From Wicked: For Good to Stranger Things: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Ariana Grande sparkles in the concluding part of the Wicked Witch tale, and the first batch of final episodes of the retro sci-fi juggernaut are unleashedWicked: For GoodOut nowWas the decision to split this Broadway musical big-screen adaptation into two parts motivated by art or money? Part two is here, so you can judge for yourself.The Wizard of Oz-inspired story picks up with defiant “Wicked Witch” Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) living in exile, while Glinda (Ariana Grande) relishes her own popularity.The Thing With FeathersOut nowMax Porter’s novel Grief Is the Thing With Feathers gets the big-screen treatment, with Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role as the dad who must raise his two young children alone after his wife dies unexpectedly.With David Thewlis as the voice of the crow who appears to him.The Ice TowerOut nowMarion Cotillard stars as a star: an actor called Cristina, who is playing the beautiful Snow Queen in a 1960s adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen classic that also inspired Frozen.
But though the other lead here is a 15-year-old girl, this is no Disney fable, but a tale of idols and obsession.Sisu: Road to RevengeOut nowAn unexpected hit in 2022, the first Sisu film was a violent action thriller in which a grizzled prospector murdered scores of Nazis to defend his bags of gold.Now the man who refuses to die is back, and this time he’s taking on the Red Army.Catherine BrayLondon jazz festivalVarious venues, 22 & 23 NovemberRevered Malian vocal star Oumou Sangaré fronts the BBC Concert Orchestra (23 November), while pioneering drummer-composer and Polar Bear-founder Seb Rochford (23 November) and fast-rising young UK guitarist and singer-songwriter Rosie Frater-Taylor (22 November) present their cutting-edge bands.These and dozens more form the festival’s closing-weekend dates.
John FordhamYung LeanWembley arena, London, 22 November; Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, 26 NovemberThe creatively restless Swedish singer and rapper, whose collaborations have included Robyn and Bladee, makes two rare UK appearances,Keep an ear out for recent single Evil World and the new wave stylings of recent album Jonatan,Michael CraggLeisure27 to 29 November; tour starts LondonAn alluring mix of funk, dance-pop and 90s boom bap, New Zealand sextet Leisure have slowly built up a British fanbase,This tour, which includes a night at London’s Roundhouse, is in support of September’s sun-dappled fifth album, Welcome to the Mood,MCHuddersfield contemporary music festivalVarious venues, to 30 NovemberThe composer-in-residence this year is the American Sarah Hennies, whose music is hardly known at all on this side of the Atlantic.
For this opening weekend, the Mivos Quartet give the UK premiere of Hennies’s hour-long string quartet Borrowed Light, composed in 2023 and described as “a kind of sonic meditation … revealing how sound can illuminate states of being”.Andrew ClementsTurner and ConstableTate Britain, London, 27 November to 12 AprilTo climax JMW Turner’s 250th birthday celebrations he goes head to head with his only rival as a British landscape artist.In life, Turner famously trumped John Constable in a Royal Academy exhibition by adding a last-minute splosh of red to a painting.Will Constable get his own back at last?Caravaggio’s CupidWallace Collection, London, 26 November to 12 AprilThe strangest, most provocative masterpiece ever painted comes to London.Caravaggio’s art cuts across time to grab you as if he is our contemporary.
His depiction of a naked boy posing as the god of love with a grin like a street kid who’s robbing the gallery takes the biscotto.Bridget RileyTurner Contemporary, Margate, 22 November to 4 MayOne of Britain’s greatest artists, by which I mean ever, gets a survey of her unique journey in abstract art.Riley reinvented abstraction in the 1960s as an optical, scientific exploration of colour, line and human psychology.She is up there with Pollock and Mondrian as a visionary abstract painter.Jaune Quick-to-See SmithFruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, to 1 FebruaryThis radical artist and enrolled member of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation sadly died while this exhibition at Fruitmarket was being put together.
So it has become a memorial.A sculpture of a canoe and figures of climate heroes feature along with her expressive paintings.Jonathan JonesJazz EmuSoho theatre, London, 25 November to 6 DecemberConceited, nerdy, 1970s-suave, vaguely Germanic accented: Footlights alumni Archie Henderson’s musician alter ego has a very distinctive vibe and a stacked back catalogue of odd tunes.He shares the (dubious) secrets of his success in this London run.Rachel AroestiHow Does Santa Go Down The Chimney?Unicorn theatre, London, to 3 JanThis year’s Unicorn Christmas show – always such a treat – is a playful take on Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen’s picture book.
