A baffling amount of attention has been paid to the supposed wokeness of the BBCs adaptation ofTheWar of the Worlds. Several national publications have joked that it has all gone woke in Woking the Surrey town in which HG Wells1898 disaster novel, and this new three-part series, is set. The reason? One of the characters is female, and another vaguely hints at being gay. We must alert the church elders.

In last weeks first episode of this intriguing, if hardly pacy, adaptation, protagonist Georges biggest problem was that his ex-wife/cousin was refusing to divorce him, and thus he couldnt marry his new girlfriend Amy (Eleanor Tomlinson, sharing just enough chemistry with Rafe Spalls George to sell the relationship, but no more). Until, that is, a strange meteor crash landed in their sleepy village, cracked open, and revealed an arachnoid machine that proceeded to murder everyone in its path. The invaders, it was deduced, had come from Mars.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

The second episode begins a few years on. Amy is searching in vain for her lost partner, their son George Jr in tow. Gone is the lush greenery, the quaint villages and the smog-filled London cityscape. In its place is a vast, Tatooine-like desert bathed in red light. The Martians seem to be dead, killed shortly after arrival, but the chaos they unleashed remains. Food is scarce. Instead of crops, red glassy shards jut out of the ground. The survivors dont sing God Save the King, but God Save Us All. It is a bleak state of affairs. Well, as far as I can make out, squinting at the screen, it is. The BBC has a frustrating habit of hiding its action in the shadows, as if darkness equals drama.

Its generally accepted that Wellsnovel, about the invasion of Earth by Martians, is an allegory though for what, nobody can quite agree. Is it a prescient environmentalist warning? A fable about the hubris of humanity? A critique of imperialism? Im surprised that in all the scandalised chatter about political correctness, nobody has questioned the timing of reviving a story such as this: a foreign species arrives in Great Britain and destroys the natural order of things. It seems that something has arrived in England, announces Nicholas Le Prevosts Chamberlain. It has completely destroyed Weybridge railway station and massacred an entire battalion. Another character declares: Unless we think of some way to stop this, this will not be our planet anymore. Is this not uncomfortably evocative of xenophobic Brexit rhetoric? Hey ho. Maybe I should just enjoy the smashing and killing.

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As a slightly cheesy reminder of what we love about Doctor Who i.e. the fact it gives us an intergalactic eccentric in a big flappy overcoat shouting at Daleks this is a New Year treat that more than delivers

BBC

Billy Connolly: Made in Scotland is a meandering look back over his life, career, and national identity a Proustian wander through Scotland. Theres a lot of mordant chat about the weather, illustrated with shots of dark grey clouds above even darker grey lochs.

BBC/7Wonder/Jaimie Gramston

From the outset the production is elevated by its sensitive handling of the men and the Paratroopers remain exclusively male involved. These kinds of programmes have a tendency to fetishise toughness, lingering on assault courses and weaponry.

Jonny Ashton/ITV

Despite what some feared, the casting of Cumberbatch doesnt simply flatter Cummings the A-lister is too good a chameleon for that. But, inevitably, as he scrawls out his campaigning brainwaves on a whiteboard, there is a touch of that deductive maverick Sherlock in his portrayal of this scruffy, balding political saboteur.

Nick Wall

The programme-makers must have done much to win the confidence of so many friends and families, as they went through unspeakable personal pain; but they repay that confidence with an understated and powerful film.

Channel 4

This documentary goes behind the shrubbery to show off these animals and their guardians. The humans are a pretty exotic bunch too, judging by some of the lines they come out with.

Channel 4

You see, saint or sinner, prince or pauper, we are all part of one race, the brotherhood of man. And the saintly and regal Danny Dyer stands as its finest ambassador.

BBC

West believes Valjean to be the greatest hero in all literature, and he plays the part with all the care and intricacy such a character deserves.

BBC/Lookout Point/Laurence Cendrowicz

For anyone whos not altogether sure how British politics turned so suddenly into a rolling dumpster fire from which all exits are blocked then Inside Europe: Ten Years of Turmoil is a necessary public service to explain exactly, and exactly how needlessly, we all came to be here.

BBC/European Council Newsroom

Theres really been nothing quite like Catastrophe on our screens before, and it deserves its cult status for the quality of everything the production team do, not least the stunning cinematography in this finale. Thanks, all. Im glad Catastrophe died happy."

Channel 4

Yet again the Williams have woven a brilliantly tangled web, helped in no small part by Karyos quietly arresting central turn

PA

It is both a revisionist and frequently batty take on the caped milieu and a winningly knotty mystery. And it surely is the first big-budget superhero tale more indebted to Wes Anderson than to Stan Lee.

Netflix

Like all the best detective dramas, Shetland engages the audience in the very process of detection. That way we grow intrigued, and we care. And so we find ourselves sitting next to Henshall in his (prominently featured) Volvo V70 estate, sharing his thoughts, intercepting suspects and being driven off the road by unidentified enemies.

