Fallout (Prime Video)
While many video-game adaptions for TV and film have fallen into the trap of focusing on fanservice ahead of writing and visuals, Fallout manages to succeed in all three. The series doesn’t shy away from its origins and instead leans into the absurdity that comes with navigating a 1950s-tinged, post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Combining this with diverse, well-developed lead characters and stunning saturated set pieces, Fallout smugly basks in the radioactive glow of its source material, whilst delivering a fresh story for fans and newcomers alike. SH
Until I Kill You (ITV)
At the end of each of Until I Kill You’s four episodes, audiences are told it is based on Delia Balmer’s book, Living with a Serial Killer. So it is not a question of whether Anna Maxwell Martin, playing the ambiguously accented ’90s nurse, survives. What you get is far more complex and pensive than true crime often serves up: what survival costs, and how our justice system fails victims of violence against women. GB
Rivals (Disney+)
How do you adapt an over-the-top 1980s schlock novel, by Jilly Cooper, queen of the bonkbusters, into TV that doesn’t make you squirm? By assembling this brilliant cast – topped by friend of Big Issue Danny Dyer, who really is the heart of the piece – and going ALL in. One of the most joyous, colour saturated, brilliant and ludicrous things you’ll watch in years. Can’t wait for series two. PM
Eric (Netflix)
There’s a peculiar nostalgia in seeing Benedict Cumberbatch return to the small screen. Having grown up watching him play Sherlock on the BBC, before his ascension to A-list Hollywood stardom, his lead role in Eric – a standalone six-episode Netflix series – feels like a poignant TV homecoming. Set against the gritty backdrop of 1980s New York, the series follows Cumberbatch as Vincent, a man grappling with his inner demons, personified through a puppet created by his missing nine-year-old son. Much like Sherlock, Vincent is a deeply flawed protagonist, allowing Cumberbatch to showcase his virtuosity in mastering complex characters. SH
Lost Boys & Fairies (BBC One)
It began as a warm and fuzzy look at a gay male couple aiming to adopt a child, replete with all the anxiety, doubt, exuberance and joy you might expect from a Russell T Davies-type comedy drama (it was actually created by Welsh writer Daf James). But what made this show stand out was the most unexpected event, which sensationally upended the story and turned it into a poignant examination of loss, grief and the slow, slow process of embracing life after a shattering tragedy. JG
Ripley (Netflix)
Replacing the rich colours of the Amalfi coast, and the hot energy of Naples, with high contrast black and white should make this eight-part retelling of Highsmith’s classic, The Talented Mr Ripley, a non-starter. But it soars. Stylish, stylised, cool, unsettling with flashes of dark comedy it is incredibly moreish. Andrew Scott dominates as the murderous, eponymous conman. There is much scene stealing when Maurizio Lombardi enters as Inspector Pietro. You’ll binge, then want more. PM
Gladiators (BBC One)
Boy, oh boy were we READY for the return of Gladiators to TV back in January. With Bradley and Barney Walsh at the helm and a new cast of Lycra-clad, supersized superheroes taking on a refreshingly representative set of steely contenders in Sheffield, the show was better than ever. Legend, whose cartoon arrogance shone so brightly, may have observed: “There’s no I in team – but there are five in individual brilliance.” But from Viper’s panto villainy to Dynamite’s pocket-size power, Fury’s inspiration, Fire’s spark and Nitro’s cheery dominance, the new Gladiators squad was perfectly cast. Bring on the new series! AL
The Day of the Jackal (Sky Atlantic/Now)
Eddie Redmayne is an enigmatic assassin. Lashana Lynch is the MI6 officer hunting him down. Whether the all-too-modern updates to the classic tale – struggles with HR and juggling being a secret agent with family dinners – enhance TheDay of the Jackal is moot. Because it’s exciting, taut, and telly you can text your dad about. And sometimes that’s enough. GB
The Perfect Couple (Netflix)
The best thing about The Perfect Couple is the incredibly camp dance number in the opening credits. By the end of the series, you will have the routine down and be dancing along with Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Dakota Fanning and the gang. It sets the tone for this slightly bizarre Netflix murder mystery which takes place at a wedding. Scandal ensues as a wealthy family in Nantucket turns on each other. Everyone is a suspect. IM
