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Would you replace your late husband with a robot? PATRICK MARMION reviews Marjorie Prime
PATRICK MARMION: At the age of 87, with Coronation Street, Dinnerladies, Last Tango In Halifax, a Bafta nomination for her role in the film The Mother, and an MBE behind her.
Jurassic World: Dominion review: You can't always bring old fossils back to life...
Just over a fortnight ago, Tom Cruise showed exactly how you breathe new cinematic life into a much-loved old classic. Alas, Jurassic World: Dominion is no Top Gun: Maverick.
DEBORAH ROSS: I was in the brace position but this was gorgeous, tender TV
If you watched one thing on TV last week, I hope it was My Name Is Leon. If you watched two things on TV last week, I hope the other was Paddington Bear taking tea with the Queen.
CRAIG BROWN: After more than 1,000 columns, our peerless book critic is finally retiring
Anyone buying this book hoping to find out more about Roger Federer is likely to be disappointed. Federer barely gets a look-in, other than as a symbol of a beautiful career coming to an end.
Tony! The Tony Blair Rock Opera review: A raucous New Labour spoof that's unafraid of a cheap laugh
This is a raucous spoof musical at the expense of New Labour and the embarrassing era of Cool Britannia.
Billie Eilish review: Beatlemania? No, it's Billiemania! The pop star sends fans wild in Manchester
Since lockdown, most crowds have been mad for it, but Billie Eilish's fans take the biscuit.
From Becoming Elizabeth to House Of Gucci, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From a pacy political drama about the young Elizabeth I to Lady Gaga in House Of Gucci, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
Orfeo review: From spellbinding choreography to splendid singing, a special evening indeed
Monteverdi's Orfeo is perhaps the first-ever opera. It has a lot to answer for, hasn't it? Certainly it's the earliest opera to be regularly performed.
From Phil Rickman to Emma Straub and Geraldine Brooks, this week's best new fiction
Merrily Watkins, priest and exorcist for the diocese of Hereford, is an unusual sleuth. Covid has unleashed new terrors on her remote, rural turf - terrors apparently foretold by a Wordsworth poe...
Hell's Half Acre review: Susan Jonusas's grisly crime saga is refreshing but lacks any big reveals
Kansas, 1871. People keep disappearing. Land grabs, blood feuds and plain old thievery could explain why so many travellers have vanished. All the same it is odd.
From The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent to Bad Education, the best on demand TV this week
From Nicolas Cage channelling himself in The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent to Bad Education, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
Russia: Revolution And Civil War review: The nasty truth about Lenin
In 1914 a small, nasty man was arrested as an enemy alien in a remote corner of the Austrian empire. Six years later that same man was the murderous ruler of one sixth of the Earth's surface.
CRAIG BROWN: William Leith's reflections on his dying father are not macabre but exhilarating
No faffing about: William Leith gets straight to the point. 'Ten seconds before my father's death,' reads the first sentence, 'I have a premonition...'
From Holly Williams to Benjamin Markovits, Miriam Toews Lesley Thomson, this week's best new fiction
This sparky novel may be framed as a letter from nine-year-old Swiv to her absent father, but at heart it's a paean to the might of matriarchies.
Samson Et Dalila review: The orchestra was spellbinding, but this has very little going for it
I appreciate that Samson Et Dalila is a nasty and violent story of lust, betrayal, torture and death, but it surely can be done - indeed has been done - a bit more stylishly than here.
Men review: Jessie Buckley is a joy, but I can't shake the feeling it's made for laughs
Here Alex Garland is with his third film, Men, an exemplar of the popular folk-horror genre, very much in the tradition of The Wicker Man and Midsommar.
DEBORAH ROSS: Keeley's drama is sooo slow I just had to switch off... sharpish
The Midwich Cuckoos is an updated retelling of the classic John Wyndham novel, which I first read at school, along with Chocky and The Day Of The Triffids.
Postwar Modern review: Proof that dark times make for devastatingly good art
If you're the sort of person who goes to an exhibition for a bit of escapism and to look at pretty pictures, this show really isn't for you.
