Don’t Miss These Addictive TV Shows & Films

Mums V Big Pharma, BBC Two

This documentary examines the lasting impact of sodium valproate, an epilepsy drug linked to serious harm in children, and the long fight for accountability from the families affected. At its centre are Janet Williams and Emma Murphy, two mothers who have spent years challenging the pharmaceutical industry and the institutions that failed to act on concerns about the medication. Their determination to secure answers, despite repeated setbacks, makes for a powerful account of campaigning against a system resistant to change.

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Rivals, Disney +

The power games, tangled romances and spectacularly bad behaviour continue in the second half of Rivals’ second season. With Tony Baddingham and Declan O’Hara’s rivalry reaching boiling point, expect more scandal at the Hampshire Hunt Ball, Bonfire Night chaos and Rupert Campbell-Black facing a few personal demons. Meanwhile, Taggie O’Hara navigates complicated loyalties. David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner and the rest of the stellar cast return, with Rachael Stirling, Rupert Evans and Santiago Cabrera joining the ensemble. The first three episodes land this week, with the remaining instalments arriving weekly thereafter.

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Cunk On Cinema, Netflix 

Philomena Cunk is turning her attention to the silver screen, which feels like a terrible idea in the best possible way. Created by Charlie Brooker, Diane Morgan returns as the confidently clueless interviewer in this three-part mockumentary, charting the history of cinema from its grainy beginnings to CGI and the rise of AI. 

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The Good Daughter, Now TV

Based on Karin Slaughter’s bestselling novel, this six-part thriller centres on estranged sisters Charlotte and Samantha Quinn, whose already fractured family is thrown into turmoil by another violent tragedy in their Georgia hometown. Two decades years earlier, a home invasion left their mother dead and their lives changed forever. Now, after Charlie witnesses a school shooting, the sisters must work together to uncover what happened, confront buried secrets and reckon with the past. Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy star as the sisters, with Brendan Gleeson playing their defence-attorney father.

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Ebenezer, Cinemas Nationwide

Forget the cosy Christmas Carol you remember. Directed by horror filmmaker Ti West, this gothic reimagining of Charles Dickens’s classic takes a darker route through Victorian London, with jump scares, eerie graveyards and supernatural visitations in place of festive comfort. Johnny Depp leads as Ebenezer Scrooge, with Ian McKellen as Jacob Marley, Rupert Grint as Bob Cratchit and Andrea Riseborough as the Ghost of Christmas Past. 

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How To Rob A Bank, Cinemas Nationwide

A crew of social media-savvy criminals are turning bank robbery into a spectator sport in this action thriller from Bullet Train director David Leitch. Led by Nicholas Hoult, the gang livestreams its heists, styling itself as a modern-day Robin Hood outfit taking aim at a corrupt financial system. But when their viral fame attracts the attention of a veteran FBI agent, the online spectacle becomes a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Zoë Kravitz, Pete Davidson, John C. Reilly and Anna Sawai also star.

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Prima Facie, Cinemas Nationwide

Cynthia Erivo takes on the role of Tessa Ensler – originally played by Jodie Comer –  in the film adaptation of Suzie Miller’s acclaimed play, bringing its devastating examination of the justice system to the screen. Tessa is a sharp, self-made criminal defence barrister who has built her career defending men accused of sexual assault. But when she is assaulted by a colleague, Julian Brooks, she finds herself on the other side of the courtroom, confronting the same legal system she once trusted to deliver justice.

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Fjord, Cinemas Nationwide

A family’s fresh start in rural Norway quickly becomes a nightmare in this drama from Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu. Mihai, a Romanian father, and his Norwegian wife Lisbet move with their five children to a remote village, hoping to build a new life. But when their teenage daughter arrives at school with bruises, a conversation with social workers spirals into a devastating custody battle. As the children are removed from their home, the devout couple find themselves caught in a clash over parenting, religion and the state’s duty to protect children. Sebastian Stan (Fresh) and Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person In The World) star in this incredibly  tense, morally complicated drama inspired by real-life child-protection disputes.

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The Mosquito Bowl, Netflix

Four college football stars trade sporting glory for military service after the attack on Pearl Harbor in this wartime drama based on Buzz Bissinger’s non-fiction book. Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson and Tom Francis star in Peter Berg’s adaptation. The story builds towards a Christmas Eve football game played by US Marines on Guadalcanal in 1944, an extraordinary moment of normality shortly before the Battle of Okinawa. The stakes are sobering: of the 65 players who took part in the real-life game, 15 were later killed in action. 

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Honey, BBC 

Set in East Berlin in 1982, this six-part spy thriller follows Martha Schmitt, a young MI6 agent tasked with posing as an ordinary East German woman while working undercover. Her mission becomes increasingly dangerous as she tries to evade Friedrich Baumann, the Stasi’s new head of counter-espionage, while an attraction to an arrogant CIA operative threatens to complicate matters further. Created by Emma Moran (Extraordinary) and produced by the team behind Killing Eve, the series promises Cold War intrigue, dark humour and a suitably messy romantic triangle. The series is also championing lots of relatively fresh-faced talent – Ann Skelly, Nate Mann and Jannis Niewöhner lead the cast, with the more well-known Rory Kinnear also starring.

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12 12 12,  Apple TV

A high-stakes Christmas Eve robbery beneath the streets of Zurich is the starting point for this new heist thriller starring Jamie Dornan and Anthony Mackie. The title refers to the three timelines that shape the story: 12 months of planning, 12 hours to pull off the job and 12 days of police pursuit. Dornan plays career criminal Paul Galvin, whose elaborate plan to raid a bank vault puts him on a collision course with disgraced FBI agent Jack Strickland (Mackie). As the operation unfolds across Europe, the series shifts between the preparation, the robbery itself and its aftermath, building towards a stressful game of cat and mouse.

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