Created by Told By an Idiot, there’ll be lashings of physical comedy and silly gags for all the family.Miriam GillinsonThe Burns ProjectBrodie Castle, Tuesday; 26 to 29 NovemberJames Clements’s probing show about Robert Burns embarks on a mini-tour following rave reviews at the Edinburgh festival.It weaves together rarely seen writing and digitised archival material to create a rich and complex portrait of the much-loved Scottish poet.MGYorke Dance ProjectMemorial theatre, Frome, 28 & 29 Nov; touring to 22 JanuaryA quintuple bill entitled Modern Milestones, including a solo by Martha Graham (Deep Song from 1937), a new piece from veteran choreographer Christopher Bruce (Troubadour, set to Leonard Cohen songs) and something fresh from former Rambert dancer Liam Francis.Lindsey WinshipSign up to Inside SaturdayThe only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine.
Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend.after newsletter promotionStranger ThingsNetflix, 26 NovemberIt’s the beginning of the end for the Duffer Brothers’ retro sci-fi juggernaut as the first four episodes of the fifth and final season are released.Definitive answers to all outstanding mysteries – including the reason behind the kidnapping of Will Byers – have been promised.Prisoner 951BBC One & iPlayer, 23 November, 9pmWhen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested at Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran, it marked the beginning of a six-year nightmare.Adapted from a forthcoming book by her and her husband, this drama chronicles the former’s imprisonment and the latter’s desperate campaign to free her.
Narges Rashidi and Joseph Fiennes star,Poison WaterBBC Two & iPlayer, 26 November, 9pmThe worst mass poisoning event in British history was swept under the carpet from the start,In 1988, a tanker driver accidentally poured 20 tonnes of aluminium sulphate into the water supply of a Cornish town,Despite their skin peeling and hair turning blue, residents were assured they were safe – a lie this documentary unravels,Clash of the ComicsU, 28 NovemberA bumper highlights package of the star-studded standup v standup wrestling extravaganza that took place live in London last month.
The fighting funnymen and women include Ed Gamble, James Acaster, Phil Wang, Rose Matafeo and Rosie Jones, with Nish Kumar, Sara Pascoe and Greg James commentating on the action.RABubble Bobble: Sugar DungeonsPS5, Switch, PC; out 27 NovemberTaito’s iconic bubble-blowing dragons return for more single-screen platforming, but with a modern twist.Taking inspiration from the roguelike genre, each stage is part of a wider dungeon that changes layout each time you explore.Street Racer CollectionPS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC; out 27 NovemberThis compilation brings Street Racer on to modern platforms.Pitched as both kart racer and fighting game, the four playable versions – including the SNES original and a Game Boy edition – help settle the playground debate of whether it was better than Super Mario Kart after all.
Matthew ReynoldsElla Eyre – Everything, in TimeOut nowA decade after her debut, Feline, and after struggling to reverse out of a dance-pop cul-de-sac, London singer-songwriter Ella Eyre returns with a new sound and attitude.Songs such as Head in the Ground and Kintsugi offer up slow-burn soul, while Red Flags & Love Hearts is a modern take on 60s doo-wop.Oneohtrix Point Never – Tranquilizer Out nowIt has been a busy time for sonic explorer Daniel Lopatin.As well as continuing his production work for the Weeknd, he has also scored Josh Safdie’s film forthcoming Oscar hopeful, Marty Supreme, and completed this 11th album.Created using once-lost sample libraries from the Internet Archive, it sounds like diving into electricity.
De La Soul – Cabin in the SkyOut nowNine years after their Grammy-nominated album And the Anonymous Nobody …, the hip-hop greats make an unexpected return.Featuring previously unheard vocals from Trugoy the Dove, who died in 2023, plus guests Killer Mike, Yukimi Nagano and Nas, it’s led by the horn-heavy bop The Package.Stray Kids – Do ItOut nowOne of the biggest bands in the world – this five-track EP could become the eight-piece K-pop boyband’s eighth straight US chart-topper – Stray Kids have filled the hole left by BTS.With songs such as the elastic gonzo-pop of Ceremony, they look hard to dethrone.MCMedia StormPodcastMathilda Mallinson and Helena Wadia’s well-crafted series examines often overlooked perspectives on the week’s biggest news stories, including disinformation in Gaza and the roots of UK rightwing radicalism.