The Glass Menagerie review: Amy Adams is more fusty matron than faded magnolia at Duke of York's
Amy Adams is the latest Hollywood star to crop up in the West End, making her stage debut here. Alas, for all her screen attributes she unleashes few thrills.
The Rolling Stones review: Satisfaction? It's guaranteed! The Rolling Stones have still got it
Do you remember the first time you saw The Rolling Stones? Mine was a midsummer night at the old Wembley Stadium 40 years ago.
From The Midwich Cuckoos to The Boys, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From Keeley Hawes in creepy sci-fi drama The Midwich Cuckoos to the new series of The Boys, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
Murder On The Orient Express review: Henry Goodman is well cast as the tache-tastic Hercule Poirot
Sightings of Hercule Poirot on stage are rare. Unless you count David Suchet, the last actor to play him was Robert Powell in a tour of Agatha Christie's Black Coffee in 2014.
The Wreckers review: Far from a lost masterpiece, this is one of Glyndebourne's best
First the bad news; Ethel Smyth's dramatic opera The Wreckers is not a lost masterpiece. Now the good news; Glyndebourne's production is one of the best things it has done in years.
DEBORAH ROSS: Astounding! And who knew baby T. rexes were so cute?
In idle moments - of which I have many, being an idle sort of person - I wonder where I would go if I could invisibly observe a period in history.
Top Gun: Maverick review: This joins the ranks as one of the greatest action movies of all time
As the final credits roll at the end of Top Gun: Maverick , something quite beautiful happens.
From G. W. Shaw to Julia May Jonas, Maggie Shipstead and Julie Myerson, this week's best new fiction
Washed-up muso Kai Smith didn't realise his new art student girlfriend, Zina, was the daughter of a Russian oligarch until she took him for a Caribbean trip on the family super-yacht.
The Siege Of Loyalty House review: A beautifully written and lucid account of the English Civil War
Basing House today is a semi-circle of grassy lumps and an enigmatic and shabby brick wall. Yet its neglected tale is well worth telling.
Stratagem review: Steve Coogan's cringe-meister Alan Partridge is as mad and chaotic as usual
More than 30 years since he first appeared on Radio 4's On The Hour, Alan Partridge is now so enmeshed in the national comedy fabric, there's no need to mention his creator in the show's title.
ABBA Voyage review: An electric, soul-touching and magical trip back to the 70s
When Abba made a comeback album last year, it was as though they had never been away.
CRAIG BROWN: Why doesn't this collection of whodunnits tell us anything about the authors?
How many real murders take place at the seaside? For the past 25 years I have been living in a seaside town in Suffolk.
From Sara Cox to Dervla McTiernan, Cressida Connolly Steve Toltz, this week's best new fiction
History casts a long shadow in this stylish family saga. A soldier wins a Victoria Cross in the Crimean War, only for his marriage to collapse on his return to England.
Benediction review: After an awkward start, it blends clever verbal jousting with bons mots
Siegfried Sassoon is rightly celebrated as one of the great First World War poets but it is often forgotten that he lived well into the modern age, eventually dying in 1967 at the age of 80.
DEBORAH ROSS: I listed this as 'mustn't watch'. I'm so glad I changed my mind
The drama of the week was not the Sally Rooney adaptation Conversations With Friends - a quick synopsis: a young woman who doesn't yet know what she wants faffs about - but Floodlights .
Strictly Come Dancing review: A night of drama from Strictly Come Dancing's pros
It can be a long spring and summer awaiting the return of the hit BBC competition show, but you can always count on the professional dancers to save the day with their glitzy UK tour.
My Fair Lady review: Amara Okereke is a loverly Eliza and saves the show from its own datedness
This import from Broadway is, happily, full of Brits. Notably Downton Abbey and The Crown's Harry Hadden-Paton, making his musical debut as Professor Higgins.
Harry's House review: The fans will love it, but the music feels a bit like bric-a-brac
For pop stars, like the Royal Family, dressing up is part of the job. Right now, nobody does it better than Harry Styles .
