TV and Culture Guide: What to Watch, Read and Listen to in March
There's plenty to look forward to this spring
On TV
AMANDALAND
If you loved Motherland, you have to watch Amandaland. It’s the show everyone’s talking about – and for good reason. Just as hilarious at Motherland but with a focus on the iconic character of Amanda, Lucy Punch has reprised her role and Amanda has relocated with her now teenagers to South Harlesden… So-Ha, if you will. Joanna Lumley is back too! We’ve binge-watched all episodes already, and now we demand the return of Motherland. Watch on Wednesdays at 9pm on BBC One or stream all episodes on BBC iPlayer.
Catch Up
ROBSON GREEN’S WEEKEND ESCAPES
We’ve been loving series three of Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes – and all episodes are now available on iPlayer. This time around he celebrates the North with Hexham-born celebrity chef Chris Baber, South Shields singer Joe McElderry and Yorkshire comedian Rosie Jones among many others.
In Cinemas
DISNEY’S SNOW WHITE
A live-action musical remake of the 1937 film, Disney’s Snow White is out in cinemas on 21st March with Rachel Zegler playing the title role. The film has received criticism since the release of its first teaser trailer last year but we’re intrigued to see the final product.
For International Women’s Day
BABYGIRL
Nicole Kidman plays Romy, a powerful, no-nonsense CEO who, on an impulse, enters into a risky relationship with an assertive new intern. With her marriage and reputation on the line, Romy is prepared to risk it all for the chance to give up control. Harris Dickinson plays opposite Kidman and has wowed critics as a relative newcomer.
Streaming on Prime Video
THE SUBSTANCE
Demi Moore gives a career-best performance in this topical, trippy film from French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat. A fading celebrity hits middle age and is offered the chance to become a younger, enhanced version of herself. But the substance comes with side effects, and youth can become a dangerous addiction.
Streaming on Apple TV
THE OUTRUN
Saoirse Ronan knows how to tug at the heartstrings and her new film is no different. We follow a young woman Rona who returns to her home in Orkney after years away in London where she has descended into alcoholism, leaving her homeless and without any friends for support. Slowly and painfully, she must pull her life back together in the unforgiving landscape she’d escaped in her youth.
Streaming on Apple TV
We Loved
HER BODY AMONG ANIMALS
Paola Ferrante
I picked this up during a reading slump, hoping a short story collection would thrill me out of it, and it didn’t disappoint. Set in a dark fairytale landscape where animals haunt the narrative both physically and metaphorically, the short stories are unified by their unflinching look at misogyny and ecology in our society. Part Black Mirror, part The Bloody Chamber, this creepy collection was a delight to read and the stories have a twisted, dreamlike quality that keeps you guessing until the final page. Stand-outs are When Foxes Die Electric, the tale of a robot who gains human emotion against the wishes of the man who created her, and The Silent Grave of Birds, in which a teenage boy is forced to confront his misdeeds.
PRIVATE RITES
Julia Armfield
The second novel from the author of Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia has emerged as a master of twisted realities. In Private Rites we’re introduced to a flooded world where it started to rain and never stopped again. As the waters continue to rise and normal life in the city begins to fracture, three almost-estranged sisters are thrown together when their father, a brilliant but severe pioneering architect, dies. This author is becoming a favourite of mine for her ability to weave elements of fantasy into an otherwise real and gritty world, and her nuanced understanding of sisterly dynamics packs a real punch.
On Our To Read List
NOBODY’S FOOL
Harlan Coben
A year on from the devastating events in Fool Me Once (catch up on Netflix), a secret from former Detective Sami Kierce's college days comes back to haunt him. It seems his past isn’t through with him yet. Find copies in all good bookshops from 25th March.
OUR INFINITE FATES
Laura Steven
In Northumberland author Laura Steven’s new novel (on sale now), Evelyn can remember all her past lives, and that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her 18th birthday. But she likes the life she’s in now and her sister needs her for a bone marrow transplant to stay alive. Now she’s got to find the centuries-old enemy who’s hunting her down, find our why she’s being hunted anyway, and try not to fall in love with them… again!
PISCES
James Arthur
On 21st March Teessider James Arthur is back with his sixth studio album, which he says will have a different feel to his previous work.
SWEET ILLUSIONS
Peter Capaldi
Peter Capaldi's second album Sweet Illusions is out on 28th March following the release of its first single, Bin Night, last September.
RUSHMERE
Mumford & Sons
The upcoming fifth studio album by British folk rock band Mumford & Sons will release on 28th March – their first album in nearly seven years!
