ENTERTAINMENT
THE NEXT 48 HOURS
Just when we hoped that the live arts were getting back on its collective feet, theatres, concert halls, museums and galleries will all close. So, for a final curtain, you should try to head to the National Gallery’s Artemisia exhibition, which showcases the work of art history’s greatest ever heroine, and for some mordant laughs Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt at London’s Apollo, based on his bestselling memoir of life as a junior NHS doctor.
You will also, of course, want to make the next month more bearable by organising yourself with some online subscriptions. For films, you should try Mubi (mubi.com), which is currently offering a 30-day free trial (that’s 30 days of film watching), while, for the whole family, you could do worse than subscribe to Disney+ for £5.99 a month, to prevent temper tantrums during those long autumnal weekends (and at least adults can watch The Mandalorian).
Meanwhile, bookworms with time on their hands should look at the ethically responsible website bookshop.org, which not only offers some decent discounts but also allows independent booksellers to essentially offer a shopfront on the site with the stores receiving the full profit margin from each sale. Happy hunting!
THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS
Traditionally, the autumn is a strong time for TV, and this year is no exception.
The most talked-about show will no doubt be The Crown, which moves to the era of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership and the marriage of Charles and Diana, and is available to stream on Netflix from November 15.
Meanwhile, the second series of His Dark Materials (based on Philip Pullman’s superb fantasy trilogy) will air on the BBC from this Sunday evening, while Steve Mcqueen’s masterly quintet of films about Black British life, Small Axe (already raved about on the Festival circuit), comes to BBC One from November 15.
In terms of TV streaming sites, you should look beyond the usual suspects and consider Channel 4’s All4 (channel4.com), which has an extraordinarily rich catalogue from the broadcaster’s history.
Similarly, if British drama is your thing, head to uk.acorn.tv, where you can see recent fare as well as classics such as Rumpole of the Bailey, the perfect comfort viewing.
As the future of theatre is thrown once more into doubt, you will need to start streaming, you should catch What a Carve Up (whatacarveup.com, see review on page 27), based on Jonathan Coe’s satirical novel. In terms of other theatrical streaming services, broadwayhd.com includes content that is bound to cheer you up, such as 42nd Street and Billy Elliot.
Obviously, with cinemas closing, big blockbuster films are going to be in short supply, but Mank, about the nightmare of making Citizen Kane and starring Gary Oldman, comes to Netflix from November 13. Curling up with a good book is, no doubt, essential, and so Barack Obama’s A Promised Land (due November 17, and the first of the former president’s two-part memoir) arrives at a perfect time. Most intriguing is Kiss Myself Goodbye, in which Ferdinand Mount unravels the secret history of his Aunt Munca. The fact that she named herself after a Beatrix Potter mouse is the least extraordinary thing about her.