Movies

The streaming year is off to flier. For anyone who’s spent the dark winter months hibernating at home in their downtime, Netflix, BBC, HBO, Apple TV and all those other giants of small-screen entertainment have really delivered on the assignment. To help us hunker down with shows to dispel the winter blues or, in the case of Netflix’s bleak and brutal American Primeval, make them slightly worse – albeit in thunderously widescreen style. And there’s plenty more ahead. Apple TV has The Studio, Seth Rogen’s eagerly-awaited, cameo-packed Hollywood satire, Netflix has announced the finale of Squid Game this summer, along with the end of Stranger Things, more Black Mirror, a second run of Tim Burton’s Wednesday and about a zillion other things, while Disney+ delivers another series of Andor, arguably the standout show of 2022. Here’s everything you need to see... so far. You’re gonna need a comfier couch.RECOMMENDED: 🎥 The 50 best movies of 2025 (so far)🔥 The best TV and streaming shows to watch in 2025📺 The 100 greatest ever TV shows you need to binge

In BBC’ss Sherlock, Mark Gatiss played the titular detective’s influential older brother, Mycroft Holmes. In the new period thriller Bookish, Gatiss portrays a protagonist cut from the same cloth as Sherlock, albeit with a more supportive approach to the authorities. Gatiss is Gabriel Book, an unconventional second-hand bookseller who uses his antiquarian collection to help police solve crimes. Bookish is a return to form for the Emmy winner, who also serves as co-writer alongside broadcaster Matthew Sweet. Recreating London in 1946, Bookish serves as a delightful throwback to detective mysteries of the era while touching upon the perils of post-war Britain. Read on to discover how the detective thriller’s world came to life. And if you have Gabriel Book's smarts, you'll spot that most of the filming locations were surprisingly not even in London. Photograph: UKTV/Kevin BakerArchangel Lane was filmed in the Belgian town of Namur Namur, Belgium The heart and soul of Bookish lies in London, but the production team subtly recreated the city's post-war bleakness overseas. Most of the series was filmed in Belgium in 2024, with additional photography taking place in the UK. Namur, a city located in southern Belgium, features prominently in Bookish as the location where street sets for Archangel Lane were built. This fictional London lane is where Gabriel Book runs his second-hand bookstore, which also doubles as a base of operations for Book's investigative activities. Gare de Binche, Binche, Belgium Other Belgian filming locations for Bookish include Gare de Binche, a Gothic-style railway station in the city of Binche. The station’s archaic architecture and wartime-era inscriptions freeze the passage of time, making Gare de Binche a suitable fit for the show's 1940s setting. Photograph: ShutterstockThe Belgian town of Ghent doubles as post-war London in ‘Bookish’ Theater De WAANzin, Ghent, Belgium Gabriel Book's many adventures across London take him to all kinds of spots in the city, including a brief detour to a theatre. Standing in for this theatre space is Theater De WAANzin, located in the heart of Ghent, Belgium. The theatre is a cozy venue that hosts several amateur productions today. Photograph: UKTV/Kevin Baker Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver, Belgium Bookish's Belgian connections continue with this scenic village located a few miles from major cities like Brussels and Antwerp. Fitting the show's grim post-war realities is the Parish Church of Our Lady, the village’s neo-Gothic church that remains its biggest tourist attraction. The village's town hall is also heavily influenced by Gothic Revival architecture, adding to the area's hauntingly beautiful atmosphere. Photograph: UKTV/Kevin BakerScenes inside the bookshop were shot on a soundstage What Other Belgian Locations Were Used for Filming? Other London-set scenes filmed in Belgium took place in the country's major cities, including the capital Brussels, La Louvière, Antwerp, Charleroi, Sint-Niklaas, the municipality of Londerzeel, and the village of Huizingen. Photograph: UKTV/Kevin BakerPolly Walker as Trottie Book Was Any of Bookish Filmed in London? Despite the majority of production taking place in Belgium, the crew did film some scenes in London as well. Beyond capturing landmarks like Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, some scenes were filmed in central London to recreate the fictional Waddingham Hotel. Several central London roads were blocked for filming, complete with vintage 1940s-style cars and old-school hotel bellhops. Other London locations include National Liberal Club, Albert Embankment, Inner Temple, and Gordon Square in Bloomsbury. Photograph: UKTV/Kevin BakerConnor Finch as Jack Blunt and Isabelle Connolly as Eadie Rattle Who Stars in Bookish? Sherlock actor and screenwriter Mark Gatiss takes top billing in Bookish as bookseller-turned-detective Gabriel Book. Gatiss is joined by Bridgerton and HBO’s Rome star Polly Walker, who plays Book’s wife Trottie, and Olivier Award-winning theatre actor Elliot Levey, who plays Inspector Bliss. Other cast members include Buket Kömür (Generation Z), Daniel Mays (A Thousand Blows), and Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners). Where Can You Stream Bookish? Bookish is available to stream in the UK on U&Alibi and on Max in Australia.Karen Pirie season 2: inside the filming locations behind the ITV crime drama. The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far). 

It’s always Emmy season at Time Out, where thrusting bouquets at our favourite all-time TV and streaming shows is a year-round preoccupation.  And a new addition to our critic-picked list of the 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time has just landed. Netflix’s sci-fi thriller Squid Game has wrapped up after three fierce, addictive and satirical seasons of dystopian death and mayhem. We love it, and judging by worldwide viewing figures that make it the streamer’s most watched show, so does everyone else. Born from his aborted idea for a movie, Korean writer Hwang Dong-hyuk’s 22-episode three-season series follows down-on-his-luck chauffeur and gambling addict Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) through a battle of survival in a Grand Guignol game show run by the mysterious Front Man.  ‘Absurd, upsetting and blackly comic, it’s an excoriating indictment of human greed,’ reads the new entry on Time Out’s 100 Greatest TV Shows list. ‘It’s shot through with compelling human drama as Gi-hun clings desperately to his humanity as all around him abandon theirs.’ Photograph: Squid Game No Ju-han/Netflix © 2025Won Ji-an as Se-mi in ‘Squid Game’ season 3 Squid Game lands at number 48 on the 100-strong list.  Here’s Time Out’s top 10 in full:  1. Breaking Bad (2008-2013)2. Twin Peaks (1990–1991)3. The Sopranos (1999-2007)4. The Wire (2002–2008)5. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)6. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)7. Game of Thrones (2011-2019)8. The Office (UK) (2001-03)9. Mad Men (2007–2015)10. Succession (2018–2023)The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far). The 100 best TV shows of all time you have to watch.