From The Flight Attendant to Frankie Howerd: Titter Ye Not, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From the return of Kaley Cuoco as the reckless Cassie in The Flight Attendant to Frankie Howerd: Titter Ye Not, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
John Ireland review: The best executed and most insightful recording of Ireland's music yet
John Wilson celebrates his 50th birthday in style, with a fine new album of the orchestral music of the sadly neglected British composer John Ireland (1879-1962).
Thirteen Foods That Shape Our World review: It'll put you off your fishfingers
The late Auberon Waugh, waxing satirical on the additive-rich diet of the average British child, once imagined a teenager's typical daily intake that culminated in an evening meal of '7 fish fing...
From The Essex Serpent to The King Of Warsaw, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston in a stylish period piece to The King Of Warsaw, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
CRAIG BROWN: it's as dated as its 85-year-old cover photo
The photograph on the cover of this, the most recent book about the English class system has been used on book covers countless times before.
The Method review: Isaac Butler tells the story Method acting fascinatingly well
You must remember this. Back in the mid-1970s, Laurence Olivier and Dustin Hoffman were making Marathon Man.
From Ethan Joella to Mick Herron: This week's best new fiction
New England is the backdrop to this first novel, in which the lives of interconnected characters are shaken by illness, heartbreak and betrayal.
The Quiet Girl review: A truly beautiful and deeply moving work of cinematic wonder
Oh my goodness, The Quiet Girl is a truly beautiful and deeply moving work of cinematic wonder.
Classical review: These double albums are unmissable
This pair of double albums, one devoted to the songs of Samuel Barber and the other to the rags of William Bolcom , illuminate two fascinating bits of 20th Century American classical music.
JAMES WALTON: And the winner is? No one you know... or care about
Let the games begin,' declared the continuity announcer before the first episode of ITV's big series of the week: a five-night sporting competition between 12 celebrities.
Florence + The Machine album review: Her vocals somehow exude both power and frailty
One winter evening in 2009 I went to Birmingham for the NME Awards tour, featuring four young bands. Unexpectedly, the one at the bottom of the bill was the best.
Oklahoma! review: This trail-blazing reboot is a must
To my mind, Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical has always suffered from a teeth-itching wholesomeness.
From The Time Traveler's Wife to Couples Therapy: The best on demand TV to watch this week
The excellent Scottish actress Rose Leslie has been steadily rising towards top billing for some time - through Game Of Thrones, The Good Fight, Vigil.
CRAIG BROWN: Can we really see into the future, or is it all just hokum?
What's going to happen next? This is the question that powers us through novels and films and, quite often, through life itself.
We review: Arcade Fire have made a riveting return to arena rock, bursting with art and soul
For a pop star, being in a band with your spouse is usually a recipe for divorce. Just look at John and Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac. But there is one exception to the rule.
Alistair McGowan review: This crazy idea to mix comedy and serious music just works
A lovely show, mixing comedy and serious music; a crazy idea that works.
JIM SHELLEY: Shifty cops, frantic chases... yes, it's Line Of Duty lite
DI Ray was written by Maya Sondhi, the actress who played PC Maneet Bindra in Line Of Duty. It's safe to say Maya came out of it rather better than poor Maneet.
A Village In The Third Reich review: What did ordinary Germans really think of Hitler?
What did ordinary Germans really think of Adolf Hitler, and how strongly were they committed to Nazi ideology?
From Stuart MacBride to Tom Cox, Emily St John Mandel and Michael Arditti, the best new fiction
Readers will have to be on their toes to follow this freewheeling sci-fi yarn. At different points in the novel, we are in 1912, 2020, 2203 and 2401.
Prima Facie review: Jodie Comer makes a cracking stage debut but it's all a bit over-egged
If you watched Netflix's lurid Anatomy Of A Scandal you might have got the impression that all MPs are rapists. There's now more sexual assault on offer in this exhausting one-woman show.
Dr Strange review: Elizabeth Olsen's stellar performance is the only part worth watching
From a clunky opening that could have tumbled straight out of Doctor Who to a scene involving a bus-chomping octopus, one thing quickly becomes clear: this is no film for proper grown-ups.
Downton Abbey review: Does A New Era have the same old charm?
