NETFLIX & DISNEY+
The One And Only Ivan
The power of friendship and the importance of having a space to call home are at the forefront of this adaptation of K. A. Applegate’s much-loved novel. Disney has a long history of producing wonderful movies featuring anthropomorphic animals, and its latest looks set to become another classic for the studio; the fact that it’s inspired by a true story makes it even more incredible.
Sam Rockwell voices Ivan, a silverback gorilla who lives in the Big Top Mall and is cared for by owner Mack (Bryan Cranston, above), in this adaptation of K. A. Applegate’s novel
Sam Rockwell provides the voice for Ivan, a silverback gorilla who lives in the Big Top Mall with his pals Bob the dog (Danny DeVito) and elephant Stella (Angelina Jolie). They’re cared for by owner Mack (Bryan Cranston), but their lives are about to be changed by the arrival of an abused baby elephant called Ruby.
Soon the animal pals are delving into their long-forgotten pasts, hatching a plan to escape and dreaming of freedom. Helen Mirren and Chaka Khan are also among the impressive vocal and live-action cast. Disney+, from Friday
Lucifer
The devilishly entertaining series starring Tom Ellis as Lucifer, the Lord of Hell, who decides to relocate to Los Angeles.
The devilishly entertaining series starring Tom Ellis as Lucifer, the Lord of Hell, who decides to relocate to Los Angeles, is back for season five
Following the dramatic events of season four, which saw Lucifer return to the underworld after he and Chloe (Lauren German) finally admitted their feelings for each other, things are about to get even more complicated in season five when Lucifer’s twin brother arrives on a mission to ruin his life. Netflix, from Friday (seasons 1-3, Amazon; seasons 4-5, Netflix)
The Sleepover
Imagine discovering that your typical suburban mother once led a secret life as a thief and has been in witness protection since before you were born. That, in a nutshell, is how The Sleepover, a knockabout family comedy clearly inspired by the Spy Kids franchise, begins.
That should be more than enough for any youngster to get to grips with, but when Mum and her hapless husband are kidnapped, it’s up to her plucky offspring to find her. Sadie Stanley and Maxwell Simkins play the youngsters, alongside Malin Akerman, Ken Marino and Joe Manganiello. Netflix, from Friday
Beauty And The Beast
Last year there was an abundance of live-action Disney films with Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King and Lady And The Tramp, but in 2017 there was only one, the classic Beauty And The Beast. With the help of Bill Condon, best known for the 2006 musical film Dreamgirls, the animated film refashioned the characters for a contemporary audience.
This spectacular, live-action version is hugely enjoyable and features a largely British cast led by Dan Stevens and Emma Watson as the title characters (above)
A young Prince, imprisoned in the form of a Beast (Dan Stevens), can be freed only by true love. What may be his only chance arrives when he meets Belle (Emma Watson), the only human girl to visit the castle since it was enchanted. This spectacular, live-action version is hugely enjoyable and features a largely British cast of Luke Evans, Ewan McGregor, Emma Thompson and Ian McKellen. Disney+, from Friday
Biohackers
Hard on the heels of the mindbending cult hit Dark comes another classy German sci-fi thriller. Biohackers is set in the cutting-edge world of genetic modification. Mia, a young medical student, gets a job at a secretive biotech company run by the brilliant Professor Tanja Lorenz. ‘It’s our responsibility,’ says the professor, ‘to create the world of the future. You are the creators of tomorrow.’ Hmm. Sounds just a teeny bit sinister. But Mia has secrets of her own… Netflix, from Thursday
Selling Sunset
After the release of season two in May, season three follows the lives of the estate agents at the Oppenheim Group’s brokerage firm as they continue to share the ups and downs of their personal and professional lives.
Selling Sunset is gloriously lowbrow and semi-scripted reality reminiscent of shows like The Only Way Is Essex. Christine Quinn’s wedding (above) will feature in season three
Selling Sunset is gloriously lowbrow and semi-scripted reality reminiscent of shows like The Only Way Is Essex and The Real Housewives, but the drama between the infamous women and the property porn that comes with it is enough to get you hooked.
The trailer revealed glimpses of Chrishell Stause’s divorce from Justin Hartley, Christine Quinn’s wedding – which is apparently the ‘craziest thing’ Jason Oppenheim has ever seen – and plenty of infighting and, of course, sales from the team. Netflix, available now
SKY/NOW TV, BRITBOX & APPLE TV+
Succession
The second season of the blackly comedic drama about a media dynasty run by the fictional Logan Roy was recently nominated for 18 Emmys, more than any other drama except Ozark. Driving the plot is the question of which of his four scheming children ageing billionaire Roy (Brian Cox) will anoint as his successor.
