And behind door number 22... a guide to some music of the more traditional kind
Catherine Munn and Jacob Martin list their Top 5 programmes to watch over the festive period.
And behind door number nine... some dazzling musical delights
The complete arts guide, for week 9
The Quatermass Xperiment
The first horror produced by the legendary Hammer Studios is this glorious reimagining of the 1953 BBC television serial. The film remains surprisingly unsettling and strangely sympathetic tale, following a tormented astronaut’s nightmarish metamorphosis into a monster whilst titular Professor Quatermass struggles to understand what happened. It’s still a great piece of work and went on to inspire two sequels. – James Absolon
Firefly/Serenity
Cancelled after 14 episodes, why was Firefly made into a film?! Because the Fox network showed them in the wrong order and then decided that the viewing figures weren’t good enough. Well the joke’s on you Fox, because the Universal film, called Serenity, was brilliant. The conclusion of the story was moving, but the writers didn’t hold back on the space cowboy wit and banter. – Elisabeth Shuker
The Thick of It/ In the Loop
In The Loop, the big screen adaptation of political sitcom The Thick Of It, swaps Whitehall for the Washington and enlists the talents of James Gandolfini and Steve Coogan to help. Swearing has never sounded so delightful - surely the most foul-mouthed movie ever to be nominated for an Oscar. – James Tynan
Thunderbirds: The Movie
The year 2004 marked the disintegration of my childhood in many ways; playing with my soldiers and aeroplanes and deciding ‘I don’t want to do this anymore’, discovering Led Zeppelin, noticing girls and most of all the travesty that is Thunderbirds: The Movie. Growing up with Gerry Anderson’s loveable, all-action series starring a lolloping cast and, frankly, the coolest tech imaginable to a young boy, the thought of ‘real’ people doing these things strangely eluded me. Featuring acting more wooden than the casts of their namesakes, a colour saturation that burned your retinas and Busted’s cringing attempt at that classic theme tune, this threatened to end my unbridled love for our favourite TV heroes. – Jonathan Cridford
Pokémon: The First Movie
With the television show being the almighty media giant it was in the 90s, it was no surprise that a film would be made to dominate box offices along with TV ratings. It was also no surprise that the film was soul-crushingly awful. As nostalgic as the animé may be for many, all but the most deluded would agree it was formulaic, and... well, honestly rather stupid. The First Movie takes that blueprint, and turns it into 75 minutes of Pocket Monster advertisement with a sappy moral at the end. But that didn't stop my younger self from loving every second, buying the VHS, and getting hold of the soundtrack. I hate my younger self. – Nathan Blades
The X Files
Theoretically The X-Files should have made for a brilliant movie; however the results of the two big screen adaptations have only been notable for their distinct averageness. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, for all their television chemistry, just don’t have the charisma for a great Hollywood blockbuster…never mind. – Ben Bland
Sex and the City
The TV show that defined a generation of 30 something single women who wanted to play life by their own rules and the (two!!) movies that went on to singlehandedly ruin that legacy. SATC is a cultural phenomenon in two important ways: it started out life candid, clever and no holds barred and ended crass, made for cretins, and we all wish it had been barred from our screens. – Maddie Boden
Lego: The Movie
Lego: The Movie - Is nothing sacred? The recent announcement by Warner Brothers that a Lego movie is in the making would suggest that no, nothing is scared. Though toys like Transformers and G.I. Joe have been brought to the big screen before, nothing as yet is likely to scar as many generations of childhood as this. Though of course, it will no doubt be a lego-blockbuster. – Stephen Puddicombe
The Great British Bake Off
In a love-cake relationship, she can’t understand why he doesn’t weigh his ingredients accurately; he doesn’t like the way she kneads bread dough. Can these two judges ever overcome their differences and realise that they were destined to be together?! Oh, the stolen looks across the induction hobs, the brief glances over the croque-en-bouche! Make sure you pre-book to see this blockbuster; the tickets are selling like hot– er – things. – Catherine Munn
Breaking Bad
I never expected the dad from Malcom in the Middle to continue his television career as a meth-dealing chemistry teacher with lung cancer; but that's what Breaking Bad is all about - being surprising and incredibly dark. A perfect set-up for a feature film. While the show has been a huge hit overseas, it's been less of a big deal, over here - and a glimpse of the plot line from the DEA Agent Hank Schrader's point of view would be guaranteed to get people hooked. On the show, I mean, not Meth. – Nathan Blades
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