TV
The Killing: season 1 and 2
Now streaming
Jumpers at the ready: this is a Scandi-binge wormhole worth losing yourself in.
Spartacus: season 2 and 3
Now streaming
After the untimely death to cancer of lead Andy Whitfield, the Starz show sidestepped the issue of losing its lead by making the Blood and Sand prequel, and then recast Liam McIntyre as the titular gladiator for its final two seasons (Vengeance and War of the Damned). A tough act to follow, but McIntyre proved to be decent replacement, and his take on the gladiator allowed the show to maintain its high standards of blood, lust and Roman violence until the end.
Peppa Pig: season 2
Now streaming
Oink!
Art and Craft
Now streaming
Intriguing documentary about an unusual art forgery case.
90210 – season 5
6 January
That’s right, the 90210 reboot made it to five seasons.
Dragons: Race to the Edge – season 2
8 January
The How to Train Your Dragon animated spin-off continues.
Reign – season 3
9 January
Following US transmission on CBS every week, the period drama about Mary, Queen of Scots and her time in France continues.
Sherlock – season 3
12 January
Still trying to work out what happened in Sherlock’s new year mind palace episode? Here’s a chance to catch up on Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman’s last three episodes from 2014: The Empty Hearse, The Sign of Three and His Last Vow.
Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments
13 January
Based on Cassandra Clare’s YA book series The Mortal Instruments (already adapted for film as The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones), this new 13-part series follows Clary Fray (Katherine McNamara), who discovers on her 18th birthday that she comes from a long line of Shadowhunters – “humans born with angelic blood who protect humanity from demons”. Expect warlocks, vampires, werewolves, faeries, self-discovery, teen angst etc. Episodes released weekly starting 13 January in line with US transmission on ABC’s Freeform channel.
Pretty Little Liars – season 6 part 2
14 January
OMG, it’s PLL S6 pt2. New episodes stream weekly, 24 hours after the US.
Degrassi: The Next Class – season 1
15 January
New reboot for the enduring high school series that’s been going in various incarnations since 1979.
Chelsea Does – season 1
23 January
“What do you think about sobriety?” “Boring.” New four-part documentary strand with comic / chat show host Chelsea Handler exploring marriage, racism, Silicon Valley and drugs with the help of Willie Nelson and Al Sharpton.
The Good Wife – season 6
24 January
Supremely moreish drama. Just in time for season 7 on Channel 4, here’s a chance to binge last year’s season. Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) juggles work at her new firm with her own burgeoning political career. Fans take note: it’s the last chance to enjoy the magic of Kalinda in the Florrick-Agos office.
Mr Selfridge – season 3
29 January
Jeremy Piven hams it up as the department store owner; never quite reaches Downton levels, but you can do worse if you’re looking for a period soap.
Film
Now streaming
“Orson Welles gave one of his most Shakespearean performances as an ageing, corrupt police chief in this remarkable melodrama.”
Now streaming
Daniel Day-Lewis’s milkshake brings Paul Dano to the yard.
Now streaming
More milkshakes in pop culture.
Now streaming
Landmark basketball documentary.
Now streaming
“Andrew Garfield feels like the definitive Spider-Man, and Rhys Ifans a striking adversary, as the series gets off the ground again in an emotionally literate new version.”
Now streaming
“You’d probably have to be Einstein to fully compre hend what’s going on in this film about Max, a genius shut away from the world like a mathematical equivalent of Frankenstein, experimenting on his computer in search of the Holy Grail in the form of a number that explains everything.”
Now streaming
“What a relief to have a scary movie instead of a Scary Movie – no boring irony, no tiresome inverted commas. It is well constructed, as opposed to incompetently deconstructed.”
Big Trouble in Little China
Now streaming
Cult action from John Carpenter, starring Kurt Russell, a pre-Sex and the City Kim Cattrall and James Hong.
47 Ronin
Now streaming
“If ever a film was in need of an honourable death and a respectful burial it would be 47 Ronin, a cursed samurai epic that features a somnambulistic performance from a shell-shocked Keanu Reeves.”
Bound
Now streaming
The Wachowskis’ feature debut, with Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon and Joe Pantoliano in a taut neo-noir thriller.
10 January
“African director Abderrahmane Sissako’s insightful drama about a family and a city shattered by bigotry and violence teeters between hope and despair.”
26 January
“Spielberg’s suburban horror gets a credit crunch-era update, with Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt, but even new-school CGI can’t mask the cliched premise.”
Natural Born Killers
27 January
Oliver Stone directs Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis in this cult road trip thriller from 1992.
27 January
Sergio Leone’s gangster epic, with Robert de Niro, Danny Aiello, Elizabeth McGovern, James Woods and Joe Pesci.
Play It Again, Sam
27 January
One of Woody Allen’s earlier, funnier films.