The semi-autobiographical story of Lena Dunham and her husband Luis Felber, a British-Peruvian musician, new Netflix series Too Much is a fictionalised version of their relationship in London. How fictionalised, only they will know, but hopefully quite a lot. No one should take that much ketamine at a city zoo. It’s also a proper joy: a story of millennial love, work, sex and life in two big cities peppered with the kind of cultural authenticity that only lived experience can provide, and enough fantasy and big laughs to make it work as pure escapism too. And that’s not to mention the killer soundtrack and a stuffed-to-the-gills supporting cast that boasts Stephen Fry, Andrew Scott (hot priest turns sleazy filmmaker here), Richard E Grant, David Jonsson, Naomi Watts, Emily Ratajkowski, Rita Wilson, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Dunham herself. © "Too Much", Lena Dunham, Netflix What happens in Too Much? The show’s ten episodes follow American creative Jessica (Megan Stalter), fresh from a break-up, as she heads from New York to London in pursuit of a romanticised version of the city that only exists in the movies of Richard Curtis and the books of Jane Austen. Instead of a grand Regency estate, she finds herself in the bricky Hackney kind. Instead of a clean slate, she discovers that the emotions she’s fled from have come along for the ride. And she has no clue what a ‘tosser’ is.  Enter Will Sharpe’s striving musician Felix, a man with a few skeletons of his own, and a wild and unpredictable, but beautifully relatable love affair takes shape.    Photograph: NetflixEnglefield Estate in episode 8 Where was Too Much filmed? Like jealous rivals, London and New York share screen time in the show. Supervising location manager Nick Marshall and co-writer Luis Felber talk us through the key locations used in each city.  London and the UK Photograph: Netflix Jess’s flat was filmed at St Peter’s Estate, Hackney Too Much kicks off with Jess landing in London and taking a black cab to her new apartment in Hoxton Grove Estate. Instead of the Jane Austen-esque country pile she’s expecting, it’s a Hackney housing estate with paper-thin walls and a neighbour who swears a lot. ‘We looked in the Holloway Road vicinity and all four corners of the city,’ says Marshall, ‘but this was the most aesthetically interesting estate. Our production base was in 3 Mills [in Bow], so it made sense to start in that area.’ Photograph: Liz Gorman/@lizmakesphotosThe Ivy House, Nunhead Jess and Felix’s meet cute takes place at The Ivy House, Nunhead The first episode also sees new-to-town Jess meeting Felix after his shaky gig at The Ivy House. The venue has a personal history for Felber. Like Felix, he’d played gigs at the beloved Nunhead institution. ‘Ivy House was one of the first venues I played in when I moved to London at 17 or 18,’ he remembers. ‘We wanted it to feel real.’  📍Find out where The Ivy House lands on Time Out’s pick of the 50 best London pubs Photograph: Netflix The Notting Hill movie pilgrimage was shot at 280 Westbourne Park Road A romcom fanatic, Jess makes a pilgrimage to the famous door used in Notting Hill. ‘The door is now considered in the public domain, so you don't need permission from the property owner [to film outside],’ says Marshall. ‘They used a load of CGI in Notting Hill to make it look like a private house, but it absolutely isn’t. What's behind the door? A very long, dark corridor that seems to lead [nowhere].’ The Donkey Fest gig was filmed at Hackney City Farm Felix’s band plays a gig in the unlikely surrounds of Hackney City Farm, as Jess watches on with his enigmatic ex (Exarchopoulos), and a menagerie of sheep and pigs. ‘This was originally scripted as a more traditional music festival in a London park,’ says Marshall. ‘But Lena was familiar with Hackney City Farm, and because Jessica's estate is close by, she decided to tie it all in. Hats off to her because it worked brilliantly.’  Photograph: Ana Blumenkron/NetflixLeo Reich in ‘Too Much’ The ad recce was filmed in Hambleden, Buckinghamshire Jess and her ad agency colleagues embark on a location scout for a new Christmas commercial, with Andrew Scott’s narcissistic director in tow. The scene was filmed in the pretty Chilterns village of Hambleden, once used in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. ‘It has a long history of filming,’ says Marshall. ‘I think it’s the prettiest village near London.’ Photograph: Netflix Jess meets Andrew Scott’s director at The Royal Standard of England in Beaconsfield This oak-furnished pub outside the Buckinghamshire town of Beaconsfield hosts an uncomfortable drink between Jess and Scott’s conceited auteur during the location scout. It’s appeared in The Theory of Everything and Hot Fuzz, but Marshall notes an even more impressive claim to frame: ‘It’s the second oldest freehold pub in the country. Photograph: Englefield HouseEnglefield House The country house wedding was filmed at Englefield Estate, West Berkshire Jess finally gets her Richard Curtis moment when she joins Felix and his mates for a big country house wedding in episode 8. The church service and reception were both filmed in this elegant private country estate west of London. ‘It was scripted as an aristocratic wedding with a church adjacent to it, and I didn't really think of any other location,’ says Marshall. ‘The estate isn’t open to the public, but you can get married in the church. The vicar is lovely.’  Photograph: Dash the HengeDash the Henge in Camberwell The record shop gig was filmed at Dash The Henge in Camberwell  Another venue with personal history for Felber is this indie record store in Camberwell, where like Felix in episode 6, he’s once played gigs.  Photograph: Yiannis Katsaris/Shoreditch Town HallShoreditch Town Hall The hospital and vet was filmed at Shoreditch Town Hall Shoreditch’s town hall building was a real Swiss Army knife for Too Much. The building’s popular (and free) artists workspace doubled up for the vets where Jess’s hairless Chihuahua, Astrid, gets treated, while the foyer and committee room were transformed into a hospital where Jess gets treated after setting herself alight. Photograph: Chambers RestaurantChambers Restaurant, Victoria Park Jessica and Wendy’s coffee takes place at Chambers Restaurant, Victoria Park Without giving too much away, Jess and her romantic nemesis Wendy (played by Emily Ratajkowski) meet for a pivotal late-episode coffee. The scene was shot in this cosy, family-run Mediterranean restaurant round the corner from Victoria Park. Felix’s walk of shame was shot on Parliament Hill, Hampstead The roof of London – okay, semi-elevated mezzanine level – Parliament Hill has already played a starring role in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy this year, and it’s back for a scene in Too Much in which Felix has a ‘morning after’ moment. ‘The popular spot [to film] is the top of Parliament Hill, but we went a little further down the hill,’ says Marshall. ‘We pan across to see Felix walking with the city in the background. It's a beautiful spot.’ New York Photograph: Alligator LoungeAlligator Lounge in Williamsburg The Brooklyn bar where Jessica meets Zev is Alligator Lounge in Brooklyn Williamsburg’s Alligator Lounge is having its moment on screen: it featured in season 1 of Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal and stars in a key flashback scene in Too Much. Here, Jess meets boyfriend-to-be Zev for the first time, bonding over the bar’s famous free pizza vouchers. IRL, free pizza is served with every drink from 6pm-2am. Margherita and margaritas… what could be better?  📍Where to find Alligator Lounge Photograph: © 2024 Netflix, Inc.Polly (Emily Ratajkowski) at Cuppa Hive Coffee, Brooklyn Jessica bumps into Zev and Wendy at Cuppa Hive Coffee, Brooklyn Another flashback scene sees Jess bumping into her wavering boyfriend having a coffee with the mysterious Wendy. The awkwardness unfolds on the sidewalk outside Brooklyn’s Cuppa Hive Coffee near Prospect Park. Too Much soundtrack: the full tracklist for Lena Dunham’s romcom by episode.  The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far).

TV’s favourite tragicomedy is back with kitchen shouting matches, tear-jerking drama, and some unexpected needle drops. Much like its previous outings, The Bear season 4 has been cooking up some eclectic mixes with tinges of sad dad rock, film soundtracks, and even some Beethoven.  Attentive fans will also be glad to see some returning sounds from previous seasons. We are talking Taylor Swift, R.E.M, and the guitar riffs of Refused’s New Noise, a track that has become synonymous with The Bear.  The Emmy-winning series continues the journey of talented but tragic chef Carmy Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) as he and his staff chaotically manage to keep their Chicago restaurant running in business.  While the fancy food presented in The Bear might be hard to prepare at home, you can still sit back and listen to the show’s diverse playlists.  What kind of music does The Bear season 4 use?  Season 4 continues The Bear’s classic rock tendencies with Led Zeppelin’s That’s The Way underscoring the opening episode, a bittersweet interaction between Carmy and his late brother Mikey.  The rest of the season is peppered with tracks by The Who, Lou Reed, Paul Simon, Eddie Vedder. Just in time around the much-awaited Oasis reunion tour this July, the Manchester band’s B-side single Stay Young also plays over the closing credits of episode 6.  A recurring theme in multiple episodes is I’ve Got You, the Sonny and Cher duet that features prominently in the Bill Murray time travel comedy Groundhog Day. From the start of this season, Carmy looks up at the film’s time loop as a metaphor for his own clockwork monotony.  Nine Inch Nails’ haunting piano melody Together doesn’t feature again like that silent season 3 opener but the band’s composer duo Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross return with the misleadingly-titled The Chill Mix. This is the instrumental that plays over a not-so-chill existential fantasy in Syd’s (Ayo Edibiri) mind.  Syd’s mixed reactions while meeting a potential new business partner are also underscored by Ludwig van Beethoven’s classic composition Für Elise. Yes, even if Beethoven or classical music isn’t your jam, this is that one classic melody you’re bound to have heard in a film, show, or even a phone ringtone.  The musical highlight this season though is the star-studded eighth episode The Bears, that brings back most of Carmy’s family including Jamie Lee Curtis, John Mulaney, and some new faces like Josh Hartnett. Set around the wedding of Richie’s (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) ex-wife Tiffany (Gillian Jacobs), the episode boasts a 13-song mix that changes moods from Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran to Tom Petty and Weezer.  As is common with the show’s soundtracks, alt-rockers R.E.M. return with their universal themes of loss and recovery. Out of the two R.E.M. songs that play, Strange Currencies marks an encore as it was last featured in season 3’s penultimate episode.  But all its moody rock and breezy pop sensibilities aside, the most-featured artist in The Bear season 4 is surprisingly the ’60s girl group The Ronettes. The group’s vocal harmonies are sprinkled over three episodes, featuring their quintessential hits Baby, I Love You and (The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up and Walking in the Rain. What’s on The Bear season 4 soundtrack?  Episode 1 That's the Way - Remaster - Led Zeppelin I’ve Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher Getting in Tune - The Who Diamond Diary - Tangerine Dream Episode 2 Glow Up - Dina Renee Rocco And His Brothers - Mi Loco Tango Life's What You Make It - Talk Talk The Chosen One - Bryan Ferry Most of the Time - Bob Dylan Mystery Achievement - Pretenders Episode 3 - Scallop Slow Disco (Piano Version) - St Vincent (The Best Part of) Breakin’ Up - The Ronettes Slim Slow Slider/I Start Breaking Down - Van Morrison Only You Know - Dion Haunted When the Minutes Drag - Love and Rockets Finest Worksong - R.E.M. Episode 4   Ante Up - M.O.P Fur Elise - Ludwig von Beethoven  STUCK - Durand Bernarr Wood - Duval Timothy feat. Yu Su Wings of Love - Tsvia Abarbanel  You Will Rise - Sweetback  So In Love - Curtis Mayfield  You Got Me Like - m.e.h Episode 5  Let Me Live in Your City - Paul Simon  Slip Away - Lou Reed & John Cale  It’s Magic - Doris Day  Hope the High Road - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Looking Into You - Jackson Browne  Pull the Cup - Shellac Episode 6  Walking in the Rain - The Ronettes  Remember Me - Otis Redding  I’m Always in Love - Wilco  Stay Young - Oasis Episode 7  Walls (Circus) - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers  Suzanne - Weezer  Tenderness - General Public Nothing But Love - James  Still the Night - BoDeans  Style - Taylor Swift  Apron Strings - Everything But the Girl My Sad Lonely Eyes - Them  Why Not Me - The Judds  A Beginning Song - The Decemberists  Shelter - Lone Justice Throw Your Arms Around Me - Ed Sheeran  Tougher Than the Rest - Emmylou Harris Episode 8  Barefoot Contessa (Theme Song) - Gary Johnson The Chill Mix - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross I’ve Got You Babe - Sonny & Cher  Baby I Love You - The Ronettes  Square One - Tom Petty  Long Ride Home - Patty Griffin  Strange Currencies - R.E.M. Western Ford Gateway - Elton John Episode 9  Save It for Later - Eddie Vedder  The Show Goes On - Bruce Hornsby & The Range  New Noise - Refused  Episode 10  Fast Slow Disco - St. Vincent Where can I watch The Bear season 4?  All 10 episodes are available to watch on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in the UK.  The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far).The 100 best TV shows of all time.

