As the temperature drops and the nights darken, it's the perfect time to get cosy and watch a good film or show while wrapped in a blanket with a cup of tea. Our critics have carefully selected the perfect winter viewing to keep you entertained...
A House Of Dynamite
Kathryn Bigelow's intense thriller about a missile targeted at America
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
When a missile is detected that seems to be flying toward the US, it isn't clear who launched it. How will the Americans respond, and will it mean the end of the world? That's the premise of this intense thriller from Kathryn Bigelow, director of The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, a film that unpicks the illusion of safety that comes from building more and more weapons - the fragility of a peace that comes from living in a house of dynamite, in short.
A smartly constructed thriller that shows us the same intense 18-minute period from different points of view, the film stars Idris Elba as the US President, Rebecca Ferguson as an intelligence analyst and Jared Harris as the Secretary of Defence, all of whom are caught on the horns of a difficult decision.
With a script from Noah Oppenheim (Jackie, Zero Day) and echoes of Dr Strangelove, A House Of Dynamite makes the fragile human element that sits at the centre of this awful moment of crisis feel all too real. You can't help but wonder how those currently in power might make the same decision - which is, presumably, part of the point. (112 minutes)
Eden (2024 film)
Starry fact-based Ron Howard survival thriller set in the Galapagos
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney, Daniel Brühl - the core cast of Ron Howard's 'labour of love' survival thriller is seriously impressive, which makes it all the more surprising that it sank like a stone at the US box office and wasn't even released in UK cinemas.
Eden is based on the true story of a group of Europeans who left civilisation behind to start their own society in the Galapagos Islands in the 1930s. The island of Floreana didn't turn out to be the paradise they envisaged though and, a few years in, an alarming number of them were dead.
Howard discovered the story while on a family holiday in the Galapagos (that didn't end in death, thankfully) and was determined to bring it to the screen. It is a truly remarkable story and the characters - from the outlandish Baroness (de Armas) to the intense, often-shirtless Dr Ritter (Law) and his intriguing if not fully-fleshed out partner, Dore (Kirby) - are all engaging, even if the final execution of the film isn't quite as edgy and nerve-shredding as you might expect from the set-up. There will be quite enough violence and sex for some people as it stands, though. (129 minutes)
The Forsytes
Grand Victorian adaptation written by Poldark's Debbie Horsfield, and starring Eleanor Tomlinson
Year: 2025
Watch now on 5 (Ch5)
This handsome drama - a six-part adaptation of John Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga books - chronicles the lives, loves and trials of a wealthy late-Victorian banking family. In the opening episode, the Forsytes prepare to celebrate daughter June's 18th birthday and entrance into society. Meanwhile, the question of the succession of the family firm hangs heavily in the air, with brothers Jolyon Sr (Stephen Moyer) and James (Jack Davenport) vying for their own sons to triumph in the battle to be the next chairman.
Danny Griffin plays Jolyon Jr - or Joe - who, as the eldest son of the eldest son, expects to be next in line, but he's a sensitive soul not entirely suited to the position, unlike his go-getting cousin, the ambitious and ruthless Soames (Joshua Orpin).
There's much more to this series, though, than their battle for supremacy - writer Debbie Horsfield (who was also behind the hit Poldark) has said she wanted to dig much deeper into the female characters than the original novels ever did. They include matriarch Ann (Francesca Annis) and Joe's wife Frances (Tuppence Middleton) - who's less than happy when his former lover, Louisa (Poldark's Eleanor Tomlinson) makes a reappearance - while Doctor Who's Millie Gibson is Irene, a ballerina who catches Soames's eye. (Six episodes)
The Ridge
Psychological thriller shot in Scotland and New Zealand
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
Lauren Lyle, who played the lead in ITV's cold-case drama Karen Pirie, takes the starring role again in a six-part psychological thriller that follows anaesthetist Mia as she flees the mess she's made of her personal and professional lives in Scotland for what she assumes will be refuge with her estranged sister in New Zealand. Mia is an addict, her sister Cassy is getting married, and an invitation to the wedding seems to be the lifeline she so desperately needs.
But when Mia arrives down under, the bride-to-be is dead, having fallen while out walking in rough terrain she knows well. It's a small town mystery where Mia is very much the fish-out-of-water, eyed with suspicion by the locals - but, convinced that her sister's death is no accident, she's not going anywhere.
