Home > Culture > Life > The Monthly Hot List – March 2022

Film & TV

Peaky Blinders – BBC and iPlayer (27th February)
Peaky Blinders – BBC and iPlayer (27th February)

The sixth and final series of Peaky Blinders is returning. The sixth series follows straight on from the events of the last series where we saw Tommy and the rest of the Shelby gang struggling. Tommy was on the verge of ending his life, there was a failed assassination attempt on fascist leader Oswald Moseley, and several much-loved characters lost their lives in an unexpected ambush. World War II is edging closer, and the family troubles continue – the most notable change will be the lack of matriarch Polly, following the death of the legendary actress Helen McCrory. Peaky Blinders is quite possibly one of the best TV series of the last decade – highly recommended!

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Killing Eve – BBC and iPlayer (28th February)
Killing Eve – BBC and iPlayer (28th February)

“When a spy tracks down a stylish assassin, the hunter becomes the hunted. A bloody, funny thriller about two women lethally obsessed with each other.” The fourth and final series of Killing Eve returns, and we discover what finally happens in the cat and mouse game between Eve and Villanelle. Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer are superb, Villanelle’s fashion is truly fabulous, and the darkly comic humour is perfect.

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Bridgerton – Netflix (25th March 2022)
Bridgerton – Netflix (25th March 2022)

Bridgerton is back for season 2 and we couldn’t be more excited! Silly, sumptuous, and sexy – Bridgerton smashed viewing records with Netflix announcing that over 82 million households had streamed the first series. A combination of Jane Austen and Gossip Girl – Bridgerton provides perfect escapism. This first series followed Daphne Bridgerton as she entered her debut season in high society and fell in love with the duke – the scrumptious Regé-Jean Page. This season, Lady Whistledown is back to provide cutting and hilariously dry commentary as a new season dawns.

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Books

Run, Rose, Run – Dolly Parton and James Patterson
Run, Rose, Run – Dolly Parton and James Patterson

Dolly Parton has written her first novel, Run, Rose, Run and it’s available for pre-order now (it’s released on March 7th). We are huge fans of Dolly – who isn’t?! “The country music legend and the bestselling crime writer join forces to craft an unputdownable thriller of glamorous dreams and deadly pasts as a young singer is determined to make it big in Nashville. Run, Rose, Run is about a young singer-songwriter on the rise and on the run and determined to do whatever it takes to survive. Nashville is where she’s come to claim her destiny. It’s also where the darkness she’s fled might find her.”

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Crying in H Mart – Michelle Zauner
Crying in H Mart – Michelle Zauner

Crying in H Mart is a thought-provoking memoir of growing up mixed-race and how Michelle’s mother’s death brought her to a reckoning with her own heritage. It’s honest, memorable, and inspiring. “In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother’s particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother’s tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food.”

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Podcasts

Dirty Mother Pukka – Anna Whitehouse (aka Mother Pukka)
Dirty Mother Pukka – Anna Whitehouse (aka Mother Pukka)

Mother Pukka is back – at last! Anna Whitehouse, the presenter, journalist, author and champion of women’s rights is returning for a third series of her podcast after a two-and-a-half-year break. “Featuring well known celeb names each week, Dirty Mother Pukka is where guests go to share their secrets and air their dirty laundry. Anna and co-host Polly Hazlewood are intelligent, gritty and humorous interviewers, allowing each guest to share openly about highs and lows from throughout their lives. Topics covered range from political, emotional, and financial discussions to parental, feminist, and topical issues. Each episode will close with an excerpt from Jilly Cooper’s written works, in a bedtime story just for mums…and anyone with a penchant for raunchy literature.” Episodes will be available weekly, every Thursday, from 24th February.

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 Power: Hugh Hefner – Amy Rose Spiegel
Power: Hugh Hefner – Amy Rose Spiegel

The podcast Power – explores people of power and the legacy that they leave behind. The first series of Power explored the story of Ghislaine Maxwell’s tycoon father, Robert Maxwell. This series investigates Hugh Hefner, the Playboy founder and talks to the people that knew him best. “Who was Hugh Hefner? Centrefold models, Playboy Bunnies, and other women from the Playboy founder’s inner circle, like TV personality and author Holly Madison, tell journalist Amy Rose Spiegel their side of his story. We hear how Playboy changed their lives, for better and for worse. Beyond the bunny tails are darker questions: What actually went on at the notorious Playboy Mansion? How can we square Hefner’s progressive legacy with his abuse of vulnerable people? What can the Playboy saga tell us about sex and power—then and now?”

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Events

Shrek’s Adventure – London
Shrek’s Adventure – London

Shrek’s Adventure is now back open (after being closed due to covid) and we would thoroughly recommend it as a fun family day out! It’s based in the County Hall building on the south bank (next to the aquarium and London Eye) so makes a perfect location for a London day trip. Shrek’s Adventure is an immersive storytelling experience. “Based on the loveable ogre Shrek from the hilarious DreamWorks films, the tour allows you to escape reality and begin a quest through 12 fairy-tale themed live shows incorporating actors, captivating storytelling, special effects and extraordinary DreamWorks animations for the whole family to enjoy.”

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Bedknobs and Broomsticks – The Lowry, Salford Quays, Manchester
Bedknobs and Broomsticks – The Lowry, Salford Quays, Manchester

Tuesday 15th March-Saturday 19th March 2022

Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Disney’s classic film, is making its world premiere as an exciting new stage musical. There are only 8 performances at the Lowry so it’s worth booking tickets as soon as possible for this special show – it’s recommended for children 6+ years. “When the three orphaned Rawlins children are reluctantly evacuated from wartime London to live with the mysterious Eglantine Price, they have no idea what adventures lie ahead. Upon discovering Eglantine to be a trainee witch, they join forces to search for a secret spell that will defeat the enemy once and for all. Armed with an enchanted bedknob, a bewitched broomstick and a magical flying bed, they encounter surprising new friendships on their journey from Portobello Road to the depths of the beautiful briny sea.”

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