Hijack, Apple TV+ review - trapped at 40,000 feet with a bunch of armed thugs

★★★ HIJACK, APPLE TV+ How is Idris Elba going to rescue his fellow-passengers from this?

How is Idris Elba going to rescue his fellow-passengers from this?

Probably because it’s a secret fear shared by many a flyer, aircraft hijacking has become its own screen mini-genre. We’ve already had not only Hijack but also Hijacked, not to mention the Wesley Snipes vehicle Passenger 57, Jodie Foster in Flightplan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 7500. In Air Force One, the President himself (played by Harrison Ford) was hijacked. And then there’s Liam Neeson in Non-Stop.

Master Gardener review - a Paul Schrader perennial

The auteur's latest masculine investigation dissects a haunted horticulturalist

Gardener Narvel (Joel Edgerton) sniffs soil the way Blue Velvet’s Frank inhaled gas, finding erasure and release. Following Ethan Hawke’s priest in First Reformed (2017) and Oscar Isaac’s titular job in The Card Counter (2021), Paul Schrader’s latest driven protagonist verges on absurd, finding solace in pruning before deploying his secateurs with a prior, particular set of skills.

Steeltown Murders, BBC One review - eloquent true-crime drama about tracking a serial killer 30 years on

How South Wales Police used DNA testing for the first time

The thought of yet another primetime true-crime series might weary the soul, even if it has been created by Ed Whitmore (Manhunt: Martin Clunes heading two cases as DI Colin Sutton), directed by Marc Evans (Hinterland: Wales’s contribution to modern noir) and stars Philip Glenister. More rapes and murders of young women from the archives? More cops with typewriters and a drinking habit being poorly led by myopic superiors?

Fatal Attraction, Paramount+ review - Adrian Lyne's bunny-boiler blockbuster expanded onwards and outwards

★★★★ FATAL ATTRACTION, PARAMOUNT+  A fascinating series trips over its own ambitions

A fascinating series which sometimes trips over its own ambitions

Directed by Adrian Lyne, Fatal Attraction was the biggest-grossing film of 1987, and gave the world the term “bunny boiler”. Lyne isn’t aboard for Paramount’s new eight-part series, but the film’s screenwriter James Dearden is a major script contributor alongside the show’s creators Kevin J Hynes and Alexandra Cunningham.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, ITV1 review - Agatha Christie gets a tense and twisty reworking by Hugh Laurie

★★★★ WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS? Christie gets a tense, twisty reworking by Hugh Laurie

Lucy Boynton and Will Poulter shine as a pair of intrepid amateur sleuths

With Magpie Murders currently airing on BBC One, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? is another gem from the BritBox stable, where it made its debut last year. Its secret weapon is Hugh Laurie, who’s all over it as screenwriter, director and actor.

Magpie Murders, BBC One review - zinging TV adaptation of Anthony Horowitz's bestseller

★★★★★ MAGPIE MURDERS, BBC ONE Zinging TV adaptation of Anthony Horowitz's bestseller

Not only a whodunnit, but also a two-dunnit

Finding a fresh twist on the traditional detective mystery is virtually impossible, but Anthony Horowitz has made a bold stab at it with Magpie Murders. This TV adaptation (which appeared on the BritBox streaming platform last year) has been masterminded by Horowitz from his 2016 bestseller, which ingeniously features two interlocking stories, one set in the present day and one in the 1950s.

Infinity Pool review - it's like The White Lotus on bad acid

★★★ INFINITY POOL Brandon Cronenberg's nightmare journey into horror-tourism

Brandon Cronenberg's third feature is a nightmare journey into horror-tourism

Director Brandon Cronenberg has inherited his father David’s eye for the twisted and the sinister. After the creepy mind-meld dystopia of 2020’s Possessor, Infinity Pool finds Cronenberg turning his attention to horror-tourism. It’s like The White Lotus on bad acid.

Play Dead review - chills, thrills and stolen body parts

Patrick Lussier's thriller is low-budget but never cheap

The moral of this story is that if you’re going out to commit a robbery, don’t take your iPhone with you. This was the grave error committed by TJ (Anthony Turpel) and his friend Ross (Chris Lee), whose attempted heist was foiled by an angry shotgun-toting citizen. TJ managed to get away, but Ross – carrying the iPhone containing incriminating evidence of the pair’s guilt – was shot and left for dead.

Blu-ray: Miami Blues

★★★★ BLU-RAY: MIAMI BLUES Alec Baldwin balances goofiness & danger in a rollicking 90s noir

Alec Baldwin balances goofiness and danger in a rollicking, eccentric Nineties noir

Junior (Alec Baldwin) peers through his airplane window at fluffy clouds with childish wonder, then a wolfish grin of opportunity. He turns to practising the signature from his latest mark’s stolen wallet, with Miami below for the taking.

The Gold, BBC One review - gripping dramatisation of the 1983 Brink's-Mat bullion robbery

★★★★★ THE GOLD, BBC ONE Gripping dramatisation of the 1983 Brink's-Mat bullion robbery

You can't always tell the difference between the police and the thieves

The raid on the Brink’s-Mat warehouse at Heathrow in November 1983 has entered the folklore of British crime and criminology. The gang of six armed robbers had expected to find £3m in cash, but instead got away with £26m worth of gold bullion. The story of what happened to the loot, the thieves and their associates remains at least partially swathed in mystery to this day.