As Mia learns more about the kind of life Cassy built for herself in this isolated rural town and gets to know her fiancé Ewan (Scrublands' Jay Ryan), we also learn more about the sisters' childhoods growing up in Scotland, and the dark secrets from the past that led Mia down the path to addiction. (Six episodes)
Nobody Wants This
Kristen Bell and Adam Brody star in a sweet and sharp romcom, now back for series two
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
Romcoms are all about singletons overcoming obstacles to fall and stay in love, but the couple at the core of this show have more to overcome than most. It's there in the title - nobody wants this - and to an extent that 'nobody' even includes the couple themselves.
Kristen Bell stars as Joanne, an emotionally unavailable, irreligious and very funny woman who hosts a podcast about sexual adventures with her even more outrageous sister Morgan (Justine Lupe, Willa from Succession). So, who is the least likely person you can imagine Joanne dating? How about a career-focused and emotionally well-adjusted rabbi? Step forward Noah (The OC's Adam Brody), who meets Joanne at a party when he's just out of a serious relationship, and the rocky road to love begins from there.
Nobody Wants This is a frequently very funny show, with Bell in particular deploying her expert comic timing to great effect, and Brody is a sweet straight man. If you're after sweetness in general this has some of that, too, along with bitter moments of tension that it doesn't overstretch. It also has a particularly sharp eye for the details of friendships between women and, perhaps most impressively, manages to make some jokes about Jewish mothers-in-law that feel fresh.
The latest second series picks up where the first left off and smartly avoids the pitfalls that its ending created. It's a continued delight in short, one that explores new directions for secondary characters that makes you see them in a different light - particularly Noah's brother and his wife - and which finds the humour and the heart in what happens down the line in relationships, not just at the start. Look out for new cast additions Seth Rogen and particularly for Leighton Meester as an old 'friend' of Joanne. (Two series)
Riot Women
Sally Wainwright's drama about a menopausal punk rock band
Year: 2025
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
Joanna Scanlan, Tamsin Greig, Rosalie Craig, Lorraine Ashbourne and Amelia Bullmore star as the menopausal women who decide to form a punk rock band for a local talent contest that finally allows them to find their voices in life in this cracking six-part drama.
As you would expect from a drama by Sally Wainwright - of Happy Valley and Last Tango In Halifax fame - there's far more to it than that, because, once these women find their voices, they find they have plenty to shout about. There's nothing heavy-handed or preachy about Wainwright's writing or the performances, as this is all explored in a drama that is, at its root, really about female friendships. (Six episodes)
Harlan Coben's Lazarus
Bill Nighy and Sam Claflin star in a creepy thriller from Harlan Coben
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Prime Video
If you're used to the type of Harlan Coben thrillers in which someone turns up from the past to upset a seemingly happy couple... well, this isn't that. Lazarus is much creepier than the usual Coben fare, and it's also unusual in the fact that it's not based on a book. It's an idea he thought would work better on TV than as a novel, so he and Danny Brocklehurst, who handled many adaptations of the author's work for Netflix, have whipped this up for Amazon.
The plot, or as much of it as is sensible to reveal, is as follows: Sam Claflin (The Count Of Monte Cristo) stars as forensic psychiatrist Joel Lazarus, who returns home after the unexplained suicide of his father. Joel's dad is played by Bill Nighy so, presumably that death won't be the last we see of him but, for the time being in episode one, the junior Lazarus busies himself by digging into cold-case murders - including that of his sister, 25 years ago. He also seems to be experiencing time in a very weird way, with people appearing who shouldn't be there. What is going on? Is grief driving him mad? Stay tuned for episode two and it'll all start to make sense.
If you want to know more about the show, read our Inside Story here. (Six episodes)
9-1-1: Nashville
Emergency services spin-off drama starring Chris O'Donnell
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Disney+
If there's one thing that Ryan Murphy's emergency services franchise is known for, it's the wild nature of the calls its firefighters, paramedics and police officers attend. From the famed 'bee-nado' of LA-based mothership show 9-1-1, to an erupting volcano on the Rob Lowe-starring Texan spin-off 9-1-1: Lone Star, 9-1-1 makes British equivalents like Casualty seems positively quaint by comparison.