Of all the film franchises likely to embrace the growing cinematic fad for going a bit 'meta', just about the last on anyone's list would surely be the well-starched Downton Abbey.
From Clark to Parallel Mothers, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From Bill Skarsgard's take on the infamous gangster Clark Olofsson to Penélope Cruz in Parallel Mothers, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
Samuel Mariño review: His debut at St Martin-in-the-Fields was a truly remarkable recital
The Venezuelan male soprano Samuel Mariño's London debut, in the sympathetic acoustic of St Martin-in-the-Fields, was one of the most remarkable recitals I have ever attended.
Jerusalem review: Mark Rylance still shines as juicy Johnny 'Rooster' Byron
Mark Rylance first appeared in this play in 2009. He's become a Hollywood film star in the meantime but, since Jerusalem , he's had no juicier part.
Mudlark'd review: A beautifully illustrated study of untold richness
We have microbiology to thank for the fact that the banks of the Thames contain a treasure trove of ancient artefacts.
From Joanna Cannon to Jennifer Egan and Candice Carty-Williams, this week's best new fiction
Carty-Williams follows her debut Queenie, about a black journalist, with a narrative that broadens her range to roam between the viewpoints of five half-siblings fathered by a Jamaican bus driver...
Blondie review: Debbie Harry looks sharp at the O2 but manages only 20 minutes of musical magic
There's something very special about Blondie . As their distinguished support act, Johnny Marr, recently observed, they're a band nobody dislikes.
DEBORAH ROSS: Good as the French original? I don't know... call my agent!
Ten Percent is a British remake of the French comedy-drama series Call My Agent, which I somehow missed. I don't know where I was when it became a lockdown hit.
Van Gogh review: A tragically gripping insight into the painter's final chapter
Of all the artists in history, Vincent Van Gogh is the one we think we know best. Why?
Barry Humphries review: The showbiz legend proves himself a master anecdotist at Richmond Theatre
At the grand old age of 88, Barry Humphries, hitherto known chiefly as the agent of housewife superstar Dame Edna Everage, is touring the one character he has never previously booked - himself.
DEBORAH ROSS: If I was Anne, I'd have drilled a hole (or two!) in that canoe
The Thief, His Wife And The Canoe was based on the 'unbelievably true story' of John 'Canoe Man' Darwin, who attempted to fake his death at sea to collect the life insurance money.
CRAIG BROWN: The Queen's favourite quiz. Andrew as Dirty Den. This royal soap will run and run...
Way back in 1955, the venerable writer and TV personality Malcolm Muggeridge warned that the Royal Family was in danger of going off the rails.
Dua Lipa review: The Future Nostalgia singer puts on an intoxicating show at Manchester's AO Arena
Who is Britain's biggest female singer? Most people might say Adele, but in Spotify's monthly top 20, another British woman comes out on top. It's official: Dua Lipa is a superstar.
From Christobel Kent to Julian Barnes, Ali Smith and Nina Stibbe, this week's best new fiction
After her acclaimed Seasons Quartet, Ali Smith turns to Covid. The freewheeling narrative and incessant wordplay will be familiar.
The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent review: A faltering yet funny self-parody
Nicolas Cage is Hollywood royalty, famous for being... well, Nic Cage, nephew of Francis Ford Coppola and for making at least as many bad films as good ones.
Lohengrin review: This brutish show doesn't seem to care for Wagner at all
A couple of generations of London-based Wagnerites got their Lohengrin at the Royal Opera from a charmingly romantic production by Elijah Moshinsky. That all changed after 40 years.
The Burnt City review: This immersive Greek tragedy show may confuse, but the designs are marvellous
Punchdrunk's latest 'immersive' show is staged in a vast warehouse at the Woolwich Arsenal. It's the starting gate for this odyssey into the world of Homer's Iliad.
From Gaslit to Ozark, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From a thriller about one of the Watergate scandal's extraordinary smear campaigns to Ozark's finale, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
Super-Infinite review: Katherine Rundell's John Donne biography is anything but a dry academic tome
Katherine Rundell is a scholar of the Renaissance at All Souls, Oxford, but this isn't some dry academic tome. It's a sharply animated and imaginative account of a remarkable figure.
