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  It doesn't take a genius to work out why actors fall over themselves to work for Aaron Sorkin.  The creator of 'The West Wing' and writer of 'A Few Good Men' and 'The Social Network' has a great ear for dialogue and an instinctive nose for combative drama. His work always delivers scene chewing moments and his TV and movie output akways screams awards contender. So it comes as no surprise that his second outing as a director, 'The Trial of the Chicago Seven' has attracted a heavyweight cast. Joseph Gordon Levitt, Michael Keaton, Mark Rylance, Eddie Redmayne, Sacha Baron Cohen, Frank Langella, John Carroll Lynch, John Doman and Jeremy Strong are all accomplished actors with little to prove. In Sorkin's directorial follow-up to  'Molly's Game' , they simply lap up every word and milk it dry. The trial of the Chicago Seven in 1969 was one of those landmark moments where the cracks in the USA's political discourse were on full displ...

  "What will we do to become famous and dandy/Just like Amos and Andy?" That was the question posed by The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy of African American arrists in 1992. And it is a question still being asked 28 years later in Radha Blank's debut feature 'The 40 Year Version' - a withering look at how white expectations of African American artists often forces them to suppress their real voice and play to stereotypes. Blank draws upon her own life as a writer, producer and actress to reflect on the internal and external creative battle many artists face in their desperation to have their work performed. But the 44 year old also amusingly captures in this smart satire that moment when an artist's creative struggles converge with the sudden advancement of middle age. Blank plays Radha, a once promising playwright who won a 30 under 30 award at the start of her career but who has struggled to live up to expectations. Forced to earn her crust teaching theatr...

  There's something oddly comforting right now about TV programmes centred around travel. After eight months of Coronavirus restrictions and a summer where a lot of people chose to abandon their holidays abroad for something closer to home, watching Michael Palin or Richard Ayoade visiting other countries has offered us a glimpse of the world we once had and the freedom we would like to return to. Dramas like 'Normal People' and 'I May Destroy You' have served as a reminder during lockdown of the thrill of an experiencing another culture. And as we head into a difficult autumn and winter in the battle to contain Covid, David Nicholls' 'Us' on BBC1 provides a similar service - keeping the flame of a return to foreign travel flickering. Adapted by Nicholls from his 2014 novel, it is e ssentially the study of a floundering marriage and a European rail odyssey that might get it back on the tracks. Tom Hollander and Saskia Reeves play a middle aged couple, Do...

Now here's a novel thing - a TV drama that's an endurance test. The second instalment of HBO and Sky Atlantic's 'The Third Day' was a 12 hour live immersive theatre show which tested its audience's patience to the limits. (SPOILERS ALERT!!!) Broadcast on Sky Arts in Britain on October 3 with no ad breaks, directors Felix Barrett and Marc Munden's 'The Third Day: Autumn' picked the baton up from where the Summer episodes left off, with Jude Law facing the possibility that he might be a deity. Or was the grief stricken dad simply imagining it all? 'The Third Day' is that sort of show. Those watching the 12 hour episode who had followed 'The Third Day: Summer' were desperate for it to shed further light on whether Sam was a God or just mad. If you hadn't seen the previous instalment of the psychological horror drama, then good luck. It probably made about as much sense as Darren Aronofsky's horror film ' mother !' Those w...

  No-one should fault HBO, Sky Atlantic and Sky Arts for their ambition this autumn. One of their big tentpole dramas this autumn is the jointly commissioned 'The Third Day' - a three part, jey black psychological horror tale about a religious cult on an island in Essex. Divided into three productions, Felix Barrett and Dennis Kelly's miniseries is set over three seasons - Summer, Autumn and Winter. The first, Summer, boasts Jude Law as its lead and spans over three episodes. The second, Autumn, is an immersive 12-hour "as live" theatrical event set in Osea Island filmed in one take.  The final instalment, Winter, is three episodes long with Naomie Harris heading up the cast. In addition to Law and Harris, 'The Third Day' has Emily Watson, Paddy Considine and Katharine Waterston involved. Law plays Sam, the owner of a garden centre who has arranged to meet a planner he has agreed to bribe. The problem is the £40,000 he agreed to hand over in cash has been ...