Best Theatre/Comedy of 2025

I didn’t get to see as much theatre or comedy this year than I normally do. Firstly, I had an operation in July, and I wasn’t recovered sufficently to make my annual trip to the Edinburgh Fringe (the first one I’ve missed, discounting Covid lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, since 2009!). I’m also not reviewing as much for The Stage as I once did, so I’ve cut this down to a Top 6 rather than the normal 10. I still managed to see a fair amount of brilliant stuff though.

Inside Number 9: Stage/Fright, March 2025 in London, November 2025 in Liverpool

So good I saw it twice, once on its inital run at the Wyndhams Theatre in London, and then again in Liverpool in November during the regional tour. Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s stage version of their long-running TV show worked perfectly as a live event, with the usual dark humour, twists and special surprise guests. It’s a show that worked equally well for obsessive fans of the show as it did for newcomers (there were lots of little Easter Eggs scattered around, as well as a full perfomance of the Bernie Clifton Dressing Room episode). What Shearsmith & Pemberton do next is anyone’s guess, but this will be a hard act to follow.

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Red Or Dead – Liverpool Royal Court, April 2025

This adaptation of David Pearce’s mammoth novel about Bill Shankly (over 700 pages!) was expertly adapted into a poignant, life-affirming portrait of one man’s obsession with football and the city that adopted him. Veteran actor Peter Mullan was a perfect Shankly, and like the man himself, the play seemed to transcend football – this was a tale of community spirit, obsession and pride. It probably wouldn’t work anywhere else other than Liverpool, but if it’s ever revived, it’s well worth checking out.

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Ghost Stories, Sheffield Lyceum, February 2025 (touring production)

It seems a bit of a cheat to include Ghost Stories in a ‘best of 2025’ round-up as it’s been around for fifteen years now, and there’s even been a film version made of it. But this touring revival was technically brilliant, with Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s ingenious storytelling always keeping you second-guessing and on the edge of your seat. The jump scares were effective, and the twist at the end was devastating, even if you could see it coming.

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Consumed – Sheffield Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse (Crucible), September 2025 (touring production)

First staged at the Traverse Theatre for the Edinburgh Fringe, Karis Kelly’s family drama won the Women’s Prize For Playwriting in 2022. This tale of four generations of Irish women was both funny and poignant, before taking an audiciously dark turn towards the end. Set around Great Grandmother Eileen’s 90th birthday party, resentment bubble, tensions are aired and Kelly expertly ensures it all spirals out of control within the brief 80 minute running time.

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Lou Wall – Breaking The Fifth Wall, Sheffield Foundry, November 2025 (and touring)

The Australian comedian Lou Wall produced one of my favourite Edinburgh Fringe shows last year with the clever, multi-media assisted The Bisexual’s Lament. Breaking The Fifth Wall was the follow-up and just as ingenious, if not more so. This was a show about truth in comedy and art, about whether you can trust whatever a performer tells you, and as ever with Wall’s show, filled with silly songs and very quick, ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ little references on the Powerpoint slides. I’d bought tickets to see this at the Fringe and was gutted to miss it, so I was very happy when Wall brought it to Sheffield.

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The Shark Is Broken, Salford Lowry, February 2025 (and touring)

Another production that’s been around for a while, but seems to be constantly touring, and I eventually caught up with it in February. This is a must-see for any fans of Jaws, as it’s written by and stars Ian Shaw (son of Robert aka Quint) and imagines the off-camera conversation between Shaw and his co-stars Richard Dreyfuss and Roy Scheider. There are power structures being displayed, stories shared, and, most amusingly, musing on the fate of the film and the future of director Steven Spielberg (“he wants to write a film about dinosaurs? That’ll never work!” runs one line. It’s obviously a real passion project for Shaw, and his performance as his own father is magnificent.

Best albums of 2025

As ever, these aren’t in any particular order, but here are the 10 albums that I ended up listening to most over the past twelve months:

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CMAT – Eurocountry

Ciara May Alice Thompson’s third album cemented her status as Ireland’s premier pop star, and it was as witty, accessible and just damn catchy as her previous two records. This time, there was an added emotional impact, with Lord Let That Tesla Crash addressing grief and Take A Sexy Picture Of Me talking about body image. Yet it was The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station that summed up CMAT – an infectious pop anthem about hating the titular chef and then feeling bad about it as “the man’s got kids and they wouldn’t like this”. Glastonbury headliner for 2027? Don’t bet against it.

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Jasmine.4.t – You Are The Morning

Jasmine Cruickshank was the first signing to Phoebe Bridger’s record label, and her debut album is bound to appeal to fans of Bridgers and her Boygenius’ bandmates. A record full of immediate, breezy anthems with choruses that stick in your head for months. And, as a trans woman, there are many songs that look at the trans experience, which has arguably never been more important than in 2025.

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Divorce – Drive To Goldenhammer

The Nottingham quartet released their debut album this year after a few years of touring and releasing EPs, and it seemed to arrived fully-formed with no hint of nerves. It was a record that wasn’t afraid to hop around in genres, with alt-rock, country, pop and guitar-heavy rockers all being ticked off. It was a hell of a calling card, and one that suggested that Divorce are here for the long-term.

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Pulp – More

Pulp’s first album for 24 years was awaited by fans with some trepidation – new music from reformed legends can be a rocky ride, but as soon as the opening notes of Spike Island rang out, it was clear that this was the Sheffield legends bang on form. It was an album that immediately sounded like vintage Pulp – Got To Have Love, Grown Ups and Tina could easily sit on records like A Different Class. If this is what they do for an encore, hopefully we’ll have another one before the curtain finally falls.