The Gathering (Channel 4)
This stunning series by Helen Walsh was an authentic, addictive coming-of-age drama, set on Merseyside and looking at class, as played out within the worlds of elite youth gymnastics and free-running culture. An intriguing thriller and a beautiful depiction of working-class joy and struggle, with one of the finest debut performances this century from Eva Morgan – every bit as startling as early-career Jodie Comer – in the central role of Kelly. Don’t let the year end without checking it out. AL
Strike: An Uncivil War (Netflix)
Daniel Gordon’s righteous, rigorous documentary about the 1984/85 miners’ strike focuses on what has come to be known as ‘the Battle of Orgreave’ – an event which was key in defining then-Tory PM Margaret Thatcher’s authoritarian approach to law and order. The pickets at the coke plant fell victim to a strategy which saw the police effectively and aggressively act as a government-backed army, with the bad feeling from the event still simmering today. Gordon’s film captures the fear, confusion and outright violence deployed that day in all its visceral horror. It should make you very, very angry. AW
Criminal Record (Apple TV+)
Cush Jumbo and Peter Capaldi star in one of the finest police dramas of the decade. When a panicked 999 call leads early career officer DS June Lenker to an old case involving veteran (bent?) copper DCI Daniel Hegarty, it kick-starts a battle of wills. Their stunning first meeting – all veiled threats and power moves – sets the tone for a brilliant thriller exploring racism, misogyny and corruption within the police and wider society with authenticity and flair. As good as any series of Line of Duty ever made. Honestly, it’s that special. AL
After the Party (Channel 4)
The New Zealand-set drama saw the performance of the year from Robyn Malcolm as the woman whose husband’s birthday party ends in chaos after she believes she sees him sexually assault a drunk teenage boy. A magnetic Malcolm’s character Penny ends up a pariah in her Wellington community after doggedly sticking to her guns and subsequently making some terrible life decisions. You’re kept guessing about the real story until the very end, but the show’s bleak brilliance and incredible acting (Malcolm’s real-life partner Peter Mullan also excels as the accused) will keep you hooked. AW
Atomic People (BBC Two)
This beautiful and stately piece of documentary making introduces us to the ‘Hibakusha’, the only people on earth to survive a nuclear bomb attack. Now well into their 80s, some older, the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki take us back to the horror of the day, and illustrate how Japan, and the world, has treated them since. With incredible dignity they have become global anti-nuclear bomb advocates. Their work brought them the Nobel Peace Prize this year. This shows why. PM
The Penguin (Sky/Now)
In a world of growing superhero fatigue and pointless universe-expanding spin-offs, The Penguin had no right to be this good. HBO’s backing gave this continuation of Matt Reeves’ 2022 film The Batman a dash of Sopranos prestige and it lived up to the billing. Colin Farrell donned a body suit and eerily convincing prosthetics to bring a fresh take on one of Batman’s classic villains. Cristin Milioti shone as Sofia Falcone in a story that riffed on comic classics The Long Halloween and sequel Dark Victory but always had a surprise up its sleeve. LG
Charlie Cooper’s Myth Country (BBC Three)
Who would’ve guessed that one of the most joyful TV moments of 2024 would be the star of This Country staying up all night learning Welsh folk songs with an octogenarian grain farmer? But such are the pleasures of Myth Country, a three-part series investigating a handful of Britain’s most enduring folk traditions, myths and legends. Cooper is all nerdy enthusiasm as he travels the country investigating Black Shuck, King Arthur and crop circles with the help of experts and eccentrics, sharing a sense of wonder, kinship and community. JA
Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. This Christmas, you can make a lasting change on a vendor’s life. Buy a magazine from your local vendor in the street every week. If you can’t reach them, buy a Vendor Support Kit.
