TVIf you only watch one, make it …The Traitors
BBC iPlayer; next episode Saturday
Summed up in a sentence Series four of the “civilian” Traitors introduces an audacious new wrinkle to keep its players – and its viewers – on their toes.
What our reviewer said “Having grown the series’ 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’ve upped the ante and made the format even twistier.” Elle Hunt
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Further reading New Traitors contestants include detective, crime writer and psychologist
Pick of the restWild London
BBC iPlayer
Wild London. Photograph: BBC/Passion Planet Ltd/Joe Loncraine
Summed up in a sentence David Attenborough brings his lifelong sense of wonder to the city’s wildlife, from foxes to peregrine falcons, in this exquisite special.
What our reviewer said “This one human animal has changed the way we see the natural world. Whatever will we do without him?” Chitra Ramaswamy
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Further reading ‘Cities need nature to be happy’: David Attenborough seeks out London’s hidden wildlife
The Hunting Wives
ITVX
Summed up in a sentence Blackmail! Murder! Horny Republicans! This starry bonkbuster is about as good as nonsense television gets.
What our reviewer said “This 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 – well, I don’t even know when.” Lucy Mangan
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The Night Manager
BBC iPlayer
Olivia Colman and Tom Hiddleston in The Night Manager. Photograph: BBC/Ink Factory/Des Willie
Summed up in a sentence The racy espionage blockbuster returns after a decade away, with Tom Hiddleston back as MI6 agent Jonathan Pine.
What our reviewer said “It still floats far above most of the competition.” Jack Seale
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Further reading ‘We’re your dream throuple!’ The Night Manager is back – and it’s even steamier
Titanic Sinks Tonight
BBC iPlayer
Summed up in a sentence This four-part docudrama is a truly intense watch, making you feel as if you’re onboard the doomed ship.
What our reviewer said “There’s 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.” Hannah J Davies
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FilmIf you only watch one, make it …Song Sung Blue
In cinemas now
Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman in Song Sung Blue. Photograph: Focus Features/PA
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.
What our reviewer said “Its feelgood flavour won’t 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.” Peter Bradshaw
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Further reading Kate Hudson on taking risks, rejecting compromise – and finding her voice at 46
Pick of the rest
In cinemas now
Menus-Plaisirs: Les Troisgros. Photograph: Capital Pictures/Alamy
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.
What our reviewer said “There is no drama here; no Gordon Ramsay tantrums, no Anton Ego-type food critics 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.” Phil Hoad
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Now streamingI’m Chevy Chase and You’re Not
Sky Documentaries & Now
Summed up in a sentence Marina Zenovich’s documentary profiles the talented, if often obnoxious, actor and comedian.
What our reviewer said “Zenovich and her editor, splicing and dicing 50 years of archive material, get across Chase’s abundant talent at its best, particularly his masterly command of the pratfall, and his immaculate comic timing.” Leslie Felperin
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Further reading ‘He has come back from the dead’: Chevy Chase spent eight days in a coma during Covid pandemic
A French Youth
True Story
Summed up in a sentence Jérémie Battaglia’s captivating documentary follows two north African raseteurs battling bulls and systemic racism in southern France.
What our reviewer said “Battaglia’s 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” Phuong Le
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BooksIf you only read one, make it …This Is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin
Reviewed by Patrick Gale
Summed up in a sentence A standout debut novel from the acclaimed short story writer.
What our reviewer said “Mueenuddin’s 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.”
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Further reading Books to look out for in 2026 – fiction
Pick of the restCape Fever by Nadia Davids
Reviewed by Claire Adam
Summed up in a sentence South African colonial-era tale of a battle of wills between maid and employer.
What our reviewer said “Cape Fever is a cleverly told and ultimately satisfying novel, by an author bold enough to reveal uncomfortable truths.”
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The Zorg by Siddharth Kara
Reviewed by Farrah Jarral
Summed up in a sentence The gruesome story of a slave ship.
What our reviewer said “Part thriller, part serious nonfiction, The Zorg effectively illuminates one of the darkest chapters in our history.”
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Further reading Books to look out for in 2026 – nonfiction
The Dead Don’t Bleed by Neil Rollinson
Reviewed by Jonathan Lee
Summed up in a sentence Set in Northumberland and Spain, the poet’s debut novel is a tense portrait of two brothers trying to escape their father’s gangland past.
What our reviewer said “One of this novel’s many successes is in capturing the terror of illicit attraction – of admitting to yourself that you secretly want something more.”
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You may have missed …Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy
Reviewed by Amit Chaudhuri
Summed up in a sentence The first memoir by the Booker-winning novelist and political activist.
What our reviewer said “The 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.”
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Further reading Where to start with: Arundhati Roy
AlbumsIf you only listen to one, make it …Dry Cleaning: Secret Love
Out 9 January
Dry Cleaning. Photograph: Max Miechowski
Summed up in a sentence The standout act in the sprechgesang wave, the four-piece’s newly expansive sound carries singer Florence Shaw’s distinctive tales of mundane lives spiralling out of control.
What our reviewer said “The 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.” Alexis Petridis
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Pick of the restIain Ballamy: Riversphere Vol 1
Out now
Iain Ballamy. Photograph: Dave McKean
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 “Riversphere likens the interweaving of rivers to the flows of music-making between genres, individuals and across the blurred lines of composition and improv.” John Fordham
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Radu Lupu: The Unreleased Recordings
Out now
Summed up in a sentence This six-disc collection to mark the late pianist’s 80th birthday is full of treats, including rare ventures into Chopin and Copland.
What our reviewer said “If ever a pianist’s appearance belied the character of his playing it was Lupu: that the intensely serious, heavily bearded figure who hunched over the keyboard in a way more appropriate to a seance than a recital could produce playing of such velvety tonal beauty was extraordinary.” Andrew Clements
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