The second season of the blackly comedic drama about an American media dynasty was recently nominated for a whopping 18 Emmys. Above: Harriet Walter and Sarah Snook
He has one – Connor – by his first wife, and three – Kendall, Roman and Siobhan (Shiv) – by his second, Lady Caroline Collingwood (Harriet Walter). Interest in the show, loosely inspired by the Murdoch family, remains sky-high, thanks in part to the recent BBC documentary The Rise Of The Murdoch Dynasty, the format of which clearly, in turn, owed a debt to Succession. Cox has said he hopes filming will begin on season three ‘asap’. Sky/NOW TV, available now
Ghosts
What if your new home’s previous owners hadn’t actually left but remained in situ, albeit in the spirit world? That’s the premise of a charming modern comedy, in which Charlotte Ritchie plays Alison, who has inherited a country manor and decides to renovate it with her husband Mike (Kiell Smith- Bynoe).
The trouble is, a rag-tag group of previous residents’ ghosts aren’t happy with their plans to turn the house into a hotel. They include Mathew Baynton as a foppish poet, Lolly Adefope as an effusive Georgian lady, Simon Farnaby as a trouserless Tory MP and Katy Wix, who was burned as a witch and is still fuming. It’s frightfully funny, one step up from 1970s kids’ show Rentaghost, and a close relative of Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost. BritBox, from Thursday
Out Of This World Collection
A real treasure trove of cult science-fiction drama. There’s Patrick McGoohan’s brilliant and influential 1967 series The Prisoner, in which a secret agent resigns, is abducted and wakes up in The Village, a mysterious and surreal detention camp.
The Out Of This World Collection is a real treasure trove of cult science-fiction drama featuring shows such as Sapphire & Steel with Joanna Lumley and David McCallum (above)
Both seasons of the 1970s show Space: 1999 – the most expensive series made for British TV at the time – in which the Moon is knocked from its orbit and sent hurtling into space, along with the pioneering humans living on it. The Wall Street Journal said it was ‘like Star Trek shot full of methedrine’.
There are also all the episodes of Sapphire & Steel with Joanna Lumley and David McCallum, in which ‘detectives from another dimension’ keep an eye on the flow of time, plus Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, UFO and Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased). BritBox, from Thursday
Boys State
Boys State is a summer camp at which US high-school boys take part in a mock political process that mimics a two-party system and an election. Bill Clinton and Dick Cheney are among those politicians who participated as youngsters. This documentary, which won the grand jury prize at this year’s Sundance, follows 1,000 17-year-olds in Texas, representing all shades of political belief and coming together to build a government and to campaign for the highest office at Boys State – governor. Thrilling, emotionally involving and – given the state of actual politics all over the world – heartening. Apple TV+, available now
Why is there such a buzz about..?
Chernobyl (Sky/NOW)
The drama about the nuclear accident in Ukraine in 1986 was first broadcast last year but is proving to have a long half-life. It has garnered numerous awards, including Baftas for best mini-series and best actor (Jared Harris). However, it is word of mouth that’s keeping this haunting, harrowing series about the world’s worst nuclear disaster – and the subsequent cover-up – in the charts.
It’s shot like a dystopian sci-fi film in which the good guys are fighting a deadly, invisible monster – radiation – and it’s utterly terrifying, because most of the events actually happened. It has also proved popular in Russia and Ukraine for its portrayal of some of the astonishing acts of bravery undertaken by ordinary working people such as power-plant staff, firefighters and miners.
The drama about the nuclear accident in Ukraine in 1986 was first broadcast last year but is proving to have a long half-life. The entire cast, led by Jared Harris, are stellar
Harris, Emily Watson and Stellan Skarsgard, the three principals, are all brilliant but the entire cast are stellar, including Jessie Buckley as the pregnant wife of a firefighter horrifically burned by radiation, and Ralph Ineson as General Tarakanov, who leads the mission to clear the site of radioactive material. Thanks to the skill of the actors and the make-up department, you can virtually feel the radiation seeping from your screen.
In 2006, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev wrote: ‘The nuclear meltdown at Chernobyl was perhaps the true cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union.’ According to some estimates, Chernobyl may have caused more than 90,000 deaths. The official Soviet death toll was 31.
Neil Armstrong
BBC iPLAYER & ALL 4
Thirteen
Another chance to see Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer in her breakthrough role from 2016. Comer is captivating as 26-year-old Ivy Moxam, who contacts the police after escaping from the cellar where she claims she has been held captive for 13 years.
Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer is captivating as 26-year-old Ivy Moxam, who contacts the police after escaping from the cellar where she claims she has been held captive for 13 years
After DNA testing confirms Ivy’s identity, it’s up to detectives Elliott Carne and Lisa Merchant (Richard Rankin and Valene Kane in a classic good cop/bad cop pairing) to track down the kidnapper and unravel what happened to Ivy during those long years in captivity. But is she telling the whole truth?