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Self Esteem – A Complicated Woman

Rebecca Lucy Taylor’s third album as Self Esteem saw her step up a level – taking her impressively choreographed show that accompanied the album into West End theatres and in her hometown Arena. It was an album that revisited many of the themes and sounds of her breakthrough Prioritise Pleasure and built on them. Guests such as Nadine Shah and Moonchild Sanelly added light and shade, and the entire album had a cathartic, propulsive energy that it was impossible not to exhilarated by.

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Geese – Getting Killed

There’s a sense of chaos to the Brooklyn quartet’s third album that ends up becoming incredibly compelling. Following just months after lead singer Cameron Winter’s impressive solo album Heavy Metal, Getting Killed melded funk, noodling rock and jittery percussion, topped off with Winter’s idiosyncratic ‘love it or hate it’ voice. It was a discordant, strange album, but one which would capitative if you gave in to its charms.

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The Divine Comedy – Rainy Sunday Afternoon

Neil Hannon returned this year with his best album in years, a contemplative and wistful record that contained some of his most personal songs to date. The loss of a parent, the loosening of parental ties and seeing a friend lose the plot after becoming embroiled in internet conspiracy theories were all dealt with Hannon’s trademark wit and lightness of touch.

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Jens Lekman – Songs For Other People’s Weddings

Back in 2004, Swedish singer Jens Lekman recorded a song entitled If You Ever Need A Singer To Sing At Your Wedding. 23 years later, singing at weddings has pretty much become Lekman’s side-hustle, and now he’s created a semi-autobiographical concept album and book about it. The songs all have Lekman’s unerring eye for detail (one song compares two guests to Patty and Selma from The Simpsons, while another namedrops Two Become One by The Spice Girls) and also intertwine the tale of a relationship between Lekman and another singer called V. Lekman’s best album to date.

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Rosalia – Lux

The year’s most ambitious album, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and divided into four movements, each song about the experiences of a different female saint. It’s an album that mesges classical music, opera, avant-garde electronica, flamenco and string-drenched anthems. Lux is not an album for bite-sized gratification, but one to immerse yourself in, and have your head blown clean off. In the best possible way of course.

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Lily Allen – West End Girl

A new Lily Allen album probably wasn’t on many people’s 2025 bingo card, considering that in recent years she seems to have moved into acting, podcasting and writing. Yet West End Girl was an album that immediately grabbed the public imagination, in no short part due to being a thinly disguised slice of ‘auto-fiction’ that detailed, in excruiating detail, Allen’s break up with US actor David Harbour. It was an uncomfortable listen at times, but with tracks like Madeline, Pussy Palace and 4chan Stan, it was clear that she hadn’t lost her expert touch with a naggingly catchy chorus.

Best TV shows of 2025

Riot Women (BBC iPlayer)

Sally Wainwright has been responsible for some of the best television in the last ten years, and Riot Women is her best work since Happy Valley. The tale of a group of menopausal women who decide to form a punk band simmers with energy and a barely restrained fury, and finally gives Rosalie Craig (who’s been an acclaimed stage actor for a number of years) a television role she can really get her teeth into. All this and an excellent soundtrack as well. The next series is on the way.

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The Rehearsal (Sky/NOW)

The second season of Nathan Fielder’s docu-comedy series sees attempting to solve aviation safety, and improve communication between pilots and the first officer. From there, it spirals off into various levels of insanity, including Fielder staging a full on X Factor style competition, reviving Evanescene’s Bring Me To Life and, unforgettably, recreating Sully Sullyberger’s childhood. When Nathan Fielder says “what you’re about to see is going to seem weird”, strap in.

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The Chair Company (Sky/NOW)

We may have had to have a year with no I Think You Should Leave, but Tim Robinson had a very good 2025. Firstly, starring in the film Friendship, and then taking the lead role in this conspiracy thriller/comedy which, together with the aforementioned Rehearsal, was one of the weirdest, most uncomfortably funny series on television. Robinson plays a man who becomes obsessed with finding out why his chair collapsed during a presentation, and becomes embroiled in an ever deepening corporate conspiracy.

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Adolescence (Netflix)

The most impressive technical achievement of the year, Adolescence was also that rare show that seemed to break through onto front pages and enter the ‘national debate’ (whatever that is). The tale of a young boy arrested for the murder of a female classmate, this wasn’t so much a ‘whodunnit’ as a ‘whydunnit’ (the answer: toxic masculinity and misogyny). Featuring a superlative debut from Owen Cooper and a heartwrenching performance from Stephen Graham, director Philip Barantini’s genius with a one-shot meant that this was an immersive, terrifying ride. Episode 3 (featuring Erin Doherty as a child psychologist) was impossible to tear yourself away from.

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The Studio (Apple TV)

Yes, it was very ‘inside baseball’ and most of the jokes may be lost on you if you weren’t a hardcore film geek. However, Seth Rogan’s comedy show set in a Hollywood studio was sometimes cringey, always funny and boasted an impressive cast of guest stars. As with Adolescence, one episode was a complete one-shot, but the tone was very different to Stephen Graham’s show. It also boasted an amazing cameo from Martin Scorsese in the first episode. To me, the last two episodes fell a bit short, but that didn’t diminish the show, which has deservedly been renewed for another season.

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Severance (Apple TV)

The second season of Dan Erickson’s workplace sci-fi mystery delved even deeper into the world of Lumon Industries, and while no answers were exactly provided, there was more emphasis on the ‘outie’ world and the scope seemed far more grander than in the first season. Every episode was visually stunning and filled with the surreal imagery that’s become this show’s trademark. And the standalone episode detailing the backstory of Mark and Gemma’s relationship was one of the best hours of TV of the year.

