What To Stream Over The Festive Break

Mariah’s Christmas: The Magic Continues, Apple TV+

Christmas isn’t Christmas without a bit of Mariah. Here, she’s joined by Grammy-nominated artist Khalid and Grammy-winning legend Kirk Franklin, as they bring festive cheer to fans around the world. The show also features an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe along with Carey’s 10-year-old twins, son Moroccan and daughter Monroe, and Carey sings her Christmas classic, ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.

Robin Robin, Netflix

We’re big fans of Aardman – the makers of Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run – and this new film will entertain children and adults alike. When her egg fortuitously rolls into a rubbish dump, Robin is raised by a loving family of mice. As she grows up, her differences become more apparent. So, Robin sets off on the heist to end all heists to prove to her family that she can be a really good mouse – but ends up discovering who she really is.

Girls5eva, Peacock

This Tina Fey-written drama has landed on Peacock, a new service accessible to Sky and NOW subscribers. When a one-hit-wonder girl group from the 1990s gets sampled by a young rapper, its members reunite to give their pop star dreams one more shot – this time while balancing spouses, kids, jobs, debt, ageing parents and shoulder pain. The series stars Grammy award-winning singer Sara Bareilles, actress and singer Renée Elise Goldsberry, Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live mainstay and comedy icon Paula Pell, and New York Times bestselling author, actor, activist, writer and host Busy Philipps.

Spy City, BritBox

This twisty six-part spy thriller stars Dominic Cooper (Preacher, Mamma Mia) and is based on the novel by William Boyd (Any Human Heart). It’s 1961 and Cooper is secret agent Fielding Scott, who has been sent to Cold War Berlin by a clandestine division of the British security services. The Russians, it seems, know everything. Someone is clearly giving away the secrets of the Western powers – Fielding’s task is to find the traitor and eliminate them.

Being The Ricardos, Amazon Prime

Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) are threatened by shocking personal accusations, a political smear and cultural taboos in Academy Award-winning writer and director Aaron Sorkin’s behind-the-scenes drama Being the Ricardos. A revealing glimpse of the couple’s complex romantic and professional relationship, the film takes audiences into the writers’ room, onto the soundstage and behind closed doors with Ball and Arnaz during one critical production week of the ground-breaking sitcom I Love Lucy.

Swan Song, Apple TV+

Set in the near future, Swan Song is a powerful, emotional journey told through the eyes of Cameron (Oscar winner Mahershala Ali), a loving husband and father who is expecting his second child with wife Poppy (Naomie Harris). When Cameron is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he is presented with an alternative solution by his doctor (Glenn Close) to shield his family from grief. As Cameron grapples with whether to alter his family’s fate, he learns more about life and love than he ever imagined.

Don’t Look Up, Netflix

There’s a galaxy’s worth of stars in this highly anticipated film about two low-level astronomers who embark on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy the planet. Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet, Jonah Hill, Chris Evans, Ariana Grande, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Cate Blanchett, Matthew Perry and Ron Perlman are all here – oh, and it’s written and directed by Adam McKay (Anchorman, The Big Short, Vice).

Encanto, Disney+

Got children to entertain over the holidays? If you didn’t catch this in the cinema earlier this year, Encanto is available to stream on Disney+ on Christmas Eve. The Madrigals are an extraordinary family who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia in a charmed place called the Encanto. The magic of the region has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift – every child except Mirabel. However, she may be the Madrigals’ last hope when she discovers the magic surrounding the Encanto is now in danger.

Stories Of A Generation – With Pope Francis, Netflix

Filmed across the globe over the course of a year, this documentary tells 18 stories of people over 70. Why? Because their lives can inspire our own. It’s based on the Pope’s 2018 book Sharing the Wisdom of Time and sees the pontiff meeting storied individuals from film director Martin Scorsese to primatologist Jane Goodall, artist and activist Omar Badsha to surfing icon Felipe Pomar.

Stay Close, Netflix

Harlan Coben’s novels have been the basis of many Netflix thrillers over the last few years – think Safe, The Stranger and The Woods. Stay Close follows four people who are hiding dark secrets from those closest to them. Megan (Cush Jumbo) is a working mother of three; Ray (Richard Armitage) is a once-promising documentary photographer; Broome (James Nesbitt) is a detective unable to let go of a missing person’s cold case; and Lorraine (Sarah Parish) is an old friend of Megan's. As the past comes back to haunt them, it threatens to ruin their lives and the lives of those around them, so they must plan their next moves carefully.

Queer Eye: Series 6, Netflix

The Emmy Award-winning Queer Eye returns in search for a whole new roster of heroes in need of a little TLC. This season, the Fab Five head to the Lone Star state. Watch as they work their life-changing magic yet again and transform the lives of deserving Texans. A great, life-affirming way to kick off the new year.

The Lost Daughter, Netflix

Maggie Gyllenhaal makes her directorial debut from a script she adapted from the novel by Elena Ferrante. Alone on a seaside vacation, Leda (Olivia Colman) becomes consumed with a young mother and daughter as she watches them on the beach. Unnerved by their compelling relationship, Leda is overwhelmed by her own memories of the terror, confusion and intensity of early motherhood. An impulsive act shocks Leda into the strange and ominous world of her own mind, where she is forced to face the unconventional choices she made as a young mother and their consequences. Also stars Dakota Johnson, Jessie Buckley, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard, Paul Mescal and Dagmara Dominczyk.

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, Now

Filmed at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, this reunion special will see everyone’s favourite three wizards (and other cast members) join director Chris Columbus as they reunite for the first time to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the iconic franchise’s first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Including in-depth interviews and a making-of, it is not one to be missed.

The Tourist, iPlayer

This six-part thriller stars Jamie Dornan as an unnamed man being pursued by a vast tank truck in the Australian outback. An epic cat-and-mouse chase unfolds, and the man later wakes in hospital, hurt, but somehow alive. Except he has no idea who he is. With merciless figures from his past pursuing him, the search for answers propels him through the vast and dangerous outback.