the times | Saturday December 18 2021 saturday review 9
Spinning off from the spin-off series The
Mandalorian, it will finally feature Boba
Fett — the impossibly cool bounty hunter,
a fan favourite — taking the lead, here as a
gangster-like figure heading up Jabba the
Hutt’s empire. Forget the plot, though, this
is more about the “immersive” feel of being
transported to the vast desert plains of
Tatooine, a planet not short of wretched
scum and villainy. Dec 29, Disney+10
Attenborough and
the Mammoth
Graveyard
Any David Attenbor-
ough documentary is
one to savour and this film promises to tell
all about Britain’s biggest mammoth dis-
covery for almost 20 years. Found near
Swindon in Wiltshire in 2017, it offered up
several questions. How did the mammoths
die? What does the ancient mystery tell us
about the Neanderthals? Allow Attenbor-
ough to turn palaeontological sleuth and
crack this Ice Age crime scene. Dec 30,
BBC1, 8pm11
Stay Close/Cobra Kai
No Bridgerton this Christ-
mas — that’s more like-
ly to be spring — so
what is Netflix offer-
ing? Series two of fantasy epic
The Witcher has just
launched (its fans won’t
need to be told), while
two big-hitters ar-
rive on New Year’s
Eve. First there is
the latest secrets-
in-suburbia Har-
lan Coben adapta-
tion Stay Close
(after Safe and The
Stranger). This is a
slightly offbeat one
starring Cush Jumbo
as a mum with, yes, a
dubious past that threatens
her comfy middle-class life.
James Nesbitt’s detective raises
an eyebrow through the twists.
Then there is the fourth series of
the middle-aged Karate Kid saga
Cobra Kai, which may be the very
definition of guilty pleasure. Net-
flix, both from New Year’s Evea bone to pick David
Attenborough. Left:
Snowbaby star Julie
Walters. Right: Jamie
Dornan in The Tourist12
The Tourist
Look ahead to New
Year’s Day and you can
expect to be transported
to the dusty heat of the
Australian outback for a fine-looking six-
part thriller with Jamie Dornan as a man
losing his mind — or at least, his memory
— after being chased off the road by a
tanker truck on a lone highway. Shades of
Spielberg’s Duel to this opening event.
Thereafter, he is a man (or “the Man”, as
his character is known) desperately trying
to relocate his identity while wondering
why anyone would have wanted him dead
in the first place. Explosions, helicopter
searches, car chases — as pacey thrillers
go, it’s all here. New Year’s Day, BBC1, 9pmthe TV editor’s best on the box
foggy pudding Left: Ibrahim Koma, David Tennant and Leonie Benesch in Around
the World in 80 Days. Above: Callum Woodhouse in All Creatures Great and SmallTUDOR CUCU/SLIM 80 DAYS/BBC; TOM BARNES/CHANNEL 4