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Andor (Disney Plus)

The Star Wars TV Universe has ranged from ‘fine’ (The Mandalorian) to “kind of ok” (Asohka) and “why was this made?” (Obi Wan Kenobi). But this year, Andor returned to remind us all why it was the best of all the Star Wars shows, and gives a whole new depth to the Rogue One film. It was ambitious, fulled with action and intense set pieces and characters that you immediately bought into. Episode 8, Who Are You, packs in more excitement into one hour than in all 3 episodes of JJ Abraham’s sequels.

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The Bear (Disney Plus)

Season four of Christopher Storer’s drama (not a comedy, whatever the Golden Globes say) seemed to face a bit of criticism for slowing down the pace but it still had more than enough magical moments (the wedding episode in particular). An array of guest stars, from the returning Will Poulter and Gillian Jacobs to new faces like Brie Larson and the late Rob Reiner) expanded the world and set us up for a explosive fifth (and presumably final) season in the last episode.

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The White Lotus (Sky/NOW)

Mike White’s anthology series set in a series of luxury resorts moved to Thailand and welcomed a new set of guests, including Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins. The mystery was as compelling as before, it was dark, twisty and the reintroduction of Belinda from season 1 gave it a throughline through the entire show. It’s hard to pick an MVP from a star-studded cast, but Patrick Schwarzenegger’s creepy, possibly incesteous alpha-male bro and Parker’s inimitable accent were definite highlights. And Sam Rockwell gave the weirdest, most unsettling monologue of the year.

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How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge) (BBC iPlayer)

Norfolk’s finest returns at long last, with a look at how people manage their mental health. This faux-documentary approach results in possible the best Partridge since Mid Morning Matters. Steve Coogan and his regular collaborators Neil and Rob Gibbons have created an entire universe for the character, which the show eagerly draws upon. Old characters like Felicity Montague’s Lynn and Tim Key’s Sidekick Simon made a welcome return and were joined by Katherine Kelly, who played Partridge’s new love interest in a storyline of such pathos you even began to feel sorry for him. The best comic creation of the last 30 years, and still on top form.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS:

The Traitors/Celebrity Traitors (BBC iPlayer)

Last One Laughing (Prime Video)

Such Brave Girls (BBC iPlayer)

Just Act Normal (BBC iPlayer)

Big Boys (Channel 4)

Best Films of 2025

It’s that time of year again (i.e. the time when I remember I have a WordPress account), and it’s time to look over the cultural highpoints of the year. First up, films! There was a lot of dross released this year (Honey, Don’t is probably my contender for the worst film of the year, but honorable mentions to Eddington, The Fantastic 4: First Steps, F1, and Captain America: Brave New World). But enough of the negativity, here are my ten favourite films of 2025, in no particular order (although The Ballad of Wallis Island is the best).

The Ballad of Wallis Island

Tim Key and Tom Basden’s short film, The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island, is retooled into a full feature, and it’s the funniest, warmest and saddest film of the year. It’s gently funny, with Key bouncing off Badsen brilliantly, and when Carey Mulligan turns up, the film is given its heart and soul. I’ve never seen Tim Key act so brilliantly before (fans of his stand up will recognise a lot of his delivery, but his facial acting here is incredibly moving), and Basden’s original songs are lovely too. A film to enjoy again and again.

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The Brutalist

I did not expect a 3 hour 40 minute film about Brutalism and an architect’s life story to be a huge 5 star masterpiece, but Brady Corbett’s film is absolutely that. This is outstanding film-making on an epic scale – it’s about more than architecture, but about the American Dream, the immigant experiece, one man’s obsession, class, power, and trauma. And the fact that it’s so long barely registers when you’re watching it. Superb performances from Adrien Brody, Guy Pierce and especially Felicity Jones, and Corbett’s eye for cinematography is first rate, from that evocative opening shot of an upside-down Statue of Liberty, to the weird, slightly jarring final scene. Film-making for the ages.

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Memior Of A Snail

Adam Elliot’s follow up to Mary & Max has taken 15 years to come to fruition but it’s been worth the wait. The bittersweet tale of the life of Gracie Pudel, voiced by Succession’s Sarah Snook, as recounted to her pet snail, is a beautifully animated stop-motion classic, filled with characters who seem to burst to life as soon as they appear on screen. I really hope Elliot doesn’t wait another 15 years to make his third film but if he does, this is well suited to repeated viewings.

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Sinners

Ryan Coogler has long been tipped to reboot The X Files, and if this can count as his audition, he’s absolutely nailed it. This is a wild mash-up of a character based drama, a musical, an exploration of black music and culture and a pretty insane vampire film. Michael B Jordan is excellent in a dual role as twins Smoke and Stack, while there’s great support from Delroy Lindo, Hailee Steinfield and Jack O’Connell. The wild genre switches won’t be for everyone but this feels a total refresh of a genre that often threatens to go a bit stale. Bring on the new Mulder & Scully please!

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28 Years Later

The third film in Danny Boyle’s zombie trilogy (and confusingly, the first in his new zombie trilogy) absolutely knocks it out of the park, with some tonal shifts you will absolutely not be prepared for (six months on, I’m still utterly confused and intrigued by THAT ending). We pick up 28 years after the rage virus swept the UK, and meet survivors on a remote island cut off from the mainland. Young Spike (Alfie Williams, in an astonishing debut performance) takes his sick mother (Jodie Comer, as outstanding as ever) to the mainland to seek a cure for her increasing sickness. It’s part-folk horror, part-family drama and amidst the horrific bleakness, very funny. Add in a terrific soundtrack from Young Fathers, and I’m already chomping at the bit to see the next instalment The Bone Temple, out in January.