9-1-1: Nashville pairs such incidents with the good ol' boy charm and country music of the Tennessee city, and stars Chris O'Donnell (NCIS: Los Angeles) as Captain Don Hart, an ex-rodeo rider and veteran firefighter. His team includes a part-time singer, an ex-trauma surgeon and a hugely complicated family situation that we won't reveal here, but which creates plenty of soapy drama that will feed back into life in the firehouse as the show goes on.
Bolstering the show's country music credentials is LeAnn Rimes as the mother of one of the firefighters and an appearance by genre superstar Kane Brown in episode one, in which the city is threatened by a tornado. Like we said, 9-1-1 doesn't do things by halves but, if you start the series with a tornado, where do you go from there? Time will tell... (One series)
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon
Zombie spin-off series now back for series three, and featuring Stephen Merchant
Year: 2023
Certificate: 18
Watch now on NOW
Watch now on Sky
The zombie franchise heads to France for a spin-off centered on one of its most popular characters: tough, softly spoken biker Daryl Dixon (fan favourite Norman Reedus). Daryl is a bold and seasoned traveller who thinks nothing of stepping off his bike to drop zombies at 60 paces with a crossbow, so he doesn't let a little thing like his complete lack of French stand in the way of his adventures here.
And what adventures he has - in the first episode alone, Daryl winds up in a convent surrounded by an order of deadly nuns. Are they friend, or foe? Nothing's ever quite that clear-cut in the nihilistic world of The Walking Dead, and this measured, nicely written six-parter makes all those ambiguous moments ones you'll care about. And, even if it wasn't, Daryl is such a likeable character anyway - he's basically every mysterious stranger who rides into town in a western - that you could root for him to come out on top with no knowledge of the wider show.
The second series features Carol more heavily, which is not a spoiler as the subtitle for that whole, six-episode run is entitled The Book Of Carol. And as for the recently added third series? That features none other than Stephen Merchant as a very English survivor in London... (Three series)
The Kardashians
Glitzy, feud-filled follow-up to Keeping Up With The Kardashians, now back for series seven
Year: 2022-
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Disney+
Watch now on ITVX
What is there to say about the return of the Kardashians other than get ready for more glitz, glamour and family feuding? Since the show moved from E! to Hulu in the US (Disney+ in the UK), we've covered such moments as the surprising coupling of Kylie Jenner with movie star Timothée Chalamet, the acting exploits of Kim on American Horror Story, and the news that Kourtney and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker were having a child together. And then there was all the fallout from Kim's divorce from Kanye West.
The latest seventh series takes us inside Kim's experience of the diamond heist that could have cost the star her life, while the the rest of the ten-parter tackles lighter fare, such as All's Fair - Kim's new legal TV drama for Disney+ in which she co-stars with Oscar nominee Glenn Close, who will be putting in an appearance on the reality show - and the 'negativity' that's been flowing from Kourtney of late.
Throughout, the show continues to display the considerably bigger-budget approach that's been the hallmark of the shift from E!. That impressive drone shot that took us around the Kardashians' empire, way back in the opening episode of series one, set the standard for what's followed since. (Seven series)
Molly-Mae: Behind It All
Reality TV star Molly-Mae Hague lets the cameras in for a new, second series
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Prime Video
After shooting to fame on Love Island and making appearances in numerous episodes of the At Home With The Furys reality shows (alongside her partner Tommy Fury), Molly-Mae Hague now headlines her very own fly-on-the-wall documentary series.
In the wake of her high-profile split from Fury in 2024 (although the pair reunited this year), the show follows the feisty and sometimes outspoken Hague as she charts a new life, coping with motherhood, juggling the demands of a life lived in the tabloid spotlight and attempting to set up her own business, Maebe.
Anyone who enjoyed her previous reality show outings is going to find a lot to enjoy here as the series promises to go behind the headlines to reveal the real Molly-Mae. The quality of the production is much higher than your average reality series as it does so, too - witness all that swooping, thoughtful music in the background - which occasionally sits amusingly (deliberately, presumably) at odds with such moments as her ordering a Chicken Big Mac from a drive-through.
This first series was released in two chunks, with the second half tracking the consequences of the New Year's Eve kiss between Molly-Mae and Tommy. The latest, second series finds her very focused on business. (Two series)
Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost
Hollywood star Ben Stiller reflects on his comedian parents' lives
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Apple TV
Ben Stiller grew up in a showbiz family, as the child of a comedy double act - Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller. As with any couple who work together, Jerry and Anne struggled to balance that with their personal life, the difference being that they did so in part under the glare of celebrity. 'I don't know where the act ends and the marriage begins,' commented Anne on a talk show once.