Before El Eternauta became enveloped in Netflix hype, there was a comic. One drawn in ink and paper, published in installments in a magazine, with the smell of old print and burning reality. But, above all, with a powerful story that chills the skin like the deadly snow that runs through it. It happened in another time. In a parallel world. Or in this one. But it was real. And it all happened in Buenos Aires. This comic turned our city into a battlefield, covered by a ruthless snowfall no one saw coming. It did so with an unsettling sensitivity: streets, corners, buses, houses, neighborhoods we still walk through today. Buenos Aires was the chosen one. Not New York. Not Paris. Finally, a global story was born from the South. At the height of the Cold War, with the world obsessed with alien invasions and nuclear bombs, Héctor Germán Oesterheld wrote about what he knew best: humanity. A story where the snow is not necessarily white. Where the hero doesn't wear a cape, but an improvised suit. Where Buenos Aires becomes the center. Where science fiction is politics, and memory, urgent. The city portrayed by Francisco Solano López is not invented: it is recognizable, it is ours. The story doesn’t begin in a secret refuge, but in Vicente López, in an ordinary house, where friends are playing a game of truco. The epic starts from the everyday. El Eternauta is not just a comic. It is a warning. It is a wound. It is also a promise. And now, a series. It is a symbol of struggle, of living memory, and of a resistance that persists. And if you haven’t read it yet and want to catch up before its Netflix release on April 30, this could be the best starting point.

No one had high expectations for Andor when it first aired on Disney+ in 2022: yet another Star Wars show, this time focusing on a second-string character from Rogue One (albeit one of the best and most acclaimed movies in the series). But in the hands of Bourne trilogy screenwriter Tony Gilroy, this galactic runt grew into something truly colossal: an epic of armed rebellion that’s not just the most exciting Star Wars story since The Empire Strikes Back, but a forensic and timely examination of the mechanics of resistance and what it means to stand up against fascism. The show’s second and final season starts this month, tracking the exploits of Rebel spy Cassian Andor – played by Diego Luna – across four years, as he wrestles both with the rise of the Empire and his own increasingly troubled conscience. We sat down with showrunner Gilroy to discuss his time on the series, from first concepts to the stunning second season – and why you can’t say ‘fuck’ in a galaxy far, far away… Photograph: Des Willie/© 2024 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in season 2 Are you done with the Star Wars universe now? I think I’ve earned my stripes! It’s been 10 years, so I think that I've contributed enough. With this show we're really trying to pick up a different audience – one that won't watch because it's Star Wars. I want people to know that you don't have to know anything to come into the show and start watching it from the beginning. It's designed that way. My wife is totally Star Wars averse – she was very suspicious of this show all the way through, and she’s hooked. At the same time, I always knew we were asking a lot from the existing Star Wars community. But I wanted the people who were most reluctant in that community, even if they didn't like what we were doing, to at least say we weren’t half-assing it. We’re not making fun of it. It’d be a crime to take something that so many people care about and fuck with it carelessly. Who else is going to get this much money to tell a story about revolution? George Lucas never hid the fact that Star Wars had real world relevance, in the case of the first movie he was thinking about Vietnam. Was that a source of inspiration going into this? Sure. I mean, it’s baked into the tapestry of it. For me, it was a combination of two things. One was being offered this enormous canvas, this incredible opportunity. It was always just this gigantic thing, the resources were seemingly unlimited. And the second is that it's a story about revolution, and the making of a revolutionary. I’ve been an amateur idiot home historian forever. I’m fascinated by the Russian Revolution, the French Revolution, Thomas Paine, Oliver Cromwell, Mao. But I’d been fascinated with no hope of ever using it. When would I ever get to use it? And then here’s this. Who else is going to get to do this? Who else is going to get this much money and this big a canvas to tell a story about revolution? So that’s really the reason I tiptoed in. Photograph: © 2024 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.Dilan (Théo Costa Marini), Andor (Luna) and Enza Rylanz (Alaïs Lawson) Did you have any doubts that you’d be allowed to tell the story you wanted to tell? No, I’m too old and too smart for that. I really like making sure that people are talking about the same thing I’m talking about. I certainly wrote the first episode before we closed any deals. ‘I want him to go to a brothel. Then he’s gonna get rousted by two rentacops and he’s gonna have to kill them. Is that okay?’ It sounds insane, but we really had no creative notes on the show whatsoever. We were really allowed to go free range. We had economic restrictions from time to time, but other than changing one word in the show, no one ever really said, ‘Hey, wait a minute!’ Can you say what that word was?  Yeah, ‘fuck’. We had a few in the show. ‘Fuck the Empire!’ And I wrote a legal brief, basically, a memo about why I thought it was valuable and how I could justify its existence, and why, as a marketing tool and everything else, it was worthwhile. But they didn’t want to do it. I noticed a ‘shit’ sneaking through in one of the recent episodes.  Yeah, that was all right. That’s permissible. Photograph: © 2024 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) How much were you looking at events in the real world when you were writing? Because a lot of what happened in season 1 is even more timely now. I mean, I live in the world. But I was not looking at the newspaper to [make the show]. If you’re trying to write a movie about current events, it's not going to come out for five years. And then, who knows where we are? The digestive system of making and distribution is so long. I’m not psychic and it’s a fool’s game to try to pin the tail on the moment. Plus, I already had everything I needed: 6000 years of recorded history.  