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Friendship

2025 was a very good year for Tim Robinson, with the I Think You Should Leave star producing one of the weirdest TV shows in The Chair Company, and also starring in Andrew DeYoung’s feature debut. Robinson plays Craig, in a persona that many will recognise from ITYSL, who meets cool neighbour Austin (Paul Rudd), and wants to hang out with him. But Craig is massively socially awkward and when one scene of such cringeability happens, Austin asks Craig to stay away from him. It’s Banshees of Inishirin fed through a Spike Jonze/Charlie Kaufman filter and is one of the best comedies of the year.

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Weapons

Zach Creeger’s follow up to Barbarian isn’t quite the horror it’s been marketed as, but it’s very creepy, compelling and often very funny. One night at 2.17am, seventeen children rise from their beds and run, arms aspread, off into the night. Creeger employs a Rashomon style to explore what happened to the children, with the story being divided into 6 chapters, all told from a different POV. It goes to places you absolutely won’t expect, and the final sequence will live long in the memory.

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Sorry, Baby

Eva Victor’s debut feature is a little gem of a movie, with Victor writing, directing and starring in it and marks them out as a real name to watch out for. Victor plays Agnes, a college professor whose life is blown off-track when they’re sexually assaulted by a colleague. The story then zips back and forth in time to show how Agnes deals with the trauma, with the help of friends, a neighbourhood cat and a damn good sandwich. It’s funny, touching and even life-affirming, despite the bleak subject matter. I’m not sure if lo-fi indie films even get Oscar buzz, but this absolutely deserves some Academy love next March.

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One Battle After Another

I’m not sure if Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest was indeed The Greatest American Film Of All Time as it was dubbed by some on its release, but it’s certainly a wildly entertaining ride.

On the surface, it’s about Leonardo DiCaprio’s hilariously dishevelled, weed-fogged revolutionary turned hapless dad trying to rescue his daughter, but there’s so much more going on underneath. It’s a film filled with remarkable performances, including Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor, as well as DiCaprio being reliably great (this is surely the first of many collaborations with PTA?).

Towering over them all though is Chase Infiniti and Sean Penn. Infiniti is astonishing in her debut film feature, while Penn surely has the Oscar already sewn up as the terrifyingly intense, relentless, hilariously named Colonel Lockjaw.

And Anderson’s camera work is dizzyingly kinetic, with some brilliantly directed car chases, and the score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood is woozy, disorienting and perfectly suited to the action on the screen.

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Bugonia

Yorgas Lanthismos is probably my favourite film director working today, so I’ll go and see anything with his name on. Lanthismos hasn’t written Bugonia, as it’s a remake of the South Korean film Save The Blue Planet – I’ve not seen that so I can’t compare them, but it’s safe to say if you’re a Yorgas fan, you’ll very much enjoy this.

The plot is relatively simple – Jesse Plemons plays Teddy, who holds Emma Stone’s CEO of a major pharmaceutical company responsible for his mother’s coma. Together with his cousin Don, he kidnaps Stone, convinced she’s an alien and plans to hold her hostage as a bargaining tool until her alien race agree to leave Earth.

There’s obviously a lot more to it but I’ll say no more as this is a film to go into blind. It takes some wild swings and probably won’t be to everyone’s taste, but it’s alternatively funny, thrilling, poignant and, frankly, completely batshit insane. Plemons puts in a career best performance, Stone is game for anything (even having her head shaved on screen), and Aidan Delbis is superb as Don, in what is his screen debut.

Some will find it a bit too bizarre, and Lanthimos’ regular composer Jerskin Fendrix’s score may be a bit over the top and discordant for some. But even if you manage to guess where this is going, the ending is one of the wildest, most darkly funny things I’ve seen for a long time.

Best TV shows of 2024 (Part 2)

It’s the second part of the round up of my favourite TV shows of the year…

Sambere – Anatomy Of A Crime (BBC iPlayer)

This was tough to watch, but absolutely essential viewing. Based on the true story of the hunt for France’s most prolific rapist, Sambre spanned decades and focused on the victims, the justice system, the police detectives and finally the rapist himself. The best French crime drama since Spiral.

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Rivals (Disney Plus)

Unashamedly ‘saucy’ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel (the first few minutes alone involved a couple joining the Mile High Club in Concorde, followed by a game of naked tennis) but this took advantage of a terrific cast to create something undeniably fun and entertaining.

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Alma’s Not Normal (BBC iPlayer)

Sophie Willan’s autobiographical comedy-drama returned for a second season and it was even better than the first. One of the few shows on British TV that never looks down on the working class, this had a very Northern sensibility that meant that the darker moments never became too cloying or sentimental. I hope there are more on the way, but if not, the last episode was a pretty perfect ending.

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The Curse (Sky/NOW TV)

Here’s a show that’s pretty much impossible to describe. Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone play a couple who star in a reality show about environmentally friendly passive homes, and we follow their lives both onscreen and offscreen. It does drag at times, and will certainly not be for everyone, but it’s worth sticking with for the final episode, which is the weirdest, most surreal hour of television I’ve seen since Twin Peaks The Return.

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Extraordinary (Disney Plus)

Disney Plus’ superhero sitcom returned for a second season which was the equal of its excellent first. The revelation of ‘Jizzlord’s secret family at the end of season 1 was explored in depth, as was Kash and Carrie’s breakup but this was just the same, easily watchable fun. And, with a cliffhanger of an ending, the fact that season 3 hasn’t yet been announced is a worry….

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Doctor Who (BBC iPlayer)

Russell T Davies returned to the helm of the iconic BBC show, and his casting of Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor was an inspired choice. He also gave us some of the series’ strongest episodes, with Boom, Dot And Bubble and especially the Millie Gibson showcase episode 73 Yards standing alongside the best of New Who.

