connell, two former queens from the hit musical Six.

58. Pretty Woman

Piccadilly Theatre, London

February 13 to January 2, 2021

Walking down the street is this musical transfer from Broadway of the 1990 Julia Roberts film about a beautiful prostitute and her super-rich client played by Richard Gere. It has an original score co-written by Bryan Adams and it’s staged and choreographed by Kinky Boots director Jerry Mitchell.

59. Back To The Future

Manchester Opera House

February 20 to May 17

Fire up the DeLorean! The musical of the 1985 film classic is arriving, with music and lyrics by Alan Silvestri and Glen Ballard, in a score that includes the movie’s iconic numbers The Power Of Love and Johnny B Goode. The film’s writer, Bob Gale, is also on board.

60. City Of Angels

Garrick Theatre, London

March 5 to September 5

This acclaimed Humphrey Bogart-era movie musical, partly staged in black and white, is about a Hollywood writer caught up in his own film noir. The 2014 West End staging won two Olivier Awards, so this year’s cast, including Hadley Fraser, Rosalie Craig and Rebecca Trehearn, have a lot to live up to.

61. Sunday In The Park With George 

Savoy Theatre, London

June 11 to September 5

Hollywood’s Jake Gyllenhaal plays the French painter Georges Seurat and Annaleigh Ashford his lover, Dot, in Stephen Sondheim’s great 1984 musical. This acclaimed production was first seen in New York in 2017.

62. Our Man In Havana 

Watermill Theatre, Berkshire 

June 11 to July 25 

This alluring small-scale show comes with Cuban-inspired songs written by Ben Morales Frost and Richard Hough. It’s based on Graham Greene’s delightful 1958 novel about a vacuum-cleaner salesman caught up in Cuba on the brink of its revolution.

63. Sister Act

Hammersmith Apollo, London

July 29 to August 30

Ticket prices are sky-high but this is a rare chance to see Whoopi Goldberg live in a revival of a show first seen in London in 2009. Goldberg reprises her film role as Deloris, a lounge singer forced to join a convent, and Jennifer Saunders plays the Mother Superior. The original score is by the multi-Oscar-winning Alan Menken.

64. Hello, Dolly!

Adelphi Theatre, London

August 11 to March 6, 2021

Imelda Staunton is back where she belongs… on stage playing matchmaker Dolly in this bubbling Sixties musical by Jerry Herman. It’s directed by Dominic Cooke, who is reunited with Staunton, after the hit Follies at the National Theatre.

65. The Drifters Girl

Theatre Royal, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and Garrick Theatre, London

September 5-19 and October 1 to February 13, 2021

Queen of British soul Beverley Knight stars in this musical tribute to Faye Treadwell, the legendary manager who turned the Fifties band into a worldwide sensation. Expect every hit in The Drifters’ mighty playbook.

Robert Gore-Langton

DANCE 

66. Strictly Come Dancing Live

Touring January 16 to February 9

The much-loved 2018 winner Stacey Dooley hosts another arena edition of the hit television show, with a line-up of contestants including Saffron Barker and current champion Kelvin Fletcher. Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood and Shirley Ballas are their eagle-eyed judges.

67. Message In A Bottle

Peacock Theatre, London

February 6 to March 21

ZooNation’s Kate Prince, creator of Some Like It Hip Hop and Into The Hoods, has taken Sting’s songbook as inspiration for her high-octane new show about a village under siege and fighting back.

68. Creature

Sadler’s Wells, London

April 1-8

After his success with Giselle, the brilliant choreographer Akram Khan returns to English National Ballet with what promises to be a radically different adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Gothic thriller, Frankenstein.

69. The Dante Project

Royal Opera House, London

May 6 to June 1

A hugely ambitious project choreographed by Wayne McGregor, based on Dante’s medieval epic poem The Divine Comedy. Edward Watson leads a cast of the Royal Ballet’s finest dancers, including Francesca Hayward and Matthew Ball.

70. Don Quixote

Birmingham Hippodrome

June 19-27

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s new director, Carlos Acosta, inaugurates his regime by importing his much–acclaimed production of this romantic comedy spectacular, with the original choreography by Marius Petipa and new designs by Tim Hatley.

Rupert Christiansen

COMEDY 

71. Alexei Sayle 

Touring January 31 to April 7 

The Scouse hardman of Eighties alternative comedy may look avuncular now that he’s well into his 60s, but he still packs a fearsome political punch in his first tour since 2013. 