Wet Leg review: This debut is frank, fearless and funny - and it's certainly no one-hit wonder
Do you remember The Flying Lizards? That sound is back and this time it's relatable, thanks to Wet Leg.
The Homecoming review: Harold Pinter's play is funny, repellent and obscure in no particular order
This terrific touring revival is funny, repellent and obscure in no particular order. It may even leave you wanting a bath. But boy it grips.
From Julia to Better Call Saul, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From a dramatisation of Julia Child's career to the final series of Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
DEBORAH ROSS: As schlocky as The Undoing - but not nearly as watchable
Anatomy Of A Scandal is the latest show from David E. Kelley, who gave us Big Little Lies and also The Undoing and, as schlocky as they were, we could not tear our eyes away.
Not Far From Brideshead review: Daisy Dunn brings inter-war Oxford to life
Brideshead Revisited, the classic novel by Evelyn Waugh, created an image of Oxford that, even now, is hard to shake off.
CRAIG BROWN: Uncle Norris and his crazy sock invention helped Alan see the funny side of lockdown
This tiny little book - only 49 pages - covers the period from February 2020 to March 2021, when Britain was in lockdown. The pandemic provides a running theme, almost like background music.
Seven Last Words review: Well done ENO! A fine performance with beautiful singing throughout
Joseph Haydn is every bit as great a composer as Mozart or Beethoven, but you could be forgiven for not noticing.
Operation Mincemeat review: A war film like no other? Mission accomplished...
This star-studded film, at times, seems to have employed just about every character actor on British Equity's books - and is seriously classy.
From Anatomy Of A Scandal to Jesus Of Nazareth, the best on demand TV to watch this week
A politician accused of a sex crime? Where do they get these ideas? Sienna Miller is Sophie, a nice woman married to ambitious junior Minister James Whitehouse (Rupert Friend).
From Douglas Stuart to Carol Birch, Lianne Dillsworth and Lindsey Davis: This week's best fiction
Stuart has done it again. After scooping the Booker Prize with Shuggie Bain, he returns to 1990s Glasgow with another bleakly brilliant tale about life at the margins.
Simple Minds review: Jim Kerr may not look like a rock star these days, but he still sings like one
There may be more bands from the 1980s touring now than there were at the time. And some of them are even living in the present as well as the past.
DEBORAH ROSS: Brilliant lawyers? I wouldn't trust them with my goldfish!
The Split is a series I have tried to love, and keep trying to love, but I always fail, and now I think we'll have to break up for good. I just hope it's not too acrimonious.
CRAIG BROWN: What a dizzying, helter-skelter life, Norman Scott!
As Norman Scott points out, with a hint of triumph, most of the people involved in the famous conspiracy to kill him are now dead and buried but, at the age of 82, he is still going strong.
The House Of Dudley review: It is impossible not to be reminded of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall trilogy
For more than 100 years, starting in the late 15th Century, the English throne was occupied by the pragmatic, ruthless, red-headed Tudor family.
To Kill A Mockingbird review: An unforgettable and powerfully moving evening
It's 1934 in small-town Alabama: lawyer Atticus Finch (Rafe Spall), a single father, is defending Tom Robinson (Jude Owusu), a black labourer charged with the capital crime of rape.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore review: It's back to its magical best
Poor J. K. Rowling - creator of Harry Potter, of course - may have brought pleasure to millions, but she has not been having the easiest of times of late.
The Gondoliers review: A thoroughly entertaining evening
Are Gilbert and Sullivan on the way back? There's evidence of it. This beautifully dressed and presented Gondoliers from Scottish Opera got an ovation from a packed Hackney Empire.
Circus Of Dreams review: Threaded with irresistibly louche vignettes and a seam of serious lit crit
For two weeks in 1971, an air of 'skittish playfulness' hung over London's Bloomsbury district thanks to an event calling itself the Bedford Square Book Bang.
CRAIG BROWN: A portrait that paints Picasso as a monster of cruelty
John Richardson started work on his Life Of Pablo Picasso in 1980, when he was 56. He died at 95, in 2019. Three years on, the volume he was last working on has appeared.
