BOXING DAY
19 December 2021 69THE BEST TV FROM DISNEY+ AND BEYOND... BOXING DAY
Today is chocolate, leftovers
and some of the best shows of
the year, like Only Murders
In The Building (Disney+),
in which three opinionated
Manhattan strangers (Steve
Martin, Martin Short, Selena
Gomez) start their own true-
crime investigation; or Hailee
Steinfeld irreverently defiant
as America’s greatest female
poet, Dickinson (AppleTV+);
Tim Robinson’s defiantly
weird sketch show I Think
You Should Leave (Netflix);
or Alan Tudyk as an
extraterrestrial trying to get
back home in Resident Alien
(Sky/Now). There’s also Rose
Matafeo’s short but addictive
romcom Starstruck (BBC
iPlayer); or, if you fancy
some authentic scares at
night, try The Terror (BBC
iPlayer); or Mike Flanagan’s
deeply unsettling Midnight
Mass (Netflix).
Andrew MalePeter Rabbit 2 (Sky Cinema
Premiere, 7.40am/3.55pm)
The sequel to a film that was
criticised for its brashness,
this new animated adventure
for Peter and his gang
addresses those complaints
through a bit of self-mockery.
Its hero (voiced by James
Corden) wonders if he might
be irritating, and the story
even parodies a few garish
adaptations of much-loved
children’s books. Some parents
might think these jokes say it
all, but Will Gluck’s energetic
film has a good heart and
plenty of fans. (2021)Some Like It Hot
(BBC2, 2.20pm)
Billy Wilder’s comedy about
two male musicians forced
to disguise themselves as
women is equally terrific in
its lead performances — by
Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon
and Marilyn Monroe — and
in its script. The humour is
finely crafted and remarkably
emancipated. (1959) B/WWhat goes around ... (BBC1, 5.50pm) All girls together? (BBC2, 2.20pm)FILM CHOICE
ON DEMAND
The Very Small Creatures
(Sky/Now)
In the corner of a children’s
nursery, when everyone has
gone home, five small blobs
of coloured plasticine come
alive and run riot, bouncing,
getting squished, playing hide-
and-seek and communicating
in authentic toddler talk.
The Suicide Squad
(Sky Cinema Premiere,
11.45am/8pm)
The 2016 film Suicide Squad
— featuring a loose team of
superpowered rogues —
was a mess, but this sequel’s
writer-director, James Gunn,
adds a lot more pep. Although
it lacks the friendliness of
the Guardians of the Galaxy
films (Gunn’s previous work
with a superhero gang), it
delivers funny jokes in its own
raucous way. And the Squad’s
best-known member, Margot
Robbie’s Harley Quinn,
continues to dazzle. (2021)Mickey’s Christmas Carol
(Disney+)
If you’ve exhausted all the
other variations on Charles
Dickens’s tale, try this spooky
and cheering adaptation from- Directed by Disney legend
Burny Mattinson (Sleeping
Beauty, The Aristocats), it has a
rich, painterly beauty, terrible
Scottish stereotypes and more
jokes per minute that even the
Muppets can muster.
Andrew Male
Sense And Sensibility
(Film4, 3.35pm)
Fresh, funny and reasonably
faithful, Ang Lee’s Austen film
is built on a screenplay by one
of its stars, Emma Thompson,
who shines on screen as
the dutiful Elinor, sister of
the flighty Marianne (Kate
Winslet). In addition to its
many other strengths, her
script provides good roles
for the film’s two Hughs:
Grant and Laurie. (1995)
Edward PorterAdults aren’t ideal judges of
whether Aardman Animation’s
new stop-motion series will
grab the attention of three-
year-olds, but the characters
of the five creatures are
beautifully delineated by the
creator/director, Lucy Izzard,
and my previously TV-averse
cat, Klaus (aged five) was
transfixed, refusing to look
away from the screen while
the claymation critters went
about their goofy business.The duchess of dirt street: Claire Foy courts scandal as Margaret Campbell (BBC1, 9pm)A Very British Scandal
(BBC1, 9pm)
Claire Foy discards her
queenly froideur and slips
on an all-important three-
strand pearl necklace to play
Margaret Campbell, who
earned the soubriquet “the
Dirty Duchess” thanks to the
outrageous details of her
1963 divorce from the 11th
Duke of Argyll. We meet her
as the spoilt rich girl she is,
lightly soiled and greedily
falling in love with Ian
Campbell (Paul Bettany).
“I like him,” she explains to
a friend. “I like his castle.”
Sarah Phelps’s script is rather
good on women talking
when men aren’t listening
and fleshes out a person
whose brittle demeanour
in photographs has always
seemed most at odds with
her rapacious appetites.
Continues tomorrow.
Helen StewartAround The World In 80 Days
(BBC1, 5.50pm/6.40pm)
After Dracula and Black
Narcissus, the BBC’s latest
New Year adaptation reworks
the Jules Verne classic that
inspired Michael Palin. While
Phileas Fogg (David Tennant)
still makes a wager in his toffs’
club, much else is altered: his
valet, Passepartout (Ibrahim
Koma) becomes a Lupin-like
statuesque Frenchman, and
adding Leonie Benesch’s
journalist turns the book’s
duo into a trio. Largely set
in France and Italy — both
merely passed through in
Verne’s novel — tonight’s
double bill is uneven but
promising, with endearing
characters and a well-judged
mix of adventure, comedy
and darker moments.
John Dugdale
Death In Paradise
(BBC1, 7.30pm)
Murder comes to Saint Marie
once more when a billionaire
is found dead at a party. With
his holiday plans stymied,
Neville (Ralf Little) buckles
down to a case that hinges on
a mysterious Christmas card.
Mathew Baynton and Juliet
Stevenson are among those
enjoying evil under the sun.All I Want(ed) For Christmas
(C4, 8pm)
Closure on childhood yuletide
trauma is promised by this
turbo-charged nostalgia show,
which gives celebs the chance
to open the dream presents
they never received. Among
those seeing if Mr Frosty or
Scalextric match expectations
are Jonathan Ross, Robert
Webb and Big Narstie.Mortimer & Whitehouse
— Gone Christmas Fishing
(BBC2, 9pm)
The quest for a rare English
salmon takes Paul Whitehouse
and Bob Mortimer to the
Rivers Eden and Tyne; the
equally elusive Paul Gascoigne
also appears. There is plenty
of poignancy, “groin cutlery”
and musical guests.
Victoria SegalCRITICS’ CHOICE
Boxing Day’s
box set binge