72. Leicester Comedy Festival 

February 5-23 

England’s biggest laugh-in runs for three weeks with acts of the calibre of Stewart Lee, Rhod Gilbert, Jo Brand, Milton Jones, Griff Rhys Jones and not forgetting the annual UK Pun Championships. 

73. Rob Brydon 

Touring February 26 to April 30 

The cheesy patter merchant – and Gavin And Stacey star – backed by an eight-piece band, serves up songs from Sondheim to Simon, interspersed with stories and impressions. 

74. Steve Martin & Martin Short 

Touring March 9 to 15 

The Martins have been ribbing each other since starring in Three Amigos in 1986. Now they visit the ‘comedy motherland’ with their double act, putting Hollywood in the firing line before turning on each other. 

75. Tim Vine Is Plastic Elvis 

Touring May 1-June 30 

Leaving aside his rata-tat, one-liner pun gun, Vine invents a new genre as tribute act meets comedy in this concert dedicated to the King. Uh-huh-huh. 

Mark Wareham

BOOKS 

NON FICTION

76. Groupthink: A Study In Self Delusion

Christopher Booker

Bloomsbury £20, out March 19

According to the late journalist, ‘groupthink’ involves the adoption of a common belief not based on the truth; the establishment of a consensus of an in-group of ‘right-minded’ people, and the need to condemn the views of dissenters. Sound at all familiar? Booker investigates the disastrous impact on society of the rise of groupthink.

77. The Ratline

Philippe Sands

W&N £20, out April 23

Otto von Wächter was a Nazi politician and high-ranking member of the SS. Wanted for mass murder, he went on the run after the war and died under strange circumstances in Rome in 1949. Sands, a law professor who won the Baillie Gifford Prize for East West Street, uncovers the secrets of the Nazi’s days as a fugitive in this book based on his compelling podcast of the same name.

78. Fall: The Last Days of Robert Maxwell

John Preston

Viking £18.99, out July 16

The author of the acclaimed A Very English Scandal, about Jeremy Thorpe and his trial for conspiracy to murder, turns his attention to another controversial figure, media tycoon and fraudster Robert Maxwell. Maxwell disappeared from his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, named after his daughter, in November 1991. His body was found in the water. Accidental death… apparently.

79. Victoria Wood: The Authorised Biography

Jasper Rees

Trapeze £20, out October 29

This biography of the beloved writer, actor and comedian – creator of Acorn Antiques and Dinnerladies, winner of four Baftas and subject of two South Bank Show profiles – who died of cancer in 2016 was the subject of a nine-way auction between publishers. It’s being written by journalist Rees with ‘the exclusive authority and full co-operation’ of Wood’s family.

80. Cher memoir

HarperCollins, price and release date to be confirmed

The singer and Hollywood star announced in 2018 that she was working on a memoir and said: ‘It’s going to take me a while because I have a lot to tell.’ She’s not wrong. There’s her award-laden, six-decade career in music and film; marriages to Sonny Bono and Gregg Allman; flings with Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer; and the fact that she is, by her own admission, ‘the poster girl for plastic surgery’. 

FICTION

81. The Mirror And The Light

Hilary Mantel

Fourth Estate £25, out March 5

The final instalment of Mantel’s immersive Wolf Hall trilogy was originally slated for 2014, and she’s spoken candidly about the pressure she’s felt under to get it right. At nearly 900 pages, it seems well worth the wait, promising electrifying drama as the last four years of Thomas Cromwell’s incredible life play out amid the treachery and intrigue of the Tudor court.

82. This Lovely City

Louise Hare

HQ £12.99, out March 12

Snapped up for a six-figure advance, this atmospheric debut novel is set in Fifties Brixton where musician/postman Lawrie, who arrived from the Caribbean aboard the Windrush, makes a grim discovery on Clapham Common one misty morning. The ensuing mystery is a twisty delight, offering a timely illumination of enduring cultural tensions.

83. Utopia Avenue

David Mitchell

Sceptre £20, out June 2

After six years, the Cloud Atlas author returns with a portrait of ‘the strangest British band you’ve never heard of’, a bunch of Sixties rockers who release only two LPs, but whose dizzying rise and precipitous plummet pose questions about whether we can change the world, or whether it’s the world that changes us.

84. The Lying Life Of Adults

Elena Ferrante

Europa £20, out June 9

Ferrante’s first new work of fiction in five years weaves a tale of adolescent rebellion, set against the same Neapolitan backdrop as her cult quartet. It opens in the early Nineties, when an overheard comment inspires 12-year-old Giovanna to track down her mysterious aunt Vittoria, teeing up a reprise of some of the novelist’s best-loved themes.