Stiller, who met his own wife Christine Taylor while filming a TV show and has appeared in various films with her down the years (Zoolander, Dodgeball, Tropic Thunder), is clearly very aware of his parents' legacy on his own life and dissects it in this warm documentary profile about what is passed between generations.
As Stiller made it, the access to archive footage is first rate, with some endearing and enlightening home movies. We also hear plenty from his family, including Christine and their children Ella and Quin, and Ben reflects with his sister Amy about sifting through all their parents' stuff after they died (Anne in 2015, then Jerry in 2020). This included more than 100 hours of recordings left by his dad, some of which captured arguments between the couple.
Nothing Is Lost is a portrait of a showbiz life, for sure, but it's also a portrait of family life in general, one that Stiller manages to depict both with a filmmaker's distance and the love of a son. (97 minutes)
Sanatorium
Documentary capturing the surreal experience of visiting a Ukrainian spa
Year: 2025
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
In the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa sits the Kuyalnik Sanatorium. It served as a medical centre under the Soviets and is now a kind of spa and treatment hub, not to mention an oasis of relative calm in a country under assault. This documentary meets the guests, who check in with everything from back pains to fertility problems, and the staff such as the imposing Dmitriy, who walks around bringing order to things and does a lot of swearing into his phone.
There's a lot of footage of older men walking around in skimpy swimwear, mud treatments and 1970s-style decor - there are touches of sitcom to the whole situation, and then life is suddenly interrupted by an air-raid siren and you're reminded of what is happening not so far away from it all. The massages and exercise classes are paused, and everyone files down to a shelter and looks at their phones until the all-clear comes. It's a surreal existence and one captured to both amusing and poignant effect by the Irish filmmaker Gar O'Rourke, in his feature documentary debut. (90 minutes)
The Offer
The story behind the making of The Godfather
Year: 2022
Certificate: 18
Watch now on Paramount+
Watch now on ITVX
From swaggering gangsters to posturing Hollywood executives, there are a lot of big characters in this ten-parter about the making of The Godfather, and many of the cast have clearly been told to push those performances to 11.
Friends' Giovanni Ribisi looks like he's in a comedy sketch as Mob boss Joseph Colombo, a man who hates how the book the movie is based on makes Italians look, yet seems to act exactly that way; while Downton's Matthew Goode purrs with charm as hedonist studio boss Robert Evans. These performances are all tremendous fun, even if the words they're saying sometimes fall a little flat.
One more thing - if you're a Ted Lasso fan, look out for Juno Temple as the canniest character of the whole lot: Hollywood secretary-turned-agent Bettye McCartt. She's subtle by the standards of the rest, but a lot of fun to watch. (Ten episodes)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Rollicking prequel to the original sci-fi show, series one of which is now free on ITVX
Year: 2022-
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Paramount+
Watch now on ITVX
The creators of this prequel to the original 1960s series really understand what it takes to make a good Star Trek show. They've taken the starry-eyed wonder of the original and blended it with the dark and witty tone of recent series, a mix that's at its most potent in the lead character, Christopher Pike (Anson Mount). The captain of the Enterprise looks like a typical western hero - we even first meet him at his ranch in Montana, horse riding and dodging work calls - and Mount has form in that genre, too (Hell On Wheels). Yet Pike is a man plagued by dark visions, and carries those with him on missions to exotic worlds that will inspire and surprise.
Strange New Worlds sets a seriously high standard throughout, from its cinematic special effects to its acting, to the surprisingly bold storytelling choices as it goes on. The first series tells a gripping story that brings all of its characters to vibrant life, while series two continues in terrific form - featuring a crossover with the animated Star Trek comedy Lower Decks, more of a certain James T Kirk, and a breathtaking musical episode.
The latest third series opens on cracking, all-action form with the resolution of the battle with the Gorn, and continues in more personal style with an episode hinged around the emotions of Spock. (Three series)
The Perfect Neighbour
Searing documentary about Florida neighbourhood tensions that led to murder
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
A steadily mounting portrait of tension on one street in Florida, Geeta Gandbhir's documentary tracks what happens when one woman, Susan Lorincz, keeps calling police to deal with the noise being made by her neighbours' children, and what she sees as threats to her property. It's been painstakingly edited together using the police bodycam footage from those visits, a story that culminates in Lorincz shooting dead the single mother of one of the children.