Andor feels like a very cine-literate show. Were there particular films that inspired you? It felt like you’d been watching Army of Shadows and A Room in Town a lot. Totally, both of those, and Battle of Algiers. I just introduced a film on TCM, I was trying to find one that would relate to Andor and I came across this movie called This Land is Mine, this Charles Laughton film that [Jean] Renoir made in Hollywood in 1943. And it’s as if they did the Reader’s Digest version of so many things we’re doing in Andor. It was fascinating.  But there were two TV shows that I looked at: a series called A French Village, which is about seven years [of village life] under the Nazi occupation. And Babylon Berlin (below), which influenced us heavily. The idea that you could do something that beautiful, and that intense. That really rang my bell in a big way – that show really got to me. Photograph: © X Filme Creative Pool Entertainment GmbH / Degeto Film GmbH / Beta Film GmbH / Sky Deutschland GmbH 2017‘Babylon Berlin’ was a key ‘Andor’ touchpoint Was it important to you to show the challenges inherent in resistance? That it’s not just running around blowing things up? Yeah, I was always fascinated by things like where my characters get money from. Because every revolution I ever read about, the primary concern is where the resources come from. Benjamin Franklin went to Paris to beg for money. Or you’ve got Lenin begging Stalin to rob another bank. But nobody ever deals with that. You also depict the media as a key tool of this oppressive state. Propaganda is where it’s at. I mean, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident got America into Vietnam. Burn the Reichstag, then you can round up all the Communists and the Jews you want. All these false flags. You’re not telling the full story of revolution without it.  We watched the Empire take down Aldhani in the first season. We watched them take down Ferrix. This time we wanted to show something else. How do you take down something that’s really big and substantial and important? To not have the state use the media to control the narrative would be an absence. You’d be asking, why didn’t I do that? It’d be a crime to take something so many people care about and fuck with it  It’s not a massive spoiler to say that not all the characters will survive season 2. How does it feel to kill off a character you’ve spent so long developing?  It’s hard to call the actors. I almost found myself getting a little too soft about it, because I didn’t want to do it. It’s a tough call to make to an actor and say, like in On the Waterfront, ‘It’s not your night, sorry. Don’t make plans. But at the same time, I’m gonna make it great. It’s gonna be worth it and people are gonna really miss you.’ Photograph: Des Willie/© 2024 Lucasfilm Ltd™Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) in season 2 I understand you saw Star Wars when it was first released. What was that like?  It was a really hot day in 1977 and I was in Boston. I saw it at a matinee. I went with my roommate and a woman he was dating who was an emergency room nurse. The three of us went and I remember the day vividly. It was an event, you know? It’s so cool when movies are an event. I miss that feeling. Given that TV can tell stories like this now, with basically the same VFX as movies and on a much larger scale, what future do you see for cinema? I wrote a movie last year that I’ve been trying to get off the ground but it’s really scary out there, man. It's really scary. I’m having trouble raising money. A number that two years ago would have been an easy number, all of a sudden seems terrifying. I don’t know what will happen.  But as dire as it seems, as horrible and shitty as it all is, there are some bright spots. There’s an audience there, but it's fragmented. It’s all over the place. I mean, go to a restaurant. Eavesdrop. All people talk about is what they’re watching. That’s all they talk about. So how can things be bad? Do you think current events will have a chilling effect on Hollywood? Is it simply harder to create when the world is so crazy? I don’t know. I’m in it. We’re all in it. It's hard to figure out where you are when everything’s spinning around. Find out where Andor lands on our list of the greatest TV shows ever made. The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far).

In a genre dominated by the classics like ER and long-running titles like Grey’s Anatomy (currently in its twenty-first season), Max medical drama The Pitt has become somewhat of a dark horse.  Showered with stellar reviews and already renewed for a second season, The Pitt recreates the tension of a single day in a Pittsburgh hospital. The 15-hour work shift plays out in 15 pulse-pounding episodes, the workplace chaos mirroring the intensity of The Bear’s kitchen nightmares and The Studio’s one-take moviemaking madness.  So, expect waiting rooms filled to the brim with patients, med students passing out at gnarly sights, and an understaffed medic team racing against time. For a show almost entirely playing out in a hospital, The Pitt’s newly converted fans would wonder about the locations that double for the series’s many emergency rooms and care facilities. More importantly, the question of the hour: Is the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital ER (aka ‘The Pitt’) real? Photograph: Warrick Page/MAXAyesha Harris, Noah Wyle and Ken Kirby in ‘The Pitt’ What is The Pitt about?  Premiering this January, The Pitt stars ER alumnus Noah Wyle as senior emergency physician Dr Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch as he grapples with a single 15-hour work shift.  Each of the 15 episodes covers one hour of this arduous shift, with Robby and his overworked staff combating staff shortages, underfunding and post-pandemic blues.  With its real-time approach and Wyle’s committed lead performance, The Pitt has become a streaming sensation, defying the usual sappy hospital drama tropes. Yes, Robby is a doc with a lot of emotional baggage of his own, but he also has an arduous day ahead of him that unfurls in binge-worthy chaos.  Where was The Pitt filmed?  The medical drama was mainly filmed on an LA soundstage, along with some real-life hospitals making brief appearances. And yes, for a series called The Pitt, Pittsburgh also features. Despite each episode’s reported $5 million budget, the series kept location costs under control thanks to its single-setting storyline.   