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LEGO STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL Brick by brick, back in time with Star Wars
In 1978, the notoriously painful Star Wars Holiday Special aired and was panned by fans and critics alike. Here’s hoping this Lego-themed episode (below) is an improvement. The animated action follows Rey who, after finding an ancient key, is sent hurtling back through time, where she meets up with some familiar characters, including a young Luke Skywalker. She also visits Chewbacca’s homeworld, battles Darth Vader and meets two Han Solos. Disney+, from Tuesday
LEFTOVER WOMEN NEW DOCUMENTARY Why 30 million women are battling for Mr Right
In China, no matter how successful a woman is, she is regarded as a member of a group known as ‘sheng nu’, a derogatory term meaning ‘leftover women’, if she’s still unmarried at 27.
And as there are 30million more young females in the country than men, many women are joining that demographic. This award-winning documentary follows a 34-year-old lawyer, a radio worker aged 28 and a professor, 36, as they try to juggle their professional aspirations with society’s pressure to find Mr Right.
Sky/NOW, available now
WAR OF THE WORLDS Wells’s sci-fi classic is invaded once again
Contrary to the assertion in Jeff Wayne’s hit musical version that ‘the chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one’, if the number of adaptations of H.G. Wells’s sciencefiction classic is anything to go by, it’s actually a nailed-on certainty. Last year alone saw two new takes on the story.
This thrilling three-part drama is set in Edwardian England and stars Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson and Rupert Graves (below left), Rafe Spall and Robert Carlyle. As in the novel, the Martians – master strategists that they are – spearhead their campaign for a global takeover with an attack on Woking, Surrey.
BritBox, from Friday
JAMAICA INN Du Maurier weaves magic
After the death of her mother, young Mary Yellan (Harlots’ Jessica Brown Findlay, top) has to go and live with her only remaining relative, in the isolated Jamaica Inn on Bodmin Moor. The old coaching inn is the headquarters of a gang of vicious wreckers who trick ships into running aground and then steal the cargo and murder the
crew. When Mary tries to do the right thing, she places her own life in danger. This BBC three-parter from 2014 was criticised for its sound quality but it’s an enjoyable and atmospheric romp. Acorn TV, from Monday
CORONATION STREET’S
60TH ANNIVERSARY
A celebration of soapy tales from the cobbles
On December 9, 1960, a cultural icon was born when the first-ever edition of Corrie was broadcast by ITV. Few expected it to last – only 13 episodes were commissioned from creator Tony Warren – but 60 years on, it’s still going strong and regularly tops the ratings. As part of the soap’s birthday celebrations, BritBox is launching a new collection containing the excellent drama The Road To Coronation Street, charting the soap’s origins, Against The Odds: The Pat Phoenix Story (Phoenix as Elsie Tanner, left, with Philip Lowrie), and 60 episodes featuring memorable moments.
Unbelievable drama, but it’s a lot of fun
In 2017, Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes signed an exclusive four-year deal with Netflix reported to be worth an astonishing nine figures and making her one of the most powerful figures in entertainment. In the show, a political drama which debuted in 2012 and ran to 124 episodes, Kerry Washington plays Olivia Pope, who used to work for the White House but now runs a ‘crisis management’ PR firm specialising in handling political scandals. It’s ludicrous, completely unbelievable and a huge amount of fun. Season 1-7 boxset, from Monday
BILLIE NEW DOCUMENTARY Holiday’s life of sex & drugs & jazz & blues
The fascinating but deeply sad story of two women who both died far too young. The first is jazz legend, Billie Holiday, who died – after a lifetime of excess and abuse – at the age of 44 in 1959. The second is Linda Lipnack Kuehl, an American journalist who became fascinated with Holiday’s extraordinary life of sex, drugs and jazz and blues, and whose taped interviews with friends, lovers and fellow musicians form the basis for James Erskine’s informative and beautifully assembled documentary. Kuehl, herself, died in mysterious circumstances, in 1978. Amazon & iTunes, from Monday
MILITARY WIVES Story of disharmony on and off the stage
Kristin Scott Thomas and Sharon
Horgan (left) are the chalk-and-cheese Army wives behind a military choir set up to bring a disparate group of women together and give them something to focus on while their husbands are stationed in Afghanistan. This 2019 comedy drama is formulaic, filled with stock characters and loosely based on a real story. Despite this, it is a moving, feelgood film that can more than hold its own against similar fare such as The Full Monty (by the same director) and Brassed Off.
From Friday
From Friday FANTASTIC FUNGI NEW DOCUMENTARY Discovering the magic of the mushroom
Documentary exploring the myriad uses of just a handful of the roughly 1.5million different species of fungi. There are mushrooms that can help clean up the environment, that might help in the treatment of cancer and Alzheimer’s and could promote good mental health. There is even a theory that ‘magic mushrooms’ might have been responsible for a sudden expansion in the size of human brains millions of years ago – the so-called ‘stoned ape’ theory. The contributors are enthusiastic – evangelical even – about the benefits of mushrooms, and there is some beautiful time-lapse photography showing various types of fungus growing.
Amazon & Apple TV+, available now