Peaky Blinders (BBC) season 4

The Shelby family is splintered. Tommy’s grand plans brought Arthur, John, Michael and Polly to the brink of death and the women of the family, particularly, cannot forgive. The past always comes back to haunt and an external threat brings the family back together, at least temporarily, with all their lives at risk. It is 1925 and Britain is riven with industrial unrest as revolution looms. Necessity creates some strange bedfellows and Tommy is torn between his business concerns and his working class roots. Glimpses of a softer kinder, more idealistic Tommy from before the war reinforce the irreparable damage ‘the war to end all wars’ had on individuals and on society. Ada is back from Boston to play peacemaker but her Communist past puts her at risk in these volatile times. But Polly is the key to pulling everything back together for the Shelbys or finally blowing up the empire Tommy has so painstakingly built at such great cost to them all. This season turns things on their head; while Tommy and the Shelbys are under threat it’s not so hard to be on their side, but the triumphant finish, with Tommy achieving his designs to go legit by finally selling out the working class, leaves a nasty taste. A fifth season has been announced and promises an intriguing new direction for the Shelbys, but is probably some way off as shooting has not yet started. This is just as well, despite the appeal of Cillian Murphy’s to-die-for cheekbones, a break from this violent crime family could be welcome.

Succubus Dreams & Succubus Heat, by Richelle Mead

The tables have turned on succubus Georgina Kinkaid. Something is sucking out her life energy while she sleeps, leaving her with bittersweet dreams in its place. At the same time there is a brand new succubus in town and Georgina is supposed to show her the ropes. But is Georgina in danger of being replaced in more than one aspect of her life and work? It’s all actually a bit of a nightmare. In mourning for her losses, a heartbroken Georgina is sent to Canada by her boss demon Jerome to help out another demon. But strange demonic politics are afoot and Jerome’s disappearance creates a dilemma for Georgina. A temporary loss of her abilities makes it possible to rekindle an affair with a former love, but what damage will it do to all involved? A strange alliance with a foe from the past restores Seattle to politics as usual, but big changes could be in store for our favourite succubus.

Useful, by Debra Oswald

From the start this novel reads as though it was written to be filmed, with short, provocative introductions to each of the main cast of characters. This is probably not surprising, as the author is the creator of such television gems as Offspring. Unfortunately the book has more in common with the dodgy first season of that series, rather than the stronger later seasons. The characters are a little too self-consciously quirky and most of them are unpleasant or exasperating or both. It is all about the redemption of Sullivan Moss, who is basically a dickhead loser. As the novel progresses he becomes slightly less of a dickhead loser, via means that are not terribly credible. All but one of the marriages are awful; almost everyone behaves appallingly; the only truly appealing character is a dog.

Tully (2018), directed by Jason Reitman

Charlize Theron is Marlo, an exhausted mother of three, including a newborn and a five-year-old with challenging behaviour. Her loving husband helps out but is content to leave most of the responsibility for running the family to her. Life changes after Marlo’s wealthy brother offers to pay for a night nanny to give her a break and the spirited and supportive 20-something Tully comes into her life. Written by Diablo Cody, who also wrote Juno, the script is smart, wryly funny, heart wrenching and totally convincing. The story takes a strange turn around two-thirds in, but a twist at the end ensures that everything makes perfect sense. It is Theron’s film and she shines, but she is well supported by Mackenzie Davis as Tully and Ron Livingstone as Marlo’s husband. The marketing for this film clearly went into the too hard basket and got left to word of mouth, which means not many people have seen it. This is a great pity because it deserves an audience and audiences deserve to see more well crafted, thoughtful films that tackle difficult subjects in a sensitive and evocative manner.

The Avengers: Infinity Wars (2018), directed by Anthony Russo & Joe Russo

The action is fast and furious right from the start in the 18th Marvel outing. The film is well structured to cope with all the superheroes in it, with most getting ample screen time for a satisfying story arc and some unusual groupings pulling the various strands together. There is a lot of love and self-sacrifice, all to no avail so the message is a little unclear. Two hours forty is an awfully long film and although the story doesn’t flag it is difficult to remain fully engaged for the whole running time. It is easy to miss important cues, such as those that explain the bizarre choices of Dr Strange, who appears to just give up the fight and trigger disaster. In the end there is so much death and destruction it is hard to keep track of exactly who is lost, but its is safe to assume a figure of half. Largely entertaining, the film nevertheless finishes with more questions than answers, quite deliberately as it is part one of two. Stand by the sequel next year.

Storm Born, by Richelle Mead

This reads like an earlier effort from the prolific fantasy author; it contains all the elements of her more successful novels, but it doesn’t quite hang together. Eugenie Markham AKA Odile, Dark Swan is a shaman, who protects her world from Fae incursions. She has a deep suspicion of what she calls the Gentry, instilled by her stepfather who has trained her to combat them. Discovering her true origins calls into question her whole life and she needs to reassess her relationship with the Gentry. The central romance with a shapeshifter is unconvincing, possibly intentionally so as a lead in to future books. The dramatic shifts are clearly signalled and so less interesting for the reader than for Eugenie. We don’t find out why she’s called Dark Swan until near the end and the Swan Lake allusion seems spurious. The sex is copious and full on throughout the book and it will be interesting to see if this is sustained throughout the series.

All the Crooked Saints, by Maggie Stiefvater

Straying from her usual brand of quirky romantic fantasy, Stiefvater ventures into the weird and wonderful territory of magical realism. The Soria family has long been the guardian of miracles in the small Colorado Desert town of Bicho Raro. One of the family serves as Saint to help pilgrims acknowledge their inner darkness and bring on the first miracle. The pilgrims must then bring on the second miracle by healing themselves. The Sorias cannot help with this part, for fear of bringing out their own darkness. In recent times the delay between first and second miracles has stretched longer and longer, with damaged pilgrims hanging around Bicho Raro like a bad smell. Touched by sadness, the Sorias themselves are disunited and disaffected and the three youngest family members – Saint Daniel, emotionless Beatriz and devilish Joaquin – want change. It takes a young man with a hole in his heart and no darkness in him at all to bring the Soria family together and help out the hapless pilgrims.

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (Netflix)

Ten years on from the end of the much-loved series, four movie-length episodes – Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall – show a year in the life of the inhabitants of Stars Hollow. The Gilmore women are grieving the sudden death of Edward. Emily is behaving erratically; Lorelei is in a holding pattern; and Rory is in a career crisis and finding it hard to quit old bad habits. All eventually find their way and are ready to move on, but getting there is a torturous journey. Most of the supporting characters are back for at least one of the episodes; the Palladinos write and direct; and all the ingredients are there for a satisfying catch-up with old friends, but somehow it just doesn’t come off. Possibly trying too hard for the quirky, the script is rarely funny and the storylines just not very interesting. Very occasionally there is a spark of the former entertainment and a belly laugh, but it only serves to point out how few and far between such moments are. In a word - disappointing.