The Human Voice review: Ruth Wilson is fantastic as the tormented leading lady
The title of this 1928 play by Jean Cocteau emphasises the singular - there's just one voice. And that's all you get in this monologue written as a series of phone calls heard from one side only.
DEBORAH ROSS: It's The Apprentice... with tantrums and £8 toasties
Gordon Ramsay's latest reality competition show opens with him jumping from a helicopter into the sea and swimming to the Cornwall beach where the 12 contestants have gathered.
From Lucy Foley to Ashley Hickson-Lovence, Bonnie Garmus and Laline Paull, the best new fiction
The Paris Apartment begins in the same vein as Foley's last novel, The Guest List, which helped power the revival of Agatha Christie-style whodunnits.
Ed Sheeran review: Acoustic Ed performs a basic sound that was once refreshing but is now amateurish
The Albert Hall is not the only famous London stage to welcome Ed Sheeran lately. He's also been in the High Court, defending his 2017 hit Shape Of You.
True Things review: Stylish, atmospheric, but running out of steam
The basic story at the heart of True Things is a familiar one - nice but lonely and slightly mixed-up girl meets handsome, good-for-nothing - and we're pretty sure no good will come from it.
From Licorice Pizza to Hidden, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From a 1970s coming-of-age comedy starring Bradley Cooper to series three of Welsh crime drama Hidden, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
A Vaughan Williams Anthology review: There isn't a dud performance in sight!
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams. He was a slow starter - he was almost 30 before his first totally memorable piece emerged.
From Gary Oldman's Slow Horses to Little Britain, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From a hugely entertaining MI5 series starring Gary Oldman to the phenomenal hit Little Britain, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
How Words Get Good review: Rebecca Lee offers an engaging guide to the world of book-making
A long-time editorial manager, Lee knows better than most how words make their long and sometimes painful odyssey from an author's original manuscript into the reader's hands.
Straight Line Crazy review: Ralph Fiennes gives top value as megalomaniac Robert Moses
Ralph Fiennes is back, in braces and baggy trousers, playing one of America's worst megalomaniacs in Hare's latest.
Peter Grimes review: A magisterial performance, but it's a shame it has been toned down
In 1904 a German writer called England 'the land without music'. The emergence of Elgar corrected that calumny.
DEBORAH ROSS: Posh hunk. Tick. Wet shirt. Tick. Hot sex. Whaddaya mean, No?
Dear gentle reader, it's the new series of Bridgerton and we're back in the 'ton', where the Queen's wigs are preposterous and the story's focus has shifted from 'Hot Simon' to the oldest Bridger...
From Christine Simon to Charlotte Mendelson, Donna Leon and James Runcie, the best new fiction
Donna Leon's much-loved Commissario Brunetti series has been running for 30 years. Together the books offer a wonderfully complex portrait of Venice.
CRAIG BROWN: The Queen is nothing like in The Crown, as this colourful biography reveals
A year after assassination attempts on the Pope and President Reagan, the Queen woke up to find a strange man in her bedroom, dripping with blood, all ready to commit suicide in front of her.
Stormzy review: Cancel the pyrotechnics, this rapper is a fusillade of pride and fury
This month, not one but two working-class heroes have reached the nation's arenas, representing very different constituencies.
Ambulance review: Michael Bay's latest is large, loud but a bit two-dimensional
Michael Bay's creative hallmarks remain guns, big explosions and car chases, and all three feature large and deafeningly loud in Ambulance.
The Phantom Of The Open review: Mark Rylance is below par as Maurice Flitcroft
There are some films that try just that little bit too hard to make you like them, performing the cinematic equivalent of a puppy rolling on its back and inviting you to tickle its tummy.
DEBORAH ROSS: So, Graham Norton... is this a crime drama or a comedy?
Holding is a crime drama based on the bestselling novel by Graham Norton and it's not a posh-house-thriller, for which we must be thankful.
From Daisy Buchanan to Peter Swanson, William Keeling and Andrew Miller, the best new fiction
Impoverished intern Imogen is holding out for 'the one'. Harri, her glamorous boss, has lost her spark and needs it reigniting. Neither woman is looking for romance.
