PICK OF PAY TV AND MOVIES

NETFLIX

NEW! DEATH TO 2020 ★★★★

Satirical retrospective from Charlie Brooker. Expect venom for a year that deserves it, and appearances from Hugh Grant and Tracey Ullman. From tomorrow.

NEW! CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA

(Part 4) ★★★ The last eight episodes of this drama starring Kiernan Shipka as a teen torn by her half-witch, half-human nature. From New Year’s Eve.

BEST LEFTOVERS EVER

NEW! (Season 1) ★★★ Rosemary Shrager is one of the judges on this chirpy US contest in which $10,000 goes to the cook who makes the best dish from leftovers.

From Wednesday.

NEW! THE MINIMALISTS: LESS IS NOW

★★★★ ‘Our memories are not in our things,’ is one message of this thoughtful, highend documentary about the joys of de-cluttering. From New Year’s Day.

NEW! EQUINOX (Season 1) ★★★ Spooky Danish thriller about the mystery of a long-missing sister and an alternative reality. If you liked the mind-bending Dark, give this a whirl. From Wednesday.

AMAZON PRIME

NEW! VIKINGS (Season 6B) ★★★

The final ten episodes of this actionpacked and loosely historical drama arrive on Amazon in one chunk. A spinoff series, entitled Vikings: Valhalla and set a century after the original show, is in production for Netflix. From Wednesday.

NEW! YEARLY DEPARTED ★★★ An all-female line-up of comics deliver piercing ‘eulogies’ for the things we lost in 2020 in a one-off from the US. From Wednesday.

THE CHAPERONE

MOVIE (2018) 12 u ★★★ Elizabeth Mcgovern co-stars in Julian Fellowes’s handsome adaptation of a tale about silent screen icon Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson). From New Year’s Eve.

MOVIE LES MISERABLES

(2012)12 u ★★★★ Tom Hooper’s impressive take on the epic Victor Hugo tale, for which his cast (including Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne, above) sang live on set. From Monday.

MOVIE WIDOWS

(2018) 15 u ★★★★ Steve Mcqueen (Small Axe) delivers an exhilarating American twist on Lynda La Plante’s story of the diamond-hard widows of crooks. From New Year’s Eve.

SKY / NOW TV

NEW! MODERN FAMILY

(All 11 seasons) ★★★ Mockumentary-style US comedy with a fine ensemble cast, including Ty Burrell as the agonisingly uncool ‘cool dad’ Phil, and Sofia Vergara as Gloria, the glamorous second wife of Phil’s fatherin-law, Jay. From Monday.

MOVIE ELF

(2003) PG ● ★★★★ Will Ferrell is perfectly cast in this modern festive classic as a man who thinks he’s an elf (right) – and is about to be reunited with his grumpy human dad.

DISNEY+

MOVIE SOUL (2020) PG ● ★★★★★

Pixar tackles the meaning of life in this heartfelt animated comedy about a music teacher who longs to play in the big leagues, but doesn’t reckon on a trip to the afterlife. Up there with the best of the studio’s films.

DRAMA THE MANDALORIAN

(Seasons 1-2) ★★★★ If you’re looking for a blockbuster to watch over Christmas and have never seen this Star Wars series, then you’re in for a treat. It’s essentially a space western, with the bounty hunter of the title as its mysterious stranger.

BEST OF THE REST

NEW! RACHEL KHOO’S CHOCOLATE (discovery+) ★★★ There are recipes for chocolate dishes in this new series, but also an enthusiastic dive into the mechanics of taste and more. It’s an odyssey of sorts, and one Khoo clearly loved making. From New Year’s Day.

LAST CHANCE DICK WHITTINGTON

(Youtube) ★★★★ If you missed out on a pantomime this year, then fear not – the National Theatre has placed its new production of Dick Whittington on Youtube for free. Until tomorrow, 12 midnight.

PAY MOVIES

THE WITCHES

(2020) PG ● (BT TV Store, Sky Store, Virgin) ★★★ Anne Hathaway certainly revels in the role of the Grand High Witch in this elaborate Hollywood take on the Roald Dahl tale, which shifts the story’s setting to 1960s Alabama.

SHIRLEY

(2020) 15 u (BT TV Store,

Sky Store, Virgin) ★★★★ Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) excels as the writer Shirley Jackson in this creepy, fictionalised take on the life of the American author behind The Haunting Of Hill House. Both from Monday.