TV and Culture Guide: What to Watch, Read and Listen to This February
From the return of Bridgerton and The Apprentice to the highly-anticipated new adaption of Wuthering Heights, here's everything you'll want to watch this February
Streaming Now
BRIDGERTON
Dearest gentle readers, Bridgerton is finally back on our screens! This time focus turns to Benedict Bridgerton and Sophie Baek’s romance. Never one for settling down, the mysterious Sophie (who sneaks into a glittering masquerade ball and captures his heart) could be the one to change that. Watch the first four episodes of series four now.
Netflix
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE: UK VS THE WORLD
International drag queens are hoping to impress RuPaul and do their countries proud in the new season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK vs the World. Alongside our local favourites, contestants are representing the US, Brazil, Thailand, Canada, Philippines, Mexico and Germany!
BBC One & BBC iPlayer (new episodes every Tuesday)
THE APPRENTICE
It’s back to the boardroom this month as a bunch of new candidates hope to win over Lord Sugar for a £250,000 investment in The Apprentice’s 20th series. Advisors Baroness Karren Brady and Tim Campbell will be the judge of that and this series kicks off with a task in Hong Kong.
BBC One & BBC iPlayer (new episodes every Thursday)
In Cinemas
HAMNET
This moody historical drama just won the Golden Globe for best drama and comes from director Chloé Zhao (who previously directed 2020’s Nomadland). We follow William Shakespeare and his wife Agnes Hathaway in the wake of their son Hamnet’s death, and discover its impact on the writing of Hamlet.
In cinemas now.
28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE
The second part of the hit post-apocalyptic horror is in cinemas now, taking us from recognisable North East locations to perhaps less recognisable Yorkshire locations (you can go behind the scenes of the first of these two instalments here). We join Spike who’s got himself caught up in a cult lead by Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell). But can Dr Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) protect him?
WUTHERING HEIGHTS
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the highly-anticipated brand-new adaptation of Wuthering Heights hits the big screen. Shot on location in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Australian actress Margot Robbie plays Cathy alongside Jacob Elordi’s Heathcliff.
In cinemas from 13th February.
We Loved
GIRLS TO THE FRONT
Lucy Nichol
Local author Lucy is known for her gripping novels with fierce female leads, but this is certainly her darkest yet. When Roma finds an old video tape she’s wrapped up in a deadly crime from 30 years ago, and we’re thrown to and fro between the ‘90s and present day as a mystery unfolds in this page-turning revenge thriller. Laced with music and pop culture references, two women’s stories shine a light on female rage and music industry misogyny in this powerful thriller which had me hooked.
Faye Dixon, Arts Editor
ATONEMENT
Ian McEwan
This book left me so heartbroken I felt ill. Told from the perspective of a grown-up Briony, we hear of her childhood spent on a sprawling English country estate on the eve of the Second World War, and how one genuine mistake unravels the lives of those closest to her. An undisputed modern classic, the author tackles the issues of guilt and forgiveness with a light hand, and the question of how much Briony is to blame remains open-ended. This book was beautifully adapted into a film starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, and a young Saoirse Ronan, and is definitely one to revisit.
Neave Herridge, Food Editor
On Our List
BRING ME LOVE
Icy Sedgwick
Tracing the history of love, from the 1469 witchcraft scandal where Duchess of Bedford was accused of using magic to secure her daughter’s marriage, to the rituals of Midsummer’s Eve and St Valentine’s Day, this new book is a celebration of the magic of love. Local folklorist and researcher Icy Sedgwick is the host of the Fabulous Folklore podcast and the author of 2023’s Rebel Folklore. Icy has given talks at the Lit & Phil, and Bart’s Pathology Museum in London, and hails from Newcastle.
WHEN WE WERE DIVIDED
Liz Flanagan
In 1643 Yorkshire, civil war divides the country. Jane mourns the departure of her last boy. Isabel is drawn into the rebel resistance with unexpected consequences that might mean disaster for Jane. Kit is left desperate and starving. As these three lives intertwine, each of them will be changed forever. Liz Flanagan is an award-winning author who lives in Hebden Bridge.
NORTHERN NEWS
Having recorded more than 100 episodes together, award-winning comedians Ian Smith and Amy Gledhill are well into series five of their critically-acclaimed comedy podcast Northern News. Ian, from Goole, shares more about the podcast’s success here.
HANGING OUT WITH ANT & DEC
Join Geordie duo Ant and Dec every week for a good laugh and catch up in their first ever podcast which launched in January. Listen to the first episode now where they discuss their dream dinner party guests, and Ant shares a recent encounter with a Hollywood star.
SECRET NORTH EAST
The BBC podcast Secret North East explores fascinating stories from across the region. In the most recent episode, Nick Roberts went down the cellar at the Low Lights Tavern in North Shields where there’s an ancient safe that no one can get into.