Getty MuseumYouTubeLA art institution the Getty hosts a range of filmed workshops, art history explainers and roundtable discussions on its video channel.A recent mini-series looked at the museum’s relationship with feminist ensemble Guerrilla Girls.Witness History: The Howard Hughes Literary HoaxBBC World Service, Wednesday, 8.50amThis fascinating, archive-rich short documentary investigates the strange 1971 tale of a falsified autobiography of reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes.Jane Wilkinson explores how a six-figure advance and fabricated quotes led to a highly publicised fraud conviction.
Ammar Kalia
Politicians urge Labour to restore Electoral Commission independence
Keir Starmer is being urged to restore independence to the Electoral Commission, with MPs and peers likely to launch a battle to amend the elections bill in the new year.In a letter to the prime minister, MPs and peers will warn the elections watchdog should not be overseen by the political parties in charge of holding to account.The government is to publish an elections bill early next year, bringing in votes for 16-year-olds and cracking down on loopholes in how political donations are made.However, it is resisting returning independence to the Electoral Commission after Boris Johnson put it under the control of ministers, who can now annually set its priorities and direction.When the Conservatives introduced the new power, the House of Lords passed a cross-party amendment led by the cross-bench peer Lord Judge and co-sponsored by the former Labour home secretary David Blunkett to overturn the change – only for it to be changed back by the Commons
Farage urged to explain conspiracy theories linked to antisemitism he voiced in US media
Nigel Farage is facing calls to explain why he repeatedly aired tropes and conspiracy theories associated with antisemitism during interviews, after claims the Reform UK leader used racist language in his teens.In appearances on US TV shows and podcasts earlier in his political career, Farage discussed supposed plots by bankers to create a global government, citing Goldman Sachs, the Bilderberg group and the financier George Soros as threats to democracy.These included six guest slots on the web TV show of the disgraced far-right US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Jones was successfully sued by bereaved parents after claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook elementary school massacre was faked.During one interview with Jones in 2018, Farage argued that “globalists” were trying to engineer a war with Russia “as an argument for us all to surrender our national sovereignty and give it up to a higher global level”
David Cameron reveals prostate cancer diagnosis and calls for targeted screening
David Cameron has disclosed he was treated for prostate cancer and has called for a targeted screening programme.The former prime minister said he had a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which looks for proteins associated with the form of the disease. The result was high and he subsequently had a biopsy that revealed the cancer.Lord Cameron, 59, told the Times: “You always hope for the best. You have a high PSA score – that’s probably nothing
Unions urge Reeves to prioritise living standards as CBI presses for shift on employment rights
Unions have urged the chancellor to keep focused on raising living standards, targeting child poverty and upping the national minimum wage, in the face of renewed calls from business to change course on employment rights.The TUC said that Rachel Reeves must deliver “a living standards budget” on Wednesday to ease the pressure on working households whose incomes have remained stagnant in more than a decade.Analysis by the unions showed working people were just £12 a week better off compared with 2008 after a “painful Tory pay hangover”. Real wages grew at an average of just 0.04% each year under the Conservative government between May 2010 and April 2024, it found, while public service workers saw no increase at all
Boris Johnson took four days off as NHS warned Covid could ‘overwhelm’ system
Boris Johnson took four days off from official government business during a key period in the UK’s Covid preparation when the NHS was bracing to be “overwhelmed” by the virus.Official disclosure for the period in February 2020 – described by the Covid inquiry as a “lost month” in the country’s crisis response – reveal Johnson enjoyed an extended break during the half-term holidays at Chevening, a governmental estate in Kent, where he spent time walking his dog and taking motorcycle rides.The former prime minister was questioned on his activities between 14 and 24 February 2020 when he appeared at the inquiry in December 2023. He said: “There wasn’t a long holiday that I took. I was working throughout the period and the tempo did increase
Twenty people allege he has a racist past. He denies it. Who’s telling the truth about Farage’s schooldays?
Nigel Farage has denied – albeit through a spokesperson – that he ever said anything racist or antisemitic when he was a teenager.The Guardian has spoken to 20 of his contemporaries while at Dulwich College in south London who say otherwise – more than half of them on the record.So, who is telling the truth? That has become the crux of the row that has engulfed the leader of Reform UK.His spokesperson insists “there is no primary evidence. It’s one person’s word against another” and he has accused the Guardian of seeking to smear Farage
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