Photograph: Warrick Page/MAXThe trauma centre set used for ‘The Pitt’ is on the Warner Bros. lot in LA Los Angeles The heart of the action lies in a Warner Bros. sound stage in Los Angeles, one of many that the studio keeps ready for network television. The stage works as the hospital’s Emergency Department for the show’s intense, Steadicam-style sequences. With a budget of over $5 million per episode, HBO chairman and CEO Casey Bloys told Vulture that there wasn’t much of a debate on filming elsewhere or shooting in more affordable locations like Canada (where Max’s streaming hit The Last of Us was filmed).  Photograph: MAXNoah Wyle and Shawn Hatosy on the roof of Allegheny General Hospital Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh Three days of filming were also devoted to Pittsburgh’s actual Allegheny General Hospital. The institution dates back to 1882 and stands in for the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. Allegheny’s entrance is used with new signage along with its helipad.  The standout rooftop scene from the pilot episode was also shot here with Dr.  Robby and Dr. Abbott (Shawn Hatosy). With Pittsburgh’s East Coast skyline in the backdrop, Abbott contemplates taking his life as he stands dangerously close to the edge of the roof. This is the result of yet another gruelling shift in the Pitt. Spoiler alert: Abbott survives as Robby sarcastically remarks, ‘If you jump on my shift, that’s just rude, man.’ Photograph: Warrick Page/MAXRobby (Wyle) walks into PTMC Pittsburgh Many other real-world environments in Pittsburgh feature throughout the series, particularly in the opening episode, as we see Robby head to work. Before he starts his hellish day shift at the hospital, Robby is greeted with establishing shots of the Steel City waking up to work.  Some aerial views also give a wide-scale look at the Pittsburgh skyline with glimpses of plenty of skyscrapers, such as the 64-story US Steel Tower, and Carnegie Mellon University’s Mellon Institute (which stood in for Gotham City Hall in The Dark Knight Rises).  Photograph: Warrick Page/MAXRobby Robinavitch (Wyle) and Dr Heather Collins (Tracy Ifeachor) Who stars in the show? Noah Wyle (ER) returns to the medical drama genre as Robby, a senior physician grieving the death of his mentor, who died during the pandemic. In a move that would impress Hugh Laurie’s Dr House, Robby’s idealism in the workspace also comes with brutal honesty and sarcastic bluntness. Battling his own demons and leading an understaffed team, Wyle’s Robby is an unlikely hero in a very real setting. Wyle previously broke out as the medical student-turned-resident doctor John Carter in ER, earning three Golden Globe and five Emmy nominations. The rest of the cast includes Tracy Ifeachor (The Originals) as Dr Heather Collins, a senior resident who’s usually displeased with Robby’s impulsive nature, and Katherine LaNasa (Truth Be Told) as Dana Evans, a nurse in charge of the ED. The series’ medical ensemble also includes newcomers like Patrick Ball as Robby’s right-hand, Dr Frank Langdon, and Supriya Ganesh as Dr Samira Mohan, a third-year resident.  Will there be a second season of The Pitt Yes, season 2 has already been commissioned on the back of its massive US ratings. Where can I watch The Pitt? All 15 episodes of The Pitt season 1 are streaming on Max in the US and Binge in Australia now. There’s no firm date for a UK release yet.  Best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far). Where was Adolescence filmed? Behind the scenes on the Netflix smash hit drama.

Since 2011, Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror has been entertaining us with unforgettable, often unnerving sci-fi dystopias. Now back for its seventh run, the Netflix anthology series is treading scarily close to reality, delving into topical concepts like AI-generated filmmaking and subscription-based, ad-revenue-driven healthcare.  Starring Issa Rae, Paul Giamatti, Cristin Milioti and many others, the new season delivers all the usual sleek sci-fi storytelling and retro-futuristic aesthetics. Brace yourself for another surreal, mind-bending journey into the Brooker’s The Twilight Zone.   Image: NetflixUSS Callister: Into Infinity What is Black Mirror season 7 about?  The new season pays several nods to previous episodes, building some sort of shared universe. For instance, episode 4 (titled Plaything) follows Peter Capaldi’s ageing gamer who has past connections with Bandersnatch – the 2018 standalone interactive film that allowed audiences to choose multiple endings. Similarly, the season finale USS Callister: Into Infinity acts as a direct sequel to the season 4’s USS Callister.   This season is also heavy on the human side of technology with the moving opener Common People. The episode follows a married couple struggling with finances as they face a healthcare tech plan that keeps on rolling out more and more premium features, each update followed by a higher subscription fee. Then there’s the Severance-style workplace dramedy Bête Noire which has a chocolate company executive’s life turning upside down as the reality around her starts distorting. Episode 5, Eulogy, is more hard-hitting with a man revisiting his past by literally stepping into photographs.  There are echoes of fan-favourite episode San Junipero in the third episode – Hotel Reverie – as an A-lister actress gets the opportunity to act in a black-and-white Hollywood classic. The catch? She’s thrown inside the film through AI-assisted methods, communicating with the Golden Age characters in real-time. Think of it as a reverse Truman Show.   Where was Black Mirror season 7 filmed? As with most of Black Mirror, the majority of season 7 was filmed in England – mainly London, Kent and Buckinghamshire. The season opener Common People, filmed in Canada, is the exception… Photograph: Netflix Vancouver, British Columbia In Common People, Vancouver was used as the workplace for both episode leads Mike (Chris O’Dowd) and Amanda (Rashida Jones). Mike can be seen working a construction job at North Vancouver’s Allied Shipyards, while Amanda is a school teacher at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Elementary. Coquitlam, Canada Despite their professional and financial tussles, Mike and Amanda make time for an anniversary visit to their favourite haunt, Juniper Inn. Coquitlam’s Swiss Canadian Mountain Range Association doubles as the inn in the episode. Photograph: Netflix Bath Road, Slough Bête Noire was mostly filmed in Slough. The office of Savorita, an international chocolate company where the lead character Maria (Siena Kelly) works as a top executive, was shot here.  