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Daddy Issues (BBC iPlayer)

David Morrissey isn’t usually known for playing comedy, but he was absolutely brilliant as the sad-sack divorcee who Aimee Lou Wood moves back in with when she discovers she’s pregnant. A great script and well written characters from former stand-up comedian Danielle Ward made for a really engaging watch. And it’s been renewed for another season.

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Disclaimer (Apple TV+)

Disclaimer was a masterclass in unreliable narrators. A star studded cast was headed by Cate Blanchett, who’s being harassed by Kevin Kline, who blames her for the death of his son 20 years beforehand. Each episode slowly reveals more of the story, until you realise you should always wait for the full story before passing judgement. Alfonso Cuaron brings his customary classy touch to television, while Sacha Baron Coren plays against type as the most drippy, annoying husband in the world.

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Colin From Accounts (BBC iPlayer)

The first season of this Aussie comedy was one of my favourite shows in absolutely years, and the second season lived up to expectations. It concentrated more on the two leads’ relationship, although adorable little Colin on wheels was still a big part of the show. Patrick Bramhall and Harriet Dyer script was smart and witty and they weren’t afraid to go to some dark places. A third season has not yet been confirmed but hopefully we won’t have long to wait.

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Douglas Is Cancelled (ITV Player)

I’ll be honest, the early signs were not good for Douglas Is Cancelled. The first two episodes seemed uneven and the humour seemed a bit strained. But this was all misdirection for a superlative third episode where Karen Gillan took centre stage, and Stephen Moffat’s look at misogyny and cancel culture took on a whole new dimension. Should a successful white middle class man write about cancel culture? Probably not, but when they’re as talented as Moffat, it works very well.

Best TV shows of 2024 (Part 1)

Yes, there was so much to watch on TV this year that I had trouble reducing my list down to just 10 shows. So, for the second year running, I’ve chosen 20. Here’s the first part, in no particular order:

Baby Reindeer (Netflix)

I originally watched Baby Reindeer when it was a one-man show at the Edinburgh Fringe some years ago. I came out thinking “that would make a cracking TV show or film”. What I didn’t predict was what an enormous global phenomena it would become. Putting aside the rather icky side-effects where the real-life ‘Martha’ was swiftly identified, and the resulting court cases, Richard Gadd’s experience of stalking was turned into a compellingly dark TV show.

Shogun (Disney Plus)

James Clavell’s classic novel had already been a TV show in the 1980s, but this update from Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks was the definitive version. The tale of John Blackthorne, an English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan who crosses paths with Lord Toranaga and Lady Mariko was sumptuous, addictively watchable television. And there’s two more seasons on the way.

Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)

Full disclosure – I’m only halfway through the 2nd season of Bad Sisters, but unless it takes a very dramatic nosedive, Sharon Horgan’s dark family drama is at least the equal of the first season. Horgan builds on the aftershock of John Paul (“The Prick”)’s death in the first season – moving away from the original Belgia series Clan turns out to be a smart move, especially with the always excellent Horgan being the showrunner.

Mr Bates Vs The Post Office (ITV)

Even in these dark political times, there’s proof that a TV show can make a real difference to people’s lives. The Post Office Scandal, which resulted in hundreds of sub postmasters being wrongly prosecuted (some cases resulted in suicide and marriage break-ups), was dramatised by Gwyneth Hughes and you could feel the anger burning through the screen. The public outcry which followed the programme being screened resulted in legislation being rushed though Parliament to exonerate the wrongly convicted, and Paula Vennels (the Post Office CEO at the time of the scandal) had her CBE formally revoked.

Slow Horses (Apple TV+)

Apple TV+ is one of the best streaming platforms as they focus on quality, and Slow Horses is its finest example. Now in its fourth season, with a fifth and sixth on the way, this is just always outstanding television – from the excellent cast (headed by the legendary Gary Oldham as the repellent but brilliant Jackson Lamb) through to the way Mick Herron’s books have been faithfully adapted, the team behind the show never put a foot wrong. Worth the price of an Apple TV+ subscription on its own.

The Bear (Disney Plus)

The third season of this Chicago-set drama about a troubled chef trying to set up his own restaurant seemed to divide people – and it arguably didn’t quite hit the heights of the superlative second season. But it’s a show that always takes risk (the nearly dialogue-free, almost dreamlike structure of the first episode) and the way it concentrates on all of its characters (the flashback episode giving Tina’s backstory this year) means that it remains at the very top of prestige TV shows.

Big Boys (Channel 4)

Jack Rooke’s autobiographical comedy about two friends who are both polar opposite yet also incredibly close has never been afraid to tug on the heartstrings. This second season built upon the first by fleshing out Dylan Llewellyn’s Jack and John Pointing’s Danny and explored the college life even further. The final episode in particular was an outstandingly written half hour that threatened to leave all its audience in an emotional mess.

Sweetpea (Sky/NOW TV)

CJ Skuse’s series of books are so beloved by their audience that any TV adaption is taking a risk. I’ve not read any of the books but this slowly grew into one of the best shows of the year. Ella Purnell (also great in Prime Video’s Fallout this year) was a genuinely unsettling anti-hero and the twists and turns about Rhi’s descent into serial killing was a gripping watch. Another season has already been recommissioned.

Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

There needs to be a bit more attention paid at Netflix to the titles of their shows. If you’re scanning through the millions of shows and go past a show called ‘Nobody Wants This’, then you’d probably think ‘ok then’. In reality, this cleverly written rom-com about a carefree young woman falling for a rabbi was a real treat. A great cast, headed by the chemistry of Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, and characters that you couldn’t help but root for made this a must-see.