Driving Forwards review: Sophie Morgan is inspirational, eye-opening and deeply-moving
Sophie Morgan she has two birthdays: The date she was born and her A-level results day when, aged 18, she was paralysed from the waist down in a car crash and her new life began.
La Bohème review: The English Touring Opera puts on one of the best shows in recent years
This is one of the best Bohèmes I have heard in recent years. And it's all over the country from Exeter and Eastbourne to York and Durham until June 3.
From the return of Sanditon to The Crimson Rivers, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From the return of Sanditon's low-cut frocks and handsome heroes to neo-pagan drama The Crimson Rivers, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
CRAIG BROWN: The meaning of life, by Delia, sounds much simpler than baking the perfect tart!
Delia Smith has always been a reassuring figure. We have one of her previous works, Delia's How To Cook, on our kitchen shelf. It is the least scary of cookbooks.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark play the first of two nights in a crowded Royal Albert Hall
Figures lurk on a darkened stage. An industrial coastal landscape, festooned with lights, floats by on the screens behind. Machine-made music swells, stately and futuristic with an electronic pul...
Beautiful review: All good fun although there should have been more emphasis on King's solo work
Two regional revivals offer the chance to see a pair of London hits in new iterations. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical skips through King's upbringing in Brooklyn.
From Anne Hathaway in WeCrashed to thriller Snow Angels, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From a pacy drama on the rise and fall of WeWork starring Anne Hathaway to Scandi thriller Snow Angels, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor review: The Kitchen Disco tour is warm, relatable and all-round likeable
Sophie Ellis-Bextor gets things done. When the pandemic came along, she published a memoir and performed live on Instagram every Friday evening with her Kitchen Disco.
Henry V review: Kit Harington is the big attraction in this exciting, bleak Shakespearean bombshell
In modern dress, this comes without any visual reference to Kyiv. It doesn't need any. Watching it, Ukraine is never out of your mind.
Red Rocket review: Sean Baker leavens the seedy film with dark humour and echoes of Boogie Nights
From the moment he shouts his name through the rickety front door - 'It's Mikey' - there's something about the central character in Sean Baker's seedy new film, Red Rocket , that sets your teeth ...
From Patrick Gale to Gu Byeong-Mo, this week's best new fiction
Combining kick-ass fight scenes with trenchant social commentary, this paints a surprisingly tender portrait of the violent life of Hornclaw, a 65-year-old assassin.
CRAIG BROWN: Saccharine? No, it's another masterclass by our greatest chronicler of family life
One of the most quoted - or overquoted - lines on families comes from Tolstoy, at the start of Anna Karenina.
Rebel review: An eye-opening account of Rahaf Mohammed's bid for freedom that gripped the world
It's hard to remember that Rahaf Mohammed was only 18 when the vivid events in her memoir occurred. She gripped the world as she live-Tweeted her escape from her brutal upbringing in Saudi Arabia...
LSO/Rattle review: Simon Rattle conducts a compelling concert at Barbican Hall
The Barbican Hall has just celebrated its 40th birthday. A festive performance of Haydn's Creation was supposed to have been conducted by Simon Rattle, but he withdrew.
DEBORAH ROSS: I don't know which is more sizzling - the script or Lucy Boynton's up-do!
What is the point, people are asking, of ITV's The Ipcress File ? The 1965 film, starring Michael Caine, was the last word, surely, so what is the point of turning it into a series?
CRAIG BROWN: Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell makes the macabre seem merry
Why are so many of us so fascinated by true crime? These days it's hard to find a TV programme that does not include a man in a balaclava lurking with a knife in an underground car park.
From Jessamine Chan to Zoe Gilbert, M. K. Hill and Lucy Caldwell, this week's best new fiction
Lucy Caldwell's gravely beautiful fourth novel is set against the brutal bombing of Belfast in the Second World War.
An Hour And A Half Late review: The sitcom-ish play that never gets too serious
The French playlet for two (by Gerald Sibleyras with Jean Dell) was first staged in England with the late Mel Smith as the husband and Belinda Lang as his bored wife.
