Pick of the week
The Winter King
To fifth-century Britain for some grimy and violent Arthurian action based on Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Chronicles. Iain De Caestecker stars as Arthur Pendragon, the bastard son of Eddie Marsan’s King Uther. As we join him, he’s sent into exile after defeat on the battlefield. However, with the help of his mystical pal Merlin (Nathaniel Martello-White), he will return to claim his birthright. In the meantime, Arthur finds a child, Derfel, and leaves him in Merlin’s care. Derfel (Stuart Campbell) will find his destiny dovetails with Arthur’s. It takes itself very seriously but, if tales of mythical derring-do are your bag, The Winter King is a fine telling of beloved stories.
ITVX, from Thursday 21 December
***
Ricky Gervais: Armageddon
The problem with Ricky Gervais’s standup career isn’t necessarily his increasingly predictable determination to poke fun at political correctness. It’s that, at this point, the jokes aren’t strong enough to carry his presumably serious ideas about the policing of thought and language. For example, the riff about making videos for the Make-a-Wish Foundation could undercut itself and toy with audience expectations, but eventually ends up going exactly where you expect. It feels like a waste – he clearly possesses an inventive comic mind but there’s something inherently lazy about Gervais at this stage in his career.
Netflix, Christmas Day
***
Trevor Noah: Where Was I
He might have said goodbye to The Daily Show but comedian Trevor Noah is a busy man. Hot on the heels of his new podcast What Now? – in which he conducts interviews with varied heavy-hitting guests, such as Bill Gates and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – comes this new standup special. It speaks to his curiosity about the world: filmed at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Where Was I is a travel-themed hour in which Noah riffs on national anthems, the delights of sightseeing tours in Germany and the ancient wonders of Edinburgh.
Netflix, from Tuesday 19 December
***
Cindy la Regia: The High School Years
“My plan is to conquer the world.” Cindy (Michelle Pellicer) is a restless, high-achieving teenager with big ideas. But it seems the world has plans for her too, as growing pains strike and high-school politics drag her down. This glossy Mexican coming-of-age drama (a prequel to the 2020 film Cindy la Regia) is a fairly generic affair – Cindy’s life is a whirl of pool parties, proms and adolescent confusion. However, there’s an intriguing subplot about a same-sex relationship that keeps it from sinking into boilerplate anonymity.
Netflix, from Wednesday 20 December
***
BTS Monuments: Beyond the Star
Even if their music isn’t your cup of tea, the rise and rise of Korean boyband BTS marks a fascinating moment in the globalisation of pop. The footage in this film is of a piece with the stage-managed, performative intimacy that has become industry standard – it’s a striking level of access, but whether it leaves us much the wiser about the real people behind the brand is questionable. However, it’s an absorbing look at the modern pop factory and, with the band currently on hiatus while they undertake military service, it’s sure to plug a gap for fans.
Disney+, from Wednesday 20 December
***
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
It’s not easy being a demigod when you’re 12. But that is the fate of Perseus “Percy” Jackson (Walker Scobell), whose old man Poseidon passed on a few special gifts to him. Based on Rick Riordan’s series of books, the fantasy follows the growing pains of a boy who is given a difficult assignment (basically, retrieve a lightning bolt from the sky god Zeus – no biggie) when he’s already dealing with the normal gamut of adolescent problems. It’s not a wildly unfamiliar scenario in fantasy terms but this world of satyrs, centaurs and furies is well realised.
Disney+, from Wednesday 20 December
***
What If … ?
Here’s a second season of the animated MCU counterfactual stories which, depending on your point of view, could be regarded as a thrilling expansion of character possibilities or somewhat moot since we already have the multiverse. Jeffrey Wright returns as the Watcher, a narrator who appears to monitor the whole of this universe. The set-ups this time include Nebula joining the Nova Corps and Happy Hogan saving Christmas. A stellar voice cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch, Karen Gillan, Jon Favreau, Hayley Atwell and Cate Blanchett.
Disney+, from Friday 22 December