Mr Loverman (BBC iPlayer)

Lennie James gave the best performance of his career as Barrington, a closeted gay man from Antigua stuck in a loveless marriage and having an affair with his best friend. James was extraordinary, portraying Barrington through the ages as he slowly decides to live life on his own terms for the first time in over 60 yearstraordinary, portraying Barrington through the ages as he slowly decides to live life on his own terms for the first time in over 60 years.

Best films of 2024

It’s been another 12 months of excellent films (some of these have a 2023 release date, but they were all released in the UK in 2024). In no particular order…

Anora
Sean Baker’s best film to date is kind of Pretty Woman in reverse – Mikey Madison (in a star-making performance) is a stripper in Brooklyn who marries the wastrel son of a Russian oligarch in a green-card marriage….and then it all goes horribly wrong. Blisteringly fast-paced, while remaining sad and poignant. Get your Oscar bets in for Madison.

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Poor Things
One of two Yorgos Lanthimos films starring Emma Stone released this year – Kinds of Kindness was great but probably a bit too quirky for a mainstream audience. Which means that this Oscar winning tale about a woman who kills herself, has her brain replaced with that of her unborn baby and then travels round Europe on a journey of sexual and emotional awakening wasn’t too quirky. Deeply deeply weird and filled with great performances, this was an early highlight of the year.

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Civil War
Alex Garland’s latest was an immersive, visceral film that throws the viewer into a version of America that may not be too unimaginable in a few years time. Kirsten Dunst gives the performance of her caree as the jaded war photographer barely pushing her PTSD under the surface. You’ll also never quite forget Jesse Plemons five minute, terrifying, cameo.

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All Of Us Strangers
Quite how Andrew Scott didn’t receive any nominations at all from either Oscar or Bafta for this is beyond me. One of the best performances of the year, in a film that’s heart wrenchingly sad, yet never depressing. It’s a film about grief, loneliness and the need for connection. And it features Paul Mescal dancing sadly to a Blur song, which if you’ve seen Aftersun, is never a good sign…

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I Saw The TV Glow
Jane Schoenbrun’s second feature is one of those films that stay with you for long after the credits roll. It’s weird, unsettling and strangely moving, being an allegory about the trans experience while also touching on nostalgia, not fitting into any particular social group and losing yourself in TV shows. Anyone who bought an episode guide to Buffy The Vampire Slayer in the ’90s will find something to love here. Also the only chance to see a drastically aged Fred Durst, Phoebe Bridgers and Tara from Buffy in the same film.

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The Substance
Coralie Fargeat does not deal in subtlety – The Substance is as subtle as a brick in how it delivers its message, but it does it in such a way that you’re unlikely to ever forget it. Demi Moore stages the comeback of the year as an former actor turned keep-fit guru who is sacked from her TV show on her 50th birthday. She discovers ‘The Substance’ which promises to create a flawless, more youthful version of yourself – which is where Margaret Qualley literally steps out of Moore’s body. Its the start of a journey which is gruesome, often very funny and unlike anything else released this year. It has its flaws – it’s too long and the last 20 minutes or so arguably overdoes the body horror aspect, but its still one of the films of the year for me.

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A Different Man
Sebastian Stan is proving to be the Daniel Radcliffe of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in that he only seems to choose roles that are just weird AF. Here he plays Edward, who has facial deformities due to a condition called neurofibromatosis, and lives a nervous and reclusive life while trying to become an actor. When he receives some experimental medical treatment, his deformities disappear and he lives a new life as Guy. Which is where Oswald, who also has neurofibromatosis, but is confident, funny and talented, enters… It’s a film that pretty much demands a repeat viewing, especially if writer/director Aaron Schimberg is going down the route I think he is (no spoilers). A great performance from Adam Pearson (in only his third professional acting role) makes this one of the must-sees of the year.

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Challengers
Zendaya gets to flex her acting chops in Luca Guadagino’s film about tennis, friendship, ego and fear of failure. And, despite what the trailer may suggest, not many threesomes. Some brilliant camera work from Guadagino (especially in the tennis sequences), a superb Reznor/Ross soundtrack and excellent performances made this one of the most stylish, nuanced films of the year.

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American Fiction
Another film where the trailer made it look a bit like a knockabout comedy, but it was way deeper and subtle than that. Cord Jefferson’s film was basically a thoughtful, sad mediation on a dysfunctional family, with some razor sharp observations on race thrown in. The audacious last 15 minutes really mark out Jefferson as a name to watch who’s not afraid to take risks.

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Kneecap
A (mostly) true biopic on how the Irish hip-hop trio got together may not have been anyone’s idea of a promising idea, but this was shot through with so much flair and energy by director Rich Peppiat that it became a riveting, riotously entertaining two hours. Considering the main trio have never acted before, it’s astonishing that they more than hold their own against names like Michael Fassbender and other noted Irish actors.

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Honourable mentions:

• Conclave
• My Old Ass
• Sometimes I Think About Dying
• Didi
• Speak No Evil
• Heretic.

Worst films:

The Crow

Why, why, why was what most of the very small handful of people who went to see this walked out saying. A completely unnecessary ‘remake’ of the Brandon Lee cult classic that flopped at the box office, and deservedly so.

AfrAId

John Cho installs a Personal AI Assistant in his house, and comes to regret it. As did anyone who paid actual money to see this. At 1 hour 25 minutes, it’s mercifully brief, but it means that a whole load of plot strands get dropped for no apparent reason.

The Instigators

Matt Damon and Casey Affleck in one of Apple’s occasional forays into film (sorry, “original streaming content”) which I’d genuinely forgotten pretty much every detail of about 10 minutes after I’d watched it.

