The Staircase, NOW review - addictive dramatisation of real-life murder investigation

★★★★ THE STAIRCASE, NOW Colin Firth visits the dark side as suspected killer Michael Peterson

Colin Firth visits the dark side as suspected killer Michael Peterson

The real-life case of Michael Peterson and the death of his wife Kathleen in 2001 has generated a steady stream of TV documentaries, though this new series from HBO Max (showing on NOW) is the first time anybody has actually dramatised the story. With Colin Firth as Michael and Toni Collette as Kathleen, it’s a compelling mix of conspiracy theory, forensic detective thriller and legal drama, bristling with false trails and tantalising clues.

The Outfit review - threadbare tailor-gangster yarn

★★ THE OUTFIT Mark Rylance lifts tale of cross-stitches and double-crosses in Fifties Chicago

Mark Rylance lifts a tale of cross-stitches and double-crosses in Fifties Chicago

“A man walks in,” Leonard (Mark Rylance) begins. “What about him can you observe? What does a man like to be? And who is he underneath?” Leonard is, in common parlance, a Savile Row tailor – “a cutter from the Row,” he insists – fetched up for murky reasons in 1958 Chicago, where his shop’s best customers are sharp-dressed Mob clan the Boyles.

Ambulance review – Michael Bay in excelsis

An emotionally vacant, absurd thrill-ride through the streets of LA

Speed in an ambulance? Gone In 60 Seconds meets Heat? Reports that Michael Bay’s lockdown-shot LA film would be an intimate, “character-based” drama don’t survive contact with the director’s high-concept, high-velocity MO.

Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story, Jermyn Street Theatre review - True Crime musical gets West End showcase

★★★ THRILL ME: THE LEOPOLD & LOEB STORY Child killers seduce us with charisma and song

Child killers seduce us with charisma and song

There's a lot of True Crime stuff about, so it's hardly a surprise to see Stephen Dolginoff's 2003 off-Broadway musical back on the London stage, a West End venue for the Hope Theatre's award-winning 2019 production. Whether one needs to see a pair of charismatic child killers given a platform to explain their crimes while the victim, Bobby Franks, is merely a name, his face as absent as it was after the acid was poured all over it – well, you can make your own judgement about that.

Landscapers, Sky Atlantic review - Olivia Colman and David Thewlis star as a pair of convicted killers

★★★ LANDSCAPERS, SKY ATLANTIC Is post-modern jokiness suitable for real-life murder mystery?

Is post-modern jokiness suitable for this real-life murder mystery?

In 2014, Susan and Christopher Edwards were jailed for a minimum of 25 years for the killing of Susan’s parents, William and Patricia Wycherley. They’d been shot dead in 1998, and lay buried in their garden at 2 Blenheim Close, Mansfield for 15 years.

Dopesick, Disney+ review - the harrowing inside story of America's OxyContin scandal

★★★★ DOPESICK, DISNEY+ How corporate greed rode roughshod over regulatory oversight

How corporate greed rode roughshod over regulatory oversight

“Drug companies are supposed to be honest,” says a lady from the Department of Justice, explaining why the US Food and Drug Administration had been treating the pharmaceutical industry with a light, indeed barely detectable, regulatory touch.