Finchampstead, Wokingham While Maria’s flat is decent enough, her former classmate-turned-co-worker Verity (Rosy McEwen) lives in a palatial gated mansion known as Woolcombe Manor. The fictional manor is an actual property at Finchampstead, a parish in the Borough of Wokingham.   Photograph: NetflixHotel Reverie was filmed partly in Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, London  The third episode Hotel Reverie is the most stylish chapter in the season. While the episode’s hotel is based in Cairo in a Casablanca-style vintage film, Kingston upon Thames provided the locales for the hotel rooms and reception. The interiors are furnished lavishly to match the setting of a black-and-white period piece as Brandy Friday (Issa Rae) tries to woo yesteryear actress Dorothy (Emma Corrin). Photograph: NetflixBrandy Friday (Issa Rae) and Dorothy (Emma Corrin) in Hotel Reverie Chenies Manor, Hertfordshire Another fancy location in Hotel Reverie is Chenies Manor, which features in an exterior shot. A Tudor country house dating back to the 15th century, Chenies has appeared in numerous films and TV shows, including Enola Holmes, Killing Eve and The Crown.  Photograph: NetflixPeter Capaldi in Plaything Thamesmead, London South east London’s Thamesmead is the Brutalist backdrop to Peter Capaldi episode Plaything. One scene finds him walking past a Bazalgette Way underpass. Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum, London The life of Capaldi’s ageing game takes a turn when he gets addicted to a life-simulation video game and psychedelics. A drug-fuelled tube ride was filmed in one of the 1967 Victoria Line carriages at the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum. The retro carriage is available for hire, and also hosts dinners.  Epping Forest, Snaresbrook Road, London When Capaldi’s character hides some evidence in the woods, he’s actually in Epping Forest, 2,400 hectares of woodland on the outskirts of London and Essex. Photograph: NetflixWill Poulter in Plaything Heinz Headquarters, Hayes Park, London  You’ll find the Tuckersoft building in the old Heinz building in west London. Inaugurated in 1962 and designed by American architect Gordon Bunshaft, its haunting aura is perfect for establishing exterior shots of the Tuckersoft office. Tuckersoft will need a new HQ, however: the site is currently being converted into a residential complex. Photograph: NetflixPaul Giamatti prepping for a scene in Eulogy Beacon House, Whitstable In Eulogy, it’s implied that ageing loner Phillip (Paul Giamatti) lives in the US. In reality, you’ll find his home in the pretty Kentish town of Whitstable. The wooden clapboard abode, Beacon House, is on Tankerton Beach and you can rent it for a weekend by the sea with a sci-fi twist.  Photograph: Herne Bay Pier TrustHerne Bay Pier Herne Bay Pier, Kent  As Phillip steps into the photographs from his past, on them takes him to a pier in Massachusetts’s Cape Cod. That memory is replicated at Herne Bay Pier, a tourist attraction in Kent.  Shacklewell Arms, London One of London’s most beloved live music venues, east London’s Shacklewell Arms cameos in Eulogy. Looking back at a photo from 1991, Phillip recollects the time when his band played an underground gig (shortly before splitting up, like all great bands do). Photograph: The VictoriaThe Victoria The Victoria, London  The Queensridge Road pub appears in one of the several photographed scenarios in Eulogy. Renamed The Undervault, the pub is the setting of an eventful Halloween party where tensions between Phillip and Carol start to show. 1 Lombard Street Brasserie & Restaurant, London Phillip and Carol’s strained relationship finally breaks down at a tense dinner. This culinary tragedy plays out at 1 Lombard Street, an elegant brasserie in the City of London. Sheraton Hotel, Heathrow The episode pivots on the revelation of a long-ago romantic rendezvous. The sequence takes place at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel near Heathrow Airport. Photograph: NetflixPaul Giamatti in Euology West London Crematorium, Kensal Green Cemetery True to its name, Eulogy ends on a funeral. A teary Phillip attends the service at this London crematorium. Primrose Street, London Season finale USS Callister: Into Infinity is a direct sequel to season 4’s USS Callister. Primrose Street was used for the exteriors of video game giant Callister Inc.’s offices. Photograph: NetflixUSS Callister: Into Infinity was partly filmed in Black Park Black Park, Buckinghamshire  While USS Callister shifted between the human offices and the eponymous spacecraft, the sequel takes the action to different planets inside the game. One of them is the densely forested Pixie Planet – actually Buckinghamshire’s Black Park. Photograph: NetflixUSS Callister: Into Infinity’s dusty planet was actually Mynnd Parys in Wales Mynnd Parys, Wales Like their Star Trek inspirations, the crew of the USS Callister journeys to distant planets. One of them was filmed at this suitably alien-looking copper mine in Wales. The mine’s rugged exterior was perfect for the episode’s other-worldly nature. In fact, Mynnd Parys dates back to the Early Bronze Age – making it more than 4000 years old. Who stars in Black Mirror’s new season? Black Mirror doesn’t hold back on A-list ensembles and season 7 is no exception. Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones star as married lovebirds in the first episode, reuniting after their 2014 romcom Cuban Fury. Elsewhere, Hotel Reverie is led by Issa Rae (Insecure) and Emma Corrin (The Crown) as actresses from different eras. Eulogy is mostly a two-person affair, fronted by emotional performances by Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti and Spanish-British actress Patsy Ferran (Mickey 17). Peter Capaldi leads Plaything as a gaming genius gone rogue with cameos from Bandersnatch’s Will Poulter and Asim Chaudhry.USS Callister: Into Infinity also brings back faces from its prequel, from Cristin Milioti (The Penguin) to Jesse Plemons (Kinds of Kindness). Where can I watch Black Mirror season 7? All six episodes are streaming on Netflix now. Watch the trailer below. The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far).  The 101 greatest TV shows ever made.