The most ‘well, that certainly happened’ film:

Megalopolis

Francis Ford Coppola’s long-cherished passion project saw the light of day after 40 years or so. It was, without doubt, the oddest, most uneven film of the year. It wasn’t good, but I honestly couldn’t say it was bad either. Any film that features Jon Voight shouting “whaddya think of this boner I got?”, Adam Driver saying “get back to DA CLUBBB” in the weirdest line delivery I’ve ever heard, and Aubrey Plaza as, wait for it, Wow Platinum sitting on Shia LeBeouf’s face while explaining the details of a hostile takeover and yelling “call me AUNTIE WOW” can’t be that bad after all. Although we never actually found out why it was important that Driver could stop time.

Best Albums of 2024

It’s been a pretty great year for new music, here’s my favourite 10 albums (in no particular order) that have been released over the last 12 months.

Kim Deal – Nobody Loves You More

Over a decade after she quit the Pixies for a second time, Kim Deal’s solo album was eventually released – and, lo and behold, it was better than any Pixies album released since 1991. Eleven perfectly crafted songs ranging from brass-laden anthem, glitchy electro jams and noisy guitar squalls.

Key Track: Crystal Breath

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MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks

The guitarist in alt-county band Wednesday produced his fourth and best solo album this year, and established himself as this generation’s Gram Parsons. An album full of sad, downbeat tales about sadsack divorcees, lonely men who show off gadgets like fancy wristwatches or the lovelorn hotel worker who spends his days cleaning showers and watching TV. And, in She’s Leaving You, the best song of the year.

Key Track: She’s Leaving You

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Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood

Lenderman was also a big presence on another of the best albums of the year, Katie Crutchfield’s sixth album under her Waxahatchee persona. This was probably Crutchfield’s best record to date, packed full of wistful Americana ballads and uplifting guitar pop songs.

Key Track: Right Back To It

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English Teacher – This Could Be Texas

This year’s Mercury Prize winner was a worthy victor, the debut album from the Leeds quartet being a thrilling mix of arch post-punk and conemplatative balladary. Lead singer Lily Fontaine sung of racial identity, alienation and the teeth of Chris Tarrant – an album full of surprises, confidence and ambition.

Key Track: I’m Not Crying You’re Crying

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Grace Petrie – Build Something Better

The best protest singer in the country kicked off the best album of her career with a state of the nation address called The Best Country In The World. Needless to say, it was an anthem full of sarcasm. It was the perfect kick off to an album of heavy subjects, but delivered with a masterful lightness of touch. And, with Petrie recently married to poet and performer Molly Naylor, the love songs had even more warmth to them.

Key Track: Fixer Upper

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Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Wild God

It’s fair to say Nick Cave has had a rough time of it in recent years, losing two of his sons in just a couple of years, and it would have been no surprise had Wild God continued along the contemplative, haunting route of the likes of Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen. Yet Wild God is actually Cave’s most cathartic, euphoric album for many a year. And his live shows showed The Bad Seeds at their very best.

Key Track: Frogs

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Mannequin Pussy -I Got Heaven

Not a band name to Google, but the Philadelphia band’s fourth album was their best one to date, both accessible (the big, soaring anthem of Sometimes) and exhilaratingly punky (the hardcore squall of Ok? Ok! OK? OK!). There are nods to shoegaze and shimmering balladry, but most of all this is a record full of songs made to scream along to. And only 30 minutes long too.

Key Track: Sometimes

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Los Campesinos! – All Hell

The first LC! album in seven years saw a band older, wiser but still writing songs packed with references to football, video games, wrestling and all the other things you know and love Los Campesinos! for. And it’s only LC! who could write a lyric like “it’s hard to find the romance in a town not known for sunsets”.

Key Track: Moonstruck

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The Cure – Songs Of A Lost World

Biggest surprise of the year went to Robert Smith and company, who suddenly announced the first album by The Cure since 2008’s 4:13 Dream. Songs Of A Lost World was an album steeped in grief and melancholy, inspired as it was by the death of both Smith’s parents and his elder brother. This was a deliberately paced album, with songs often reaching the 7 minute running time but never failed to hit the emotional high spot. And there are rumours of a second, more ‘poppy’ album coming next year.

Key Track: I Can Never Say Goodbye

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Fontaines DC – Romance

The Irish band’s fourth album was their best to date, a big, widesceen effort with jangly guitar anthems (closing track Favourite) and the panic attack inspired, exhilarating Starburster. It’s a long way from the Boys In The Better Land and it’s a treat to see how much they’ve evolved in a relatively short time.

Key Track: Starburster

Best Theatre of 2024

It’s that time of year when I suddenly remember I have a blog, so it must be time to round up the Best Of the year.

First up, the best of theatre in 2024:

Doctor Strangelove – Noel Coward Theatre, London

Armando Iannucci’s adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s classic black comedy satire was as sharp and funny as you’d expect from the creator of The Thick Of It. In an incredible bit of stagecraft, Steve Coogan played four different roles (one more than Peter Sellers in the original film) – often appearing onstage in a completely different costume just minutes after exiting as a different role. As well as the stage wizardry, it was just blisteringly funny.

42 Balloons – Lowry, Sheffield

Jack Godfrey’s musical about a man who strapped 42 balloons to a chair to fly over his home town was funny, touching and full of 80s inspired synth bops. It was a testament to following your dreams, but also a cautionary tale about fame and its consequences, anchored by a pair of lovely lead performances from Evelyn Hoskins and Charlie McCullagh. Quite why there wasn’t more of a buzz to bring this to the West End remains a mystery, but those who saw the month-long run in Salford were treated to one of the best British musicals of the year.

