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THE CHANGELING APPLE TV+ HORROR
Billed as a ‘fairy tale for grown-ups’, The Changeling opens with ‘once upon a time’, but it isn’t going to end happily ever after.
Book dealer Apollo (LaKeith Stanfield, right) falls for a librarian, Emma (Clark Backo), and they marry, but even in the first episode there are hints of the direction we’re heading in. Apollo finds a postcard sent by the occultist Aleister Crowley, and Emma encounters a witch in Brazil. By the second episode the story has taken a very disturbing turn. From Friday
TOP BOY NETFLIX DRAMA
Ashley Walters stars as drug dealer Dushane in the fifth and final series of the acclaimed drama set on and around a crimeridden East London council estate. Who will finally reign as top boy? Dushane or Sully (Kane Robinson), or might some unforeseen young gun seize control? From Thursday
JUSTIFIED: CITY PRIMEVAL DISNEY+ DRAMA
Timothy Olyphant returns to the role he played for six excellent seasons of Justified: that of Raylan Givens, a tough, old-school lawman. The original show was set in rural Kentucky but the new eight-episode miniseries, which arrives eight years after the original ended, sees Givens in Detroit and tangling with a psychopath nicknamed the ‘Oklahoma Wildman’ (Boyd Holbrook). It’s just as good as it ever was. From Wednesday
HOW TO DATE BILLY WALSH AMAZON PRIME FILM
Heartstopper star Sebastian Croft’s latest project is a British romcom in which he plays Archie, who’s secretly been in love with his best friend Amelia (Bridgerton’s Charithra Chandran) for ever. Just when he’s finally plucked up the courage to tell her, she announces she’s fallen for American exchange student Billy (Tanner Buchanan of Cobra Kai fame). Can Archie find a way to keep them apart while he proves he’s really the boy for her?
Nick Frost, Guz Khan and Lucy Punch co-star. From Friday
SPY OPS NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY
Intelligence agents tell the story of seven covert operations. They include Operation Pimlico, an audacious MI6 mission to rescue an agent from Moscow, Project Azorian, a CIA operation to recover a sunken Soviet submarine, and an account of the CIA’s activities in Afghanistan in the days after 9/11.
From Friday
VIRGIN RIVER NETFLIX DRAMA
Fifth season of the cheesy but charming romantic soap opera revolving around ‘Mel’ Monroe (Alexandra Breckenridge), the nurse who moved from Los Angeles to the remote Californian town of Virgin River to start her life again and who is now pregnant. Along with all the various characters’ usual relationship problems, the latest series sees the town threatened by a wildfire. From Thursday
FC BARCELONA, A NEW ERA AMAZON PRIME DOCUMENTARY
The second series of the fly-on-the-wall documentary focuses on boss Xavi’s efforts to rebuild the first team, before following its ups and downs during the 2022/23 season. Key matches, shock defeats, injuries, farewells and more are covered throughout. We may already know how the journey ends but getting there is fascinating. From Wednesday
THE LITTLE MERMAID DISNEY+ FILM
Given its inevitable reliance on digital visual effects, some wondered why Disney even bothered with a live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.
But it holds up pretty well as it moves to smaller screens, thanks to a personable turn from Halle Bailey as the lovestruck mermaid, Ariel, and laughs provided by rapper Daveed Diggs, as the voice of her sidekick, Sebastian the crab. With Lin-Manuel Miranda providing new lyrics, it’s Rob Marshall of Pirates Of The Caribbean fame who directs.
From Wednesday
SITTING IN BARS WITH CAKE AMAZON PRIME FILM
Tasty new comedy drama inspired by Audrey Schulman’s memoir. Yara Shahidi plays Jane, a shy
Los Angeles resident who’s persuaded by her extrovert friend (Odessa A’zion, above left, with Shahidi) to spend a year trying to make new friends by turning up at bars and offering the punters home-baked goods. However, a life-changing diagnosis brings the duo a new challenge. From Friday
LAST NIGHT IN SOHO NETFLIX FILM
Stylish psychological thriller in which fashion student Ellie (Thomasin McKenzie) finds herself able to visit 1960s London in her dreams. Available now
I AM GROOT DISNEY+ ANIMATION
A new series of the animated shorts. After the third and final Guardians Of The Galaxy film we flash back once more to Groot’s Baby Groot stage. The twiggy hero, left, finds himself exploring the universe and beyond aboard the Guardians’ spaceships, coming face to face with new and colourful creatures and environments. From Wednesday
TERENCE DAVIES TRIPLE HEADER MUBI FILMS
Three of the much-admired Liverpudlian auteur’s films are being released. Two of them – Distant Voices, Still Lives and Of Time And The City – are based on events he witnessed while growing up in the 1950s.
The third, The House Of Mirth, stars Gillian Anderson and is an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s
1905 novel about a well-born woman’s social descent.