While Ivy struggles to readjust to living with a family she’s been away from for half of her life, pressure mounts on the police when another girl vanishes and it looks like Ivy is the only one who can help… With a supporting cast including Stuart Graham and Natasha Little as Ivy’s parents, as well as Aneurin Barnard, this chilling, five-part drama will have you guessing until the end. BBC iPlayer, available now
Good Trouble
Foster sisters Mariana and Callie have just moved to LA, into an apartment block called the Coterie, a ‘community where we share resources to enrich our lives’. Shared resources include the kitchen and bathroom. Ah, the joys of communal living. Good Trouble follows the ups and downs of a group of earnest 20-somethings as they try to make their way in the world.
Think of it as a sort of American version of This Life, but with added social justice. Idealistic millennials will love it – more cynical, older viewers might find themselves rolling their eyes… BBC3/BBC iPlayer, series 1 & 2 from today
The End Of The F***ing World
Dark humour from a pair of teenage misfits The show about two teenage runaway rebels was a surprise winner at this year’s Baftas, scooping best drama series and beating The Crown. It might be critically acclaimed and thoroughly bingeable but, be warned, there are also some disturbing scenes in the Channel 4 show, which was adapted from a comic-book series.
The action centres around two troubled 17-year-olds, James (Alex Lawther), a would-be psychopathic serial killer, and his schoolmate Alyssa (Jessica Barden), an outsider who hates everything. The pair embark on what turns out to be a violent and bloody but darkly comic road trip. All 4 is showing both series 1 & 2. All 4, available now
The Lost Boys
Long before Twilight, this cult, comedy-inflected horror made being a teenage vampire look stylish – if very 1980s. A cash-strapped single mum takes her sons, Michael and Sam, to live with their cantankerous grandfather in a crime-ridden town on the California coast.
Long before Twilight, this cult, comedy-inflected horror made being a teenage vampire look stylish. Kiefer Sutherland (above, centre) stars as a suitably charismatic bloodsucker
Sam is initially sceptical when two comic-obsessed brothers tell him the high murder rate is down to vampires, but he’s forced to think again when Michael falls in with a gang who party all night and sleep all day… Kiefer Sutherland is a suitably charismatic bloodsucker, Coreys Feldman and Haim provide decent comic relief and Jason Patric is moodily attractive as Michael. It’s also a fitting tribute to the late director Joel Schumacher. BBC iPlayer, from Friday
AMAZON PRIME
You’ve Been Trumped Too
The US President doesn’t want people to watch this documentary, but his failure to secure a worldwide ban, despite four years of legal wrangling, means it’s finally being released worldwide.
The US President doesn’t want people to watch this documentary, but his failure to secure a worldwide ban, despite four years of legal wrangling, means it’s finally being released
It’s a sequel to the award-winning You’ve Been Trumped, with director Anthony Baxter exploring the confrontation between Donald Trump and Molly Forbes, a widow whose water supply was cut off by those constructing the billionaire’s Scottish golf resort. From Tuesday
Chemical Hearts
Seventeen-year-old Henry has never been in love. But that changes when he meets new student Grace. He’s immediately drawn to her and the pair grow closer after being tasked with co-editing their school newspaper. Henry is smitten, but is Grace all she seems? Austin Abrams and Riverdale star Lili Reinhart play the lovers in this charming romantic drama. From Friday
Live ATP Tennis
The US Open is set to begin at the end of the month, so players hoping to succeed at the first Grand Slam since play restarted will be desperate to hone their skills. As a result, the Western & Southern Open has attracted some big names, including Brits Andy Murray, Dan Evans and Kyle Edmund, as well as Novak Djokovic. From Friday
Burning Man: Art On Fire
Every August, thousands of New Age types, old hippies and artists descend on the Nevada desert for the Burning Man Festival, where they endure extreme heat and dust to create a so-called ‘city of dreams’. At the centre is a huge Wicker Man-like construction, which at the end is razed to the ground. Art on Fire profiles these hardy artists, called Burners, as they prepare their immense creations, including regulars Kate Raudenbush, Peter Hazel and the wonderfully named Flash Hopkins. From Saturday
Films
Summerland
It’s only a fortnight since this was released in cinemas but, for those who prefer to do their film viewing at home, here it is available online.
Gemma Arterton stars as Alice, a bad-tempered writer whose solitary wartime life is interrupted by the arrival of a young and unwanted evacuee in Summerland
Gemma Arterton stars as Alice, a bad-tempered writer whose solitary wartime life on the South Coast is interrupted by the arrival of a young and unwanted evacuee. Nice, easy, sun-drenched watching. Most platforms, available now
Sputnik
Two cosmonauts return to Earth after a long mission, but on their descent, contact is lost. Finally back on Earth in a secret research facility, the commander seems to be recovering well, except…
So far so Alien, but when a maverick psychiatrist from Moscow is called in – extremely well played by Oksana Akinshina – this watchable but disturbing Russian sci-fi horror is heading somewhere new. And nastier. Most platforms, available now
Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure
The long-awaited third film, Bill & Ted Face The Music, is due out next month, so revisiting the 1989 original, with Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves), almost counts as homework. And what bodaciously silly fun it is. Most platforms, available now
Matthew Bond