BBC/ITV Studios

"This Time with Alan Partridge is such a consistently strong creative achievement that fears for the future of Alan Gordon Partridge, may, once again, be allayed. Or Alayned, perhaps.

BBC

"Michael Jackson has long looked like a burning tire yard. There were the allegations, the out-of-court settlements, the arrest, the trial and not-guilty verdict. But there has been nothing like Leaving Neverland

AFP/Getty

"Home is a rather gentle, unobtrusive variation on the sitcom theme but one that is built on a quite a bizarre premise. The twist is that a family who returns to Surrey from a holiday touring around France discover a Syrian refugee stuffed in the back of their SUV. Not only that, but, after a few moments of blind terrified panic about a suicide bombing, they eventually adopt him like hes stray cat thats just wandered in."

Channel 4

"A tremendously sad, strange story then, and just as unfathomable today. Dandos friends, family and the producer and director of the film have made a fitting and balanced tribute to her, something she deserves. I cant really add anything to that."

PA

"It is sometimes remarked that the Troubles in Northern Ireland make for an unpromising backdrop for a sitcom about adolescent kids. Well, yer mans wrong, as they might say. Derry Girls, returning for a triumphant and exuberant second run, proves that humour, dark or otherwise, can be quarried from even the most unlikely of locations."

Peter Marley

"While there are plenty of well-turned one-liners, the deeper attraction of Fleabag is schadenfreude. The character is as old as Daisy Buchanan or Lydia Bennett or Scarlett OHara. The best compliment to Waller-Bridge and her cast is that they find fresh clothes in which to dress these ancient monsters."

BBC/Two Brothers/Luke Varley

"The Road to Brexit is easily the best thing to emerge from the whole brexit imbroglio. OK, not much competition, but still... Despite the po-faced title, you realise very quickly that its not yet another drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch or yet another attempt by Laura Kuenssberg to explain the inexplicable, or yet another show with the public arguing about stuff they dont understand. Rather, its a very clever, very funny, very 'different' parcel of bollocks to Brexit."

BBC

"The footage is glorious, especially the side-on tracking shots of the birds and the hunting, where it is as if the cameramen were able to set up a rail along the ocean. Most spectacular of all is the sequence of a glacier collapsing into the ocean, where 75m tons of ice being sloughed off in less than 20-minutes. But at times Our Planet feels a little unfocused. Attenboroughs last big BBC series, Dynasties, won almost unbearable amount of emotional resonance through its focus on animal families. Our Planet is more of a greatest-hits parade, with overblown orchestral soundtrack and ponderous intonation. You cant buy love, even if you pay for David Attenborough."

Netflix

"Plausibility is a spectrum; Bodyguard became ridiculous but Line of Duty stays just the right side, and as usual there is more plot in an hour than in whole series of other programmes. As well as being gripping entertainment, Line of Duty has become an effective examination of the relationship between the state and the individual. The shadowy government forces are elected; the organised crime gangs are fuelled by the drug trade. The police are there to save us from ourselves but can only do it if they are subjected to constant scrutiny. Its exhausting work, policing the police."

BBC

"Joseph is almost never out of shot, whether seen from afar, contemplating a bottle of strong cider in a playground, or in visceral close-up, clutching his doner to his face. There are few actors you could trust with so much screen time, especially with such a pared back and naturalistic script. The fact any of it is remotely watchable is testament to Stephen Grahams abilities. No man working in Britain today can drink a pint with more pathos."

Dean Rogers/Channel 4

'Good Omens is a hugely enjoyable, imaginative premiere, as close to Pratchetts vision as anyone could have dared dream. And while the melancholy tone may not be for everyone, fans of the book will surely be sated.'

Amazon Prime

"Years and Years, then, is favoured by some wit, a cornucopia of fab talent and promising characters. The dominant one as we continue our quest into the 2030s and beyond, will be Vivienne, or Viv, Rook, played brilliantly by Emma Thompson. As a bit of a long-term Emma-sceptic I was actually startled by how good she is in the role of the epitome of everything she has spent her life hating and campaigning against, for Viv is a horrifically nasty businessperson turned populist politician with the most terrifying of views. Viv Rook makes Ann Widdecombe look like, well, Emma Thompson at an Extinction Rebellion sit-in."

BBC

"As the series develops, its clearer than ever that Eve and Villanelle are more similar than they are different. Villanelles new vulnerability invites us to question what it is exactly she wants from Polastri. First time around she was toying with a more worthy adversary, but why now? Polastri, by contrast, is frayed around the edges, a terrible wife to her husband Nico (Owen McDonnell) and an even worse intelligence agent to her boss Carolyn Martens (Fiona Shaw). The script is still tight and the jokes are still there, as are Villanelles accents, outfits and abrupt killings, but without the will-they/wont-they energy of the initial plot, it is harder to care."

BBC/BBC America

"Timely, bleak, intelligent and compelling, Chernobyl is a triumph of a disaster."