85. Just Like You

Nick Hornby

Viking £16.99, out September 17

Hornby’s first new novel in six years sets out to probe the truth of that hoary old saying, opposites attract. Having built a life with someone the same age, and who shares the exact same background and interests, the protagonist is about to fall head over heels in love with someone utterly different. Expect a story that’s sharply observed and full of heart.

Neil Armstrong and Hephzibah Anderson 

CLASSICAL 

86. Milos

Touring January 11-25

The guitarist from Montenegro withdrew from public performances in 2016 because of problems with his hand but has since returned with a hit album, Sound Of Silence, which he is touring. While his choice of some popular pieces can be baffling, his technique is unquestionable.

87. Fidelio

Royal Opera House, London, March 1-17

Jonas Kaufmann takes on the role of Florestan in Beethoven’s only opera, in the composer’s bicentenary year. With Royal Opera Music director Antonio Pappano conducting, it should be an early spring treat.

88. Joseph Calleja

London Palladium, March 3

I have long spoken openly about how the Maltese tenor and our own Mansfield mezzo Carly Paoli should sing together. And it has come to pass, as Carly joins Joseph for a Radio 2 night of popular classics such as Strangers In The Night, Moon River and Music Of The Night.

89. Dialogues des Carmelites

Glyndebourne, May 21 to July 19

Barrie Kosky’s Glyndebourne Saul was superb five years ago and, in his first production there since then, he opens the festival with Poulenc’s opera about the Martyrs of Compiègne. Danielle de Niese in the role of Blanche adds to its pulling power.

90. Return Of The Jedi

Royal Albert Hall, London, October 23-25

John Williams’s music sounds wonderful in the Royal Albert Hall, as evidenced by the screening of ET there last month accompanied by the BBC Concert Orchestra. This time, the London Symphony Orchestra – the band on the original Star Wars films – play along as Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader have their final showdown in Return Of The Jedi.

David Mellor

ART 

91. Naum Gabo 

Tate St Ives, January 25 to May 3 

The revolutionary Russian sculptor Naum Gabo ought to be perfect for St Ives with his weightless explorations of space freed from mass. Worth a trip down to this beautiful gallery. 

92. Young Rembrandt 

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford February 27 to June 7 

Rembrandt died in autumn 1669 so this is a little late for the 350th anniversary, but no year should be without Rembrandt. His late works are so great that sometimes we forget the charm, power and magical uniqueness that was there from the very start of his career. 

93. David Hockney: Drawing From Life 

National Portrait Gallery, London February 27 to June 28 

Hockney is the best draftsman of his generation, and one who has used it most wittily and with most thought. Combine this enticing show with a trip to Glyndebourne to see a revival of the greatest of his stage designs, for Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress. 

94. Aubrey Beardsley 

Tate Britain, London March 4 to May 25 

Aubrey Beardsley is an artist that each generation rediscovers for itself. This very full exhibition will bring new admirers to his corrupt, morbid, exquisitely controlled world of still shocking images. 

95. Andy Warhol 

Tate Modern, London March 12 to September 6 

Warhol is an artist who redefined how we thought of art, a man who – as Elton John reminds us in his new autobiography – was never without a camera. We can resist him but he’s not going away. 

96. Titian: Love, Desire, Death 

National Gallery, London March 16 to June 14 

Titian is the embodiment of the Venetian Renaissance, with his devotion to colour, texture and the sensuous excitements of myth. The National Gallery’s show reunites a cycle of six mythological ‘poesie’, not seen together for centuries. 

97. Artemisia 

National Gallery, London April 4 to July 26 

Artemisia Gentileschi is one of very few first-rate women artists from before the 19th century. With an astonishing and compelling personal story and superb, original abilities, she deserves a substantial exhibition. 

98. The Box, Plymouth Opens in the spring 

Plymouth is getting a new museum to mark the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage to America. It’s going to be big, ambitious, confident, and an exciting space that will take a few years to develop its own character. 

99. Marina Abramovic: After Life 

Royal Academy Of Arts, London September 26 to December 8 

Abramovic is the creator of high-intensity emotional events – an air of danger hangs over her happenings, and some have had to be prematurely closed because of physical danger, or proceedings threatening to spiral out of control. This is going to be a compelling high-wire ride. 

100. Epic Iran 

Victoria & Albert Museum, London October 17 to May 3, 2021 

Iran might be the major world civilisation now most closed to us, so few of us have had the opportunity to see the great masterpieces of millennia until now. 

Philip Hensher