Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, Sky Atlantic review - Colin Firth stars in gruelling dramatisation of the 1988 terror attack

★★★ LOCKERBIE: A SEARCH FOR TRUTH, SKY ATLANTIC A gruelling dramatisation

Will we ever hear the full story of what happened to Pan Am Flight 103?

The destruction of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie on 21 December 1988 was one of the ghastliest events in what would become known as the War on Terror, and 36 years later it’s still shrouded in mystery and ambiguity.

Paris Has Fallen, Prime Video review - Afghan war veteran wreaks a terrible vengeance

★★★★ PARIS HAS FALLEN, PRIME VIDEO Afghan war veteran wreaks a terrible vengeance

Cynical politicians and amoral arms dealers feel the heat

You might assume that the “Has Fallen” in the title of this Anglo-French thriller connotes the presence of Scottish lunk Gerard Butler (as in Angel Has Fallen, London Has Fallen and Olympus Has Fallen), but there’s no Gerard in sight. Instead, in this TV spin-off from the movie series, we have Tewfik Jallab (pictured below) as protection officer Vincent Taleb, who’s acting as minder to France’s defence minister Philippe Bardin (Nathan Willcocks).

Barcelona, Duke of York's Theatre review - Lily Collins migrates from France to Spain

★★★ BARCELONA, DUKE OF YORK'S THEATRE Lily Collins migrates from France to Spain

The 'Emily in Paris' star surrenders to cliche - or does she?

The Catalan capital has given its name to a famous number in the Stephen Sondheim musical, Company. And here it is lending geographical specificity to the second two-hander, following the far-superior Camp Siegfried, from American writer Bess Wohl to reach London in recent years.

Expend4bles review - last ride for the over-the-hill gang?

Sly Stallone's veterans franchise has seen better days

Thanks to numerous arguments and disagreements over script, casting etc, nine years have elapsed since Expendables 3 hit the multiplexes, and Sylvester Stallone and his mercenary crew were perilously close to being over the hill even then. In Expend4bles, age has duly withered them even further, a fact wryly acknowledged by director Scott Waugh and his screenwriting squad.

Baghdaddy, Royal Court review - Middle-Eastern magic realism

★★★ BAGHDADDY, ROYAL COURT Middle-Eastern magic realism is strong if a bit messy

New play about an Iraqi exile and his daughter is strong if a bit messy

What is the best way of talking about the Middle East? Should plays take a documentary or verbatim approach, all the better to educate and inform, or is there another path, with includes entertainment, and that magic ingredient called theatricality?

The Mauritanian review – moving 9/11 drama

★★★★ THE MAURITANIAN Lawyers for Guantanamo detainee find that justice and the War on Terror don't mix

Lawyers for Guantanamo detainee find that justice and the War on Terror don't mix

Whether he’s making documentaries or dramas, director Kevin Macdonald has an eye for the bleak moments in our history, and a dynamic way of recreating them, from the Oscar-winning doc Four Days in September, about the Munich massacre, to the fictionalised account of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, The Last King of Scotland, which at times played like a horror film.

Mosul, Netflix review - gruelling story of Iraq's Nineveh SWAT team

★★★★ MOSUL, NETFLIX Gruelling story of Iraq's Nineveh SWAT team

Close-up view of the brutal battle against Islamic State

It may seem incongruous that a factually-based film about Iraqis battling against murderous Islamic State invaders should have been produced by the Russo brothers, famous for Marvel’s Avengers and Captain America blockbusters.

The Haystack, Hampstead Theatre review - a chilling surveillance state thriller

★★★ THE HAYSTACK, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE A chilling surveillance state thriller

This flawed but trenchant new spy drama asks who's watching the watchers

With counter-terrorism an urgent concern – and specifically how best to find, track and use the data of suspected threats, without sacrificing our privacy and civil liberties – it’s excellent timing for a meaty drama about the surveillance state.