Self Esteem review: She created a sense of communal euphoria with her fearless Prioritise Pleasure
Self Esteem, formerly known as Rebecca Lucy Taylor, born and bred down the road in Rotherham, is getting bigger by the month.
The Batman review: Will he ever stop moaning? Robert Pattinson is so moody it's almost comical
When a film is as long as The Batman there's only one question worth asking: is it really worth three hours of my life?
From The Adam Project to Tell Me Your Secrets, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From a long-awaited time travel saga starring Ryan Reynolds to crime thriller Tell me Your Secrets, here's the best on demand TV to watch this week.
Rigoletto review: It features a dramatically credible cast, but the whole thing looks tatty
Last autumn's first outing for Oliver Mears's supposedly new production of Rigoletto was damned with faint praise, not least for the ordinariness of much of the singing.
DEBORAH ROSS: A beautifully tender tribute from Helen's weepy Blinders
The opening episode of the sixth series of Peaky Blinders not only had everything fans might wish for but was also a beautifully tender tribute to Helen McCrory. I cried.
Shadowlands review: Matthew Green explores climate change on our coastlines
As climate change redraws our coastlines, you wonder how recognisable future maps will be. Enter Matthew Green and new book, Shadowlands, a poetic history of 'ghost Britain'.
The Cunning Little Vixen review: This deeply depressing evening betrays ENO's heritage
This is arguably Janacek's masterpiece. Dying in 1928, aged 74, after a string of late successes, he is now regarded as one of the great 20th Century opera composers.
Cyrano review: It keeps up with the likes of Les Mis thanks to a generous helping of charm
Ah, Cyrano , many of you will be thinking, we know that one. It's about the poor chap who's in love with a pretty girl called Roxanne but doesn't stand a chance because of his humungous nose.
Run, Rose, Run review: An ambling mix of country and bluegrass that struggles to take off
Dolly Parton was never very likely to take lockdown lying down. Her first novel, published next week, is the tale of a young woman who moves to Nashville with dreams of being the next Dolly.
From Sophie Haydock to Karen Joy Fowler, Julie Otsuka and Giles Kristian, the best new fiction
Set against a tumultuous backdrop of abolitionism and civil war, Booth is an epic tale of a divided country, seen through the prism of an extraordinary family.
Mother's Boy review: Howard Jacobson transforms calamity into rip-roaring comedy
Has there ever been a funnier book about being gloomy? Before she died two years ago at the age of 97, Howard Jacobson's mother asked him about it.
DEBORAH ROSS: Just thank God for Erin, the snooping Miss Marple
The psychological six-part thriller Chloe concluded this week. It wasn't notable for its plot, its lighting, or its fast pace, but it was notable for the central performance of Erin Doherty.
Saturday Night Fever review: Bill Kenwright's show has strut and swagger but lacks, well, fever
This show, directed by the prolific Bill Kenwright and first seen four years ago, is a broader paean to the Bee Gees' oeuvre.
Metaphysical Animals review: A joyous tale of the women who challenged Plato
In this terrific book, Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman argue that it was four women who dragged Aristotle and Plato from their pedestals and made them relevant to a post-war world.
From The Dropout to the final season of Killing Eve, the best on demand TV to watch this week
From Amanda Seyfriend's dramatised account of Elizabeth Holmes's trial to the final season of Killing Eve, the best on demand TV to watch this week.
Fabergé In London review: The V&A celebrates the house with a kaleidoscopic selection of eggs
If you know nothing about Fabergé besides the stunning eggs, a treat awaits you at the V&A. That said, if you have a comprehensive knowledge of Fabergé, a treat awaits you also.
Conquered review: The Norman Conquest was more than a light-hearted Bayuex Tapestry comic strip
In the tradition of 1066 And All That, our understanding of the Norman Conquest is often quite light-hearted, a Bayeux Tapestry comic strip of rival claimants and arrows in eyes.
CRAIG BROWN: Imagine if the chap running your creative writing circle was spying on you...
For readers and writers in Communist East Germany back in 1981, a leading film-maker reminded an audience that writing was a 'weapon in the ideological class struggle with imperialism'.