Pick of the week
Litvinenko
“I need to report a murder. Mine.” With these words, Alexander Litvinenko (David Tennant) opened a murder inquiry without a body. This rendering of the story of the former Russian spy’s 2006 poisoning in London is a warning from the past. As two detectives log Litvinenko’s last words, it becomes clear that this is a drama about accountability: was the British state remotely prepared to deal with such naked aggression? It’s a question with huge relevance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but high geopolitical stakes aside, the series never forgets the element of personal tragedy – Litvinenko’s wife Marina is portrayed with sensitivity by Margarita Levieva.
ITVX, from Thursday 15 December
***
Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery
Will Arnett’s shouty spoof detective Terry Seattle solves another crime mystery in a festive special co-starring Maya Rudolph and Jason Bateman. The series, a US adaptation of the BBC Three’s Murder in Successville, struggled to match the anarchic charm of the original, with the format – reality stars and TV presenters being amusingly bullied by an overbearing central character – reduced to patchy improv comedy. But this benefits from a heinous crime (the murder of Santa Claus!) and guests who treat the concept with the exactly the appropriate amount of derision. Netflix, from Thursday 15 December
***
Dr Seuss Baking Challenge
The children’s fantasies of Dr Seuss and competitive high-end baking: together at last! This series feels less like a challenge show concept and more like a selection of randomly generated ideas thrown together for a dare. But there is a certain fascination to watching the world of the Grinch and the Cat in the Hat in sponge and creme pat form. There’s $50k on the table for the winners, but the tendency of host Tamera Mowry-Housley and judges Clarice Lam and Joshua John Russell to slip into Seuss-esque doggerel doesn’t exactly heighten the tension. Weird.
Prime Video, from Tuesday 13 December
***
National Treasure: Edge of History
“I’ve thought about destroying it many times,” gasps Harvey Keitel’s Peter Sadusky. “To stop it from falling into the wrong hands.” It’s a dilemma familiar to many a fictional treasure hunter: you have a map but are worried about unleashing powers beyond your control. This action thriller – a continuation of Jerry Bruckheimer’s National Treasure film series – is a predictably melodramatic affair. With Catherine Zeta-Jones playing a billionaire antiquities expert, it’s daft fun if you are willing to suspend your disbelief.
Disney+, from Wednesday 14 December
***
All Those Things We Never Said
There is an unusual mixture of existential regret and absurdity in this French drama starring Noémi Besedes as Julia, a woman whose father dies just days before her wedding. This inevitably leads to a bout of melancholy soul-searching which is interrupted, in outlandish style, by the arrival of a large wooden crate containing a life-sized, android clone of her late father. Would you attempt to bond with a battery-powered copy of a dead parent if it meant you could address previously unspoken issues? Julia is willing to give it a try, with mixed results.
Lionsgate, from Thursday 15 December
***
The Recruit
Another in the current glut of spy stories – though this one has the distinction of attempting a little comedy alongside its drama. Noah Centineo stars as Owen Hendricks, a slightly smarmy young lawyer who expects a gentle introduction to his new job at the CIA but gets exactly the opposite as a former asset threatens to spill the agency’s secrets unless she is exonerated of a serious crime. Perhaps implausibly, this tricky case lands on the newbie’s desk and, before he knows it, Owen is being dragged into both an international conspiracy and a dangerous love affair.
Netflix, from Friday 16 December
***
Dance Monsters
A minuscule twist on the Masked Dancer formula in this bizarre competition show in which amateur dancers strut their stuff in front of a judging panel made up of Ashley Banjo, Ne-Yo and Lele Pons. The twist, if it can be described as such in the context of the show’s antecedents, is that the contenders will be disguised as CGI avatars – giant bears, human emojis and so forth – and will be attempting to bust moves powerful enough to make the judges forget how ridiculous they look. A quarter of a million dollars awaits the winner.
Netflix, from Friday 16 December