HBO

"Season three's knuckle-whitening finale is far less disappointing than the last."

Hulu

"The writing is sharp and well observed, probing the fault lines between small talk and real problems."

Channel 4

"A touching tribute to a flawed reality TV star."

Channel 4

"Despite the strength of its ensemble cast, Succession is a feat of writing above all. Although it is ostensibly a business show, you wont learn much about the minutiae of media deals by watching it. Its key dynamic, between father and children, means that it is limited in the amount that can actually happen without risking the magic. The writers, led by the creator Jesse Armstrong, who also gave us Peep Show, weave just-about-plausible and sympathetic characters from a web of insults and backstabbing, and tight editing and camerawork ratchets up tension from a slow-moving plot."

HBO

"In Kathy Burkes All Women on Channel 4, the unapologetic, effing-and-blinding, salt-of-the-earth actor meets lots of different women from nuns to reality stars to understand what it means to be a member of the fairer sex, so to speak, in 2019."

Channel 4

"So here we have an intriguing, but rather flawed sort of Big Brother thriller set in our contemporary world of digital snooping, near constant surveillance and (a topical touch) widespread use of facial recognition technology."

BBC/Heyday Films/Nick Wall

"Top Boy can be bleak and violent, with dialogue so naturalistic that it verges on the impenetrable, but in telling stories that rarely get heard, it asks us to think differently about the city we live in."

Netflix

"Criminal uses its small canvas to ask big questions. The focus on these intricate dances means that after a while we begin to question the idea of objective truth, as well as the facts at hand. I have no idea if it is a realistic depiction of detective work, but it makes for gripping drama."

Netflix

"After an hour of Tories at War (Channel 4), I felt I had to get out into the fresh air and go for a walk. The foul language; the visceral hatred; the unbearable tensions; the violence being inflicted on ancient institutions and this poor old knackered country by the Tories, as if with chainsaws and zombie knives it was like watching my first Saw movie."

Pro Co

"In a TV world where too often we are encouraged to see the Nazis as warm and cuddly real people with emotions, its refreshing that they are here relegated back to pure baddies, strafing cafes, shooting surrendering fathers and generally being Nazi-ish about things."

BBC/Mammoth Screen

"At last, an answer to the question, what could be more fabulous than Helen Mirren playing The Queen? Helen Mirren playing an empress, altogether madder, badder and more dangerous to shag. Better costumes, too."

Sky Atlantic

"Sarah Phelpss adaptation of crime writer Tana Frenchs novels finds two detectives trying to solve the murder of a young girl, with plenty of twists and turns."

BBC

"Romance is complicated, cathartic and messy, regardless of age or circumstance. But such uncomfortable realities are swept beneath the rug in John Carneys rigorously whimsical new Amazon series. Modern Love is adapted from a New York Times column (it also spawned a hit podcast) and is as much a valentine to a fantasia vision of Manhattan as it is a dissection of the human heart."

Amazon Studios

"Damon Lindelofs version of the beloved graphic novel is a compelling demonstration of what can happen when source material is treated with sensitivity and imagination."

HBO

"Arriving in the wake of Marvels Black Panther, the film highlights the links between the saga of the real-life Agoji women, who fought in the former Kingdom of Dahomey (located in modern-day Benin), and the all-women comic-book world protectors known as Dora Milaje."

Channel 4

"The writer Jack Thorne says his latest four-part drama, which explores the aftermath of a disaster on a small community, was shaped by the Grenfell Tower fire. Rather than overcrowded west London, his takes place in Glyngolau, a fictional run-down town in Wales. A new building project, The Light, is being built on the outskirts. Its unclear what The Light is, exactly, which is deliberate. The point is not what it is, exactly, but what it represents: 1,000 new jobs and a rare moment of economic optimism for families who have forgotten what hope feels like."

Channel 4/ Warren Orchard

"Watching Seven Worlds, One Planet, its hard to know what to worry about most: the future of wildlife catastrophically imperilled by our fondness for fossil fuels, long-haul travel and convenience food or Attenborough himself, now 93 and one of the few people that the world will listen to about the impending apocalypse. Like the species on whose behalf he speaks, his continued existence is vital for us all."

PA

"Hailee Steinfeld is perfectly cast. She has a face and a set of elastic expressions that feels both well-suited to a period piece (as first displayed in her Oscar-nominated role in True Grit in 2010), and resolutely out of place in it. Just as Emily Dickinson was. Steinfeld crackles with charm and impropriety."

Apple/Virginia McMillian

This is a beautiful, brooding vision of Pullmans universe, which retains the mix of childish wonder and darkness that make his books so beguiling to young adults.

BBC/Bad Wolf/HBO

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As a slightly cheesy reminder of what we love about Doctor Who i.e. the fact it gives us an intergalactic eccentric in a big flappy overcoat shouting at Daleks this is a New Year treat that more than delivers

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The smashing and killing is ramped up a notch in War of the Worlds episode 2 - review - The Independent