7. Amadeus
The 1984 film Amadeus, in which the composer Antonio Salieri admits to jealously (and fictionally) causing the death of his far more gifted rival, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, won the Oscar for best picture and is now considered a classic. But there is a lot to be said for this sumptuous, more expansive adaptation, and especially for Will Sharpe’s savvy performance as Mozart. While Tom Hulce made the film’s character a giggling idiot savant, Sharpe depicts him as a high-spirited, selfish but self-aware artist. Paul Bettany plays Salieri, the role F Murray Abraham had in the film, and Rory Kinnear plays Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor. The series looks extravagant as it takes us into the royal court in 18th-Century Vienna, and of course is filled with glorious music. Joe Barton, the top-flight writer of Black Doves and Giri/Haji, has reenvisioned Peter Shaffer’s 1979 play.
Amadeus premieres 21 December on Sky Atlantic and Now in the UK
Netflix8. Stranger Things
This is truly the end, they really mean it, but the residents of Hawkins, Indiana and the Upside Down are certainly taking their time about leaving. This fifth and final season begins streaming in late November, three more episodes will arrive on Christmas Day, and the final episode ever will drop on Netflix internationally and also be shown in cinemas in the US and Canada on 31 December. “We do every last remaining thing we wanted to do with the Demogorgons and Mind Flayer and Vecna and the Upside Down,” Matt Duffer, who created the show with his brother, Ross, told Variety. It those names sound like gibberish to you, the good news is you don’t have to care anymore. And if you’re a fan, you can head into 2026 knowing that all your questions have been answered. Matt Duffer emphasized: “This is a complete story. It’s done.” But the Duffer brothers have a spin-off with different characters in the works, so even if evil Vecna is thwarted for good – hmmmm.
Stranger Things series five premieres on 26 November on Netflix internationally, with three more episodes coming on 25 December, then the finale on 31 December
Peacock9. The Copenhagen Test
Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) steps out of the Marvel-verse and into this sci-fi spy thriller set in the very near future, as an American intelligence analyst, Alexander Hale. One fine day he discovers that his brain has been hacked. Yes, his brain. Whoever wormed their way in can now access everything Hale sees and hears. He sets out to find the culprits while trying to prevent them from reading his mind, and along the way has to prove that he is not a double agent. Liu has said: “The audience will follow us through this kind of impossible tightrope of this kind of ‘Truman Show’ espionage.” Melissa Barrera and Brian D’Arcy James also star in the series, which has horror-master James Wan, co-creator of the Saw and Insidious film franchises, as an executive producer.
The Copenhagen Test premieres 27 December on Peacock in the US
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