Jessica Jones, Netflix

JESSICA JONES, NETFLIX The superhero universe has gained another star

The superhero universe has gained another star

After the roaring success of Daredevil this year, Marvel brings us the next instalment in the TV rendering of their universe – or part of it at least. Jessica Jones, created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos in 2001, is a failed superhero and volatile PI who copes with her demons by drinking so heavily that at least one of her superpowers seems to reside in her liver. Super strength, near-flight and a fine line in withering sarcasm make up the rest.

BlockQuest

Tiny dungeons on your phone, done well

Since Crossy Road took mobile devices by storm, every developer seems intent on copying its success. Largely by copying its cute isometric retro visual approach and grafting it onto other genres. Even Crossy Road's makers are at it – Shooty Skies applies the same visual style to a "bullet hell" shoot-em-up arcade game. With BlockQuest, as with The Quest Keeper, the genre is dungeon-bashing RPG. And again, this turns out to be a fairly good, if derivative move.

Ravel Double Bill, Glyndebourne

RAVEL DOUBLE BILL, GLYNDEBOURNE Titters for a Spanish farce, but Laurent Pelly's adventures of a naughty boy are heartbreaking

Titters for a Spanish farce, but Laurent Pelly's adventures of a naughty boy are heartbreaking

Ask opera-lovers to name their favourite one-acter and chances are the choice will be L’enfant et les sortilèges. Colette’s typically off-kilter fable of a destructive kid confronted with the objects and animals he’s damaged is set by Maurice Ravel to music of a depth which must have taken even that unshockable author by surprise. Ravel’s earlier L’heure espagnole, on the other hand, is much less likely to be top of the list.

The Trial, Young Vic

THE TRIAL, YOUNG VIC Richard Jones, Nick Gill and Rory Kinnear turn the dramatic screw on Kafka's nightmare story

Richard Jones, Nick Gill and Rory Kinnear turn the dramatic screw on Kafka's nightmare story

Kafka and Jones, the names above this little shop of horrors, would be a marriage made in off-kilter theatreland had the Czech genius written any plays. He didn’t, so Nick Gill has made a well-shaped drama out of the assembled fragments of which The Trial consists.

Gotham, Series 1 Finale, Channel 5 / Daredevil, Netflix

GOTHAM, SERIES 1 FINALE / DAREDEVIL, NETFLIX Comic book heroes battle for control of the small screen

Comic book heroes battle for control of the small screen

Finally reaching its concluding 22nd episode, delayed further by the "mid-season break" fashionable with American shows, Gotham [****] stands tall as a distinctive contribution to the seemingly inexhaustible superhero universe. Instead of relying on gargantuan cartoon characters and a hurricane of computerised effects in Marvel Avengers style, Gotham has used the scope afforded by a prolonged TV series to develop a specific world populated by rounded characters which evolve and move convincingly through time.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT A beautifully detailed fantasy world to lose yourself in

A beautifully detailed fantasy world to lose yourself in

In short, Game Of Thrones the videogame. The Witcher 3 sees this epic role-playing fantasy series truly rival its key competitor, the Elder Scrolls series. The Witcher 3 particularly scores on delivering a huge, credible and complex world with incredible granularity – it's real go anywhere, do loads of things stuff.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON Inferior but lively superhero sequel

Inferior but lively superhero sequel

Joss Whedon’s Avengers sequel loses much of the original’s exhilarating freshness. It begins in the middle, doesn’t really end, and regularly makes you wonder just how long the Marvel box-office bonanza can continue. The moment when its Cinema Universe’s exponentially growing complexity slams into entropic reverse, as happened to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s original comic-book vision, is plainly visible on the horizon.

Le Roi de Lahore, Chelsea Opera Group, QEH

LE ROI DE LAHORE, CHELSEA OPERA GROUP, QEH Top quality operatic voices in first London performance of Massenet exotica since 1880

Top quality operatic voices in first London performance of Massenet exotica since 1880

Now that opera houses mostly lack either the will or the funds to stage the more fantastical/exotic pageants among 19th century operas – the Royal Opera production of Meyerbeer’s mostly third-rate Robert le Diable was an unhappy exception – it’s left to valiant concert-performance companies like Chelsea Opera Group to try and trail clouds of kitschy glory. Which, thanks to the usual astute casting of world-class voices for the solo roles and a remarkable semi-professional orchestra under Royal Opera chorus master Renato Balsadonna, they did last night.

Game of Thrones Episode 1: Iron From Ice

GAME OF THRONES EPISODE 1: FROM IRON FROM ICE Lashings of intrigue but poor pacing mars this pilot episode

Lashings of intrigue but poor pacing mars this pilot episode

Telltale Games has pioneered the 'box set' model of gaming with their hit episodic adventures based in the Walking Dead universe as well as The Wolf Among Us, set in the modern fairytale world of the Fables comics. Telltale's long-awaited Game of Thrones licence has now launched on multiple platforms. Does their signature blend of multiple choices and moral dilemmas lend itself to George RR Martin's brutal fantasy world?

Edward Scissorhands, New Adventures, Sadler's Wells

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, NEW ADVENTURES, SADLER'S WELLS A hearty dose of cheer, with just a little weirdness, from master storyteller Matthew Bourne

A hearty dose of cheer, with just a little weirdness, from master storyteller Matthew Bourne

For those who’ve seen one too many Nutcrackers, nothing says Christmas better than a Matthew Bourne production at Sadler’s Wells. A man whose mantelpiece is overflowing with Tony and Olivier awards is a safe bet for entertainrment – even when the production in question looks at first glance unlikely: Bourne’s 2005 danced version of Edward Scissorhands, the 1990 Tim Burton movie which is part Gothic fairy tale, part moral fable, part 1950s soap opera.