How do you recreate a long-gone corner of street-level New York? For Daredevil: Born Again, a Marvel renaissance full of broken glass and broken bones, the answer lay across the city. Hell’s Kitchen, the spiritual home of blind lawyer/vigilante Matt Murdock, is a bit too gentrified these days to do justice to the grimy, scary corner of Manhattan prowled by Daredevil, the Punisher, Kingpin and the other OGs from Stan Lee’s comic book.  Instead, the Marvel production followed the example of Netflix’s 2015-2018 Daredevil run and redressed other corners of the city to create its grungy, ’70s-tinged Hell’s Kitchen. Here’s how they did it – and everything else you need to know about the much-anticipated Disney+ series.   Photograph: Marvel TelevisionMatt Murdock and Wilson Fisk face off What is Daredevil: Born Again about? The series follows the yin-and-yang extremes of blind lawyer Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox, reprising the role he took on for three Netflix series). His courtroom struggles for justice are augmented by some very literal, and very bruising, crime fighting in Hell’s Kitchen as superhero Daredevil. For Murdock, balance is never easy to strike and a sense of Catholic guilt eats away at him as he dispatches goons by the truckload.  The new series reunites him with an old nemesis: Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), a man who carries a similar dark passenger in his psychotic, ambitious alter ego Kingpin. This time, Fisk holds political office and is looking to sweep vigilantism off the streets – especially with a serial killer called Muse, a street artist with a nasty habit of using his victim’s blood for murals, on the loose. It’s about what happens when the system starts to break down ‘These people are inextricably linked,’ says D’Onofrio of Fisk and Murdock’s temporary truce in Empire magazine. ‘That link is violent and toxic and scary and bleeds over into their lives. They define each other. We did a version off that I haven’t seen before.’ ‘It’s a story about two larger-than-life figures,’ adds executive producer Sana Amanat. ‘It’s also the story of New York City and what happens when the system starts to break down and good people are taken in by bad ideas.’ Cox calls this new Daredevil ‘more visceral’ – an understatement judging by the trailer – while ‘a romcom with punching’ is showrunner Dario Scardapane’s more tongue-in-cheek description.  Photograph: Giovanni Rufino/MarvelMatt Murdock (Charlie Cox) in action as Daredevil Where was Daredevil: Born Again filmed?  Like the Netflix run, and unlike the Ben Affleck Daredevil of 2003, which found its Hell’s Kitchen in LA, Daredevil: Born Again has built its version of Murdock’s gritty Manhattan enclave from a patchwork of New York locations. ‘Out the Kitchen’ was the show’s apt production name.And ‘grounded’ is the word most often used to describe a show that prides itself on taking you on a street-level tour of a tumultuous, urban corner of the Marvelverse. ‘It was important for us to shoot practical shots on the streets of New York,’ stresses director Jeffrey Nachmanoff. Here’s where they did it. Photograph: Giovanni Rufino/MarvelWilson Fisk‘s Gracie Mansion office was filmed at Silvercup Studios Silvercup Studios, Queens A studio that was once home to The Sopranos, this Queens hub played an integral role in Born Again, hosting the sets for Muse’s lair, as well as Wilson Fisk’s home and mayoral office. Those builds were based on the real mayor’s residence: the federal-style Gracie Mansion in Manhattan’s Yorkville neighbourhood – right down to the wallpaper prints. ‘The real Gracie Mansion feels like it’s like somebody’s grandmother’s house,’ says production designer Michael Shaw. it’s hilarious to see this powerful figure (Wilson Fisk) in such a delicate world.’ Photograph: ShutterstockYonkers City Hall Yonkers City Hall The picturesque Westchester County landmark is another municipal buildings used in Born Again. Filming took place outside the building in March 2023, with the location used as a surrogate for several government building. ‘We realised that what happens in the political and social systems in a place like New York City is as interesting as anything that happens in the other-worldly scale of an Avengers movie,’ explains executive producer Brad Winderbaum of those municipal settings. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Curious Uptowner (@thecuriousuptowner) Harlem Filming in March 2023, the Daredevil crew took to the streets of Harlem, a key location in everything from Spike Lee joints to Die Hard With a Vengeance, ‘The great thing about shooting in New York City is that it can be as big or as small as you want it to be,’ says exec producer Sana Amanatand. ‘We wanted to make the city its own character.’   Photograph: Giovanni Rufino/MarvelMatt Murdock in Brooklyn Williamsburg, Brooklyn The so-hip-it-hurts Brooklyn suburb hosted the so-violent-it-hurts show in March 2023. The Netflix Daredevil made heavy use of the area too: local dive bar The Turkey’s Nest was turned into Josie’s Bar, a key Matt, Foggy and Karen hangout, in the three-season run. ‘You capture the energy of New York and that bleeds into the fabric of the series and tone of the story,’ says Shaw of the location work. ‘Shooting in the city gives you the size and scope where you could really believe that a person like Wilson Fisk could become mayor.’ Photograph: ShutterstockManhattan Municipal Building Manhattan Municipal Building  This iconic 40-story edifice, aka the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building, appears in the show. It has Daredevil comic-book history, too: a vast Muse graffiti is daubed on the building in Daredevil #597 (2018). Should we expect that scene to play out again here?  Photograph: Giovanni Rufino/MarvelDeborah Ann Woll is back as Karen Page Who stars in the show? Alongside Cox and D’Onofrio, two other veterans from the Netflix Daredevil run are returning in Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll. The pair play Murdock’s allies and friends Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. ‘You can’t do this show without Karen and Foggy,’ Scardapane tells Empire. ‘They’re Matt’s family.’ Newcomers this time out include Severance’s Nikki James, who plays Kirsten Mcduffie, a former New York City DA, and Margarita Levieva. The Acolyte star plays therapist Heather Glenn, Matt Murdock’s love interest in Born Again. Photograph: Marvel TelevisionLegal eagles Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Kirsten Mcduffie (Nikki James) Ayelet Zurer (Man of Steel) plays Fisk’s guileful wife Vanessa, who wrestles with her long-missing husband’s sudden return. Jon Bernthal is also back as Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, and the man most likely to punch literally any other character through the nearest wall. Also appearing, posthumously, is Kamar de los Reyes who plays martial art guru Hector Ayala, aka White Tiger. Tragically, the Puerto Rican actor passed away in December 2023. The second episode is dedicated to his memory. Where can I watch Daredevil: Born Again? The first two episodes of the nine-episode run land on Disney+ at 6pm PT/ 9pm March 4 in the US, and at 12am on March 5 in the UK. Additional episodes land weekly at the same time, except on March 25/26 when two episodes will drop. Episode 9 will drop on April 15/16. Will there be a second season of Daredevil? Yes, and filming is already underway. According to an interview with Collider, it will have eight episodes.  How Best Picture winner Anora put this unusual New York neighbourhood on the map.The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far).

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