Dealing with issues of racism and Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground law - which permits deadly force in the pursuit of self-defence - The Perfect Neighbour is a compelling picture of how easily events can take a fatal turn in a society where firearms are so simple to obtain. How many seemingly low-level disputes on the likes of The Jerry Springer Show or Judge Judy could so easily have gone this way?
It's also universally relatable in the sense that everyone, at one point or another, has presumably been tormented by a noisy child on a street. Whatever perspective you're watching it from, it's undeniably a tragic waste of life. (96 minutes)
The Iris Affair
Thriller from the creator of Luther about a world-changing technology
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
Watch now on NOW
Watch now on Sky
Neil Cross, the man who brought Luther and Hard Sun to the BBC, has now created this considerably more bonkers eight-part thriller for Sky. The Iris Affair orbits around the enigmatic performance of Niamh Algar (The Virtues) as Iris, a puzzle-obsessed woman with 'a brain the size of a planet' who has a unique perspective on life: she believes murder and suicide do not exist, because some version of you will go on living in a parallel universe.
Iris has also happened upon a potentially world-changing technology, and it's that which has caused the deadly situation we find her in at the start of the show. Why does Cameron (Tom Hollander), the man with the gun, want her dead, though? And who is he? We'll leave the show to explain the details of that, but suffice it to say the resolution of it all is messy in the extreme.
Look out for Game Of Thrones' Kristofer Hivju along the way - as a catatonic genius linked to the technology - and for plenty of sunny Italian backdrops as Iris flees Cameron's pursuit. (Eight episodes)
Murdaugh: Death In The Family
Patricia Arquette and Jason Clarke star in a dramatisation of the tangled South Carolina case
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Disney+
Patricia Arquette and Jason Clarke take the leads in a high-end re-creation of the Murdaugh (pronounced 'Murdock') murders that shocked the world in 2021. The bones of the case are as follows: in June 2021, prominent South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh called police to say he'd found his wife Maggie and 22-year-old son Paul shot dead at home.
Around two years before, in 2019, an allegedly drunk Paul had been driving a boat that crashed, killing teenager Mallory Beach in the process. As such, two competing theories emerged as to who killed Maggie and Paul: that it was in retaliation for the crash, or that it was, for reasons unknown, down to Murdaugh himself. The case then took another twist when, in September 2021, it was claimed that Alex had hired a distant cousin to kill him.
Clarke is excellent as Alex, the 'honest man' dealing with the downfall of his legal dynasty (and plenty else besides) here, while Arquette delivers a simmering performance as his wife, Maggie. There's a lot to dig into, but the underlying theme of delivering justice when the accused is local legal royalty is a strong one. The show is inspired by the Murdaugh Murders Podcast by journalist Mandy Matney, played here by Brittany Snow. (Eight episodes)
Film Club
Aimee Lou Wood stars in a romcom-style drama about loving films, and loving in general
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
On top of Sex Education and Daddy Issues, Aimee Lou Wood has conquered America in The White Lotus, but it's good to have her back on home turf. She has co-written and stars in this romantic comedy drama, as Evie, a bright 20-something who hosts weekly, elaborate film clubs. Elaborate because she and her friends dress up as the characters and Evie goes all out with the decorations.
It's all an excuse for Evie to escape her life, and into the wonderful worlds of the films - from outer space to the yellow brick road - because there's something stopping her from engaging with the real world. She came home from work six months ago and since then hasn't got past her garden gate.
She's got a worried mum Suz (Suranne Jones), a nonchalant sister Izzie (Liv Hill, Miss Austen) and a bland boyfriend Josh (Adam Long, Nine Bodies In A Mexican Morgue) but her favourite person is barrister Noa (Nabhaan Rizwan, Kaos) who moves to Bristol after episode one. We can sense that Evie and Noa are perfect for each other and should get together, but the will-they-won't-they element isn't overplayed, just part of an often sweet and touching reflection on modern life, with Aimee Lou the radiant, if melancholy, centre of its splendid ensemble cast. (Six episodes)