Nye – National Theatre, London

Michael Sheen was absolutely immense as the man who created the National Health Service. Part surrealist fever-dream, part social history (it’s fascinating to learn how many doctors were against the idea of the NHS when it was proposed) and part-biography, it produced one of the most moving endings of the year.

Chariots of Fire – Crucible, Sheffield

Robert Hastie’s final production as Artistic Director for Sheffield Theatres was an appropriately fast-moving version of Mike Bartlett’s adaptation of the classic film. The true story of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams’ rivalry was staged in the same month as the Paris Olympics, and made inventive and creative use of all corners of the Crucible’s space.

People Places & Things – Trafalgar Theatre, London

The play that made Denise Gough a star a few years ago returned to the capital for a revival, with Gough herself back in the lead role. Duncan MacMillan’s powerful play about addiction and rehab has lost none of its impact – this was a visceral, complex punch to the gut.

Demi Adejuyigbe Is Going To Do One (1) Backflip – Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

One of the big highlights of my trip to the Edinburgh Fringe this year, Adejuyigbe’s show is a superbly clever, inventive hour of stand-up that uses multi-media, physical comedy and some very mild audience participation. Oh, and a backflip. Just the one. Probably the only show in Edinburgh to reference the Decemberists’ Colin Meloy and revered cinematographer Roger Deakins.

Cyrano – Travese Theatre, Edinburgh

There aren’t many venues in Edinburgh which would have me queuing up at 10am, but the Traverse is one of them. One of their Fringe offerings this year was a revival of Virginia Gay’s gender-flipped retelling of the Cyrano de Bergarac legend – a gloriously uplifting, funny, meta production that breathed new life into a much-loved classic. The perfect start to the day.

Kenrex – Crucible, Sheffield

Jack Holden’s one-man play (with live music by John Patrick Elliott) was like a true crime podcast brought to life, with Holden playing each part and on stage for the whole time. Holden was extraordinary, giving a perfomance of such energy that you feel genuinely exhausted for him by the time the show ends. It’s being transferred to London’s Southwark Playhouse early next year.

A Doll’s House – Crucible, Sheffield

Ibsen’s classic has been revived so many times now, it was difficult to see if anything new could be brought to it. That’s until Chris Bush tackled it, and gave it a bit of spring-clean rather than a full-on restoration. Siena Kelly was a fantastic Nora, while Tom Glenister was superb as the patronising, rather pitiable Torvald. Bush’s adaptation cut some of the fat while adding depth to the characters. And the best stage design of the year by far.

Spend Spend Spend – Royal Exchange, Manchester

Steve Brown and Justin Greene’s musical about the life of Pools winner Viv Nicholson was a decent choice for the Royal Exchange’s Christmas show, a big sparkling musical which also doubled as a cautionary tale. The songs were memorable, the effects were superb and Rose Galbraith and Rachel Leskovac portrayed the younger and older versions of Viv wonderfully

People, Places & Things

Trafalgar Theatre, London

I’d been looking forward to seeing People, Places & Things for a long time. Nine years in fact, since it debuted at the National in 2015, and immediately created a rare buzz. I missed out on tickets for that, and its subsequent West End transfer, and for a long time I thought I’d have to make do with the script, which I bought at the NT Bookstore a few years ago.

Thankfully though, it’s been revived at the Trafalgar Theatre with original director Jeremy Herrin and original star Denise Gough, and nothing quite prepares for the sheer visceral power of this theatrical experience. For it IS an experience – you feel like your nerves have been shredded and all your senses battered as you emerge from the theatre.

I must admit, one reason I was so keen to buy a ticket was to see Denise Gough in what’s been called a generational performance. So I was slightly disappointed to turn up on Saturday afternoon to see that Gough wouldn’t be performing, and the main role would be filled by regular understudy Paksie Vernon. However, Vernon was outstanding, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see her go on to even bigger things following this run.

Duncan MacMillan’s play tells the story of Emma, an actress who we first meet playing Nina in Chekhov’s The Seagull – then, after an on-stage meltdown, we’re transported to a nightclub, and then, just as quickly, a rehab unit. It’s this unit which is the major setting for People Places & Things, as we learn more about Emma, and the nature of addiction as a whole. 

MacMillan’s script is powerful and clever – is Emma her real name? Why is the backstory that she tells to her 12-step group the plot of Hedda Gabler? Has her brother actually died as she keeps insisting, or is it another defence mechanism? It’s a story skillfully told, and then turned around completely in the second half, when Emma seemingly beats her addiction, and is ready to be welcomed back into the family home – only to find her parents aren’t exactly sympathetic to her.

The second half of the play packs the emotional punch, with Sinead Cusack (in one of three roles) absolutely heartbreaking as Emma’s mother, finally reaching the end of her tether with her daughter, while also discussing mundane everyday things such as what to have as a takeaway later that night. As the play is pretty much centered around Denise Gough’s performance (or Vernon’s in the version I saw), the supporting cast are necessarily toned down, although Malachi Kirby and Danny Kirane are excellent in a couple of essential supporting roles.

The staging is fantastic – the clean white walls of the rehab clinic shining bright, and, in a genius move, there are additional seating onstage, so the audience is, in effect, looking at itself as well as the action. There are also some clever little touches, such as a group of Emma lookalikes invading the stage (slightly less effective of course, when the understudy is performing!) and some hallucinatory visual effects. 

A quick word for the Trafalgar Theatre too, which is one of the nicest I’ve been to in London, with some especially lovely staff – many thanks to the usher who kindly upgraded my seat at no extra cost so I could be nearer the stage! 

People Places And Things is due to close at the Trafalgar on August 10th – not too much time to see it, but I would absolutely recommend you do everything in your power to try to go.