From Sunday
SCREAM VI SKY/NOW FILM
The sixth entry in the smash-hit horror franchise is the first not to feature Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, but it does see many survivors of the original gang facing off against the Ghostface killer, below, who is determined to wipe them all out once and for all. Hayden Panettiere and Courteney Cox are among those reprising their roles from earlier instalments. From Friday
ROMESH AND TOM TAKE TAKESHI’S CASTLE AMAZON PRIME GAME SHOW
Craig Charles, Dick and Dom and Jonathan Ross have all had a go at providing the bonkers cult Japanese game show, below, with a British commentary. Now it’s the turn of diehard fan Tom Davis and Romesh Ranganathan, who claims he loves seeing people fall over, to take a turn. Available now
DALGLIESH ACORN TV DRAMA
Bertie Carvel is policeman-poet Inspector Adam Dalgliesh in the stylish drama set in the 1970s. The second series covers three of the P.D. James novels on which they are based: Death Of An Expert Witness, A Certain Justice and
The Murder Room. Carlyss Peer plays DS Miskin, who is beginning to develop feelings for Dalgliesh. Available now
A MILLION LITTLE THINGS UKTV PLAY DRAMA
Much-admired US feelgood drama about a group of friends from Boston who, following the suicide of one of their group, decide it’s time to change their approach to life. After six years of love and laughter, the show reached the end of the road a few months ago. Now all five series are being made available to binge-watch. David Giuntoli, Romany Malco and Allison Miller star. From Tuesday
ASHES TO ASHES BBC iPLAYER FANTASY
‘Fire up the Quattro!’ may not have had the same impact as Life On Mars’s catchphrases (‘Trust the Gene Genie’) but it was still pretty cool, and came again from the mouth of DCI Gene Hunt, that series’ antihero. This time the action shifts to 1981, and Keeley Hawes is the modern cop forced to live in a bygone age. Cue more culture-clash confusion and a heavily nostalgic look back at a pre-internet, pre-mobile age. And look out for the revelations in the final episode that may be the weirdest series conclusion ever. Available now
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT UKTV PLAY FILM
Not the original 1930 movie, nor the recent Oscar-winner, but rather a 1979 take on Erich Maria Remarque’s novel. Richard
Thomas, fresh from his success as John-Boy Walton, plays young German soldier Paul, who’s overcome by feelings of disillusionment after witnessing the barbarity of the First World War. Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Ian Holm and Patricia Neal are also along the impressive cast.
From Sunday
THE GOLD ROBBERS TPTV ENCORE DRAMA
Crime series from 1969 starring Peter Vaughan as a tough cop entrusted with finding those responsible for a massive bullion robbery that has some similarities to the later, real-life Brink’s-Mat case. From Monday
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK BBC iPLAYER FILM
Oscar-winning drama focusing on a young couple whose lives are torn apart when, shortly after discovering they are expecting a baby, the father-to-be is wrongly accused of rape. KiKi Layne and Stephan James play the lovers, with
Regina King, left. From Wednesday
CASE HISTORIES UKTV PLAY DRAMA
Excellent crime drama based on Kate Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie novels. Jason Isaacs, below, plays the private investigator who can’t help getting involved in people’s problems. Available now
TYRANNOSAUR/ JOURNEYMAN C4 FILMS
He may be best known as an actor, but to help Paddy Considine celebrate his 50th birthday, Channel 4 is making available the two dramas he’s written and directed. Tyrannosaur is a brilliant if gruelling portrait of troubled people brought together in terrible circumstances. Journeyman focuses on a boxer (played by Considine) who faces the biggest fight of his life after suffering a brain injury. From Wednesday
NEW ELIZABETHANS WITH ANDREW MARR BBC iPLAYER DOCUMENTARY
Before it drops off the iPlayer, don’t miss the astute political observer’s fascinating three-part documentary, which explores how Britain and its citizens changed during Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign. Influential individuals, culture and industry are all examined. Until Friday
DANCE ON TV MARQUEE TV ARTS
A variety of amazing performances are on offer, with three standing out from the crowd – the Royal Ballet’s production of Like Water For Chocolate, inspired by Laura Esquivel’s novel of the same name; Cold Storage, an unusual piece about a Nordic fisherman; and a fresh take on Sleeping Beauty by Ballett Zürich. Available now
LOOK AROUND YOU BBC iPLAYER COMEDY
Both series of the hilarious science-show parody are a must-see, especially if you grew up being forced to watch lacklustre educational programmes at school during the 1970s and 1980s. Watch out for cameos from Olivia Colman, Peter Serafinowicz, Josie d’Arby and Robert Popper (inset, left), plus the likes of Simon Pegg, David Mitchell, Harry Enfield and Mark Heap. Available now
BENEDETTA C4 FILM
Paul Verhoeven’s erotic drama won’t be to everyone’s taste but it’s one of the controversial Dutch film-maker’s most compelling movies. Virginie Efira plays the titular nun, whose faith is put to the test when she has lustful thoughts about a fellow initiate. Charlotte Rampling and Daphne Patakia co-star. Available now
DICKENSIAN BBC iPLAYER DRAMA
Entertaining 2015 series featuring characters from novels by Charles Dickens and revolving around the murder of A Christmas Carol’s Jacob Marley. Tuppence
Middleton stars. Available now