Radio: Sounds Of A City
The latest instalment of this occasional series offers a welcome look at Liverpool’s psychedelic hue, using the Teardrop Explodes’ classic Kilimanjaro as its jumping-off point. Taking in the local boosterism of DJ Roger Eagle and future KLF man Bill Drummond, it posits the theory that Liverpudlian music gained its sense of surrealism and hard-partying ethos from a willingness to embrace the city’s gay scene.
TV: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Susanna Clarke’s million-selling novel about magic in 1800s England has made an uneasy transition to TV, its mingling of the fantastical and historical requiring patience and goodwill to be truly enjoyable. But those who have stuck with it have been rewarded, with Bertie Carvel, Eddie Marsan and Marc Warren (pictured, above) a study in contrasting acting styles, and bravura special effects keeping the magic alive. Watch from episode two onwards on the iPlayer.
Audio: Mystery Show
It’s a good time to be a have-a-go-detective, with The Jinx and Serial showing that amateur sleuths can have as much of an impact on a case as the pros. This podcast from This American Life contributor Starlee Kine matches the intrepid investigative work of those shows, though the cases she takes on are of a slightly less pressing nature: the sudden disappearance of a local video store, the reasons behind Britney Spears being pictured with an unknown author’s novel. All very trivial, yet Kine has a great ability to draw a compelling story from inauspicious source material. Catch a new episode every Friday.
TV: Attack On Titan
Like Akira and Ghost In The Shell, this Japanese anime series, based on the manga of the same name, has captured the attention of the west, dominating cosplay conventions and inspiring a crossover comic-book with Marvel. Its premise is gloriously odd: humankind has become the prey of a race of grinning giants known as the Titans, and has been confined to a walled city as a result. When a Titan far bigger than has ever been seen before breaks through the city wall, three teens vow to wipe out it and the rest of its kind. Gruelling and gruesome, it’s nevertheless engrossing.
Netflix
Radio: Home Front Story Explorer
Radio 4’s Home Front is as ambitious as radio gets: a serial drama set over each of the first world war’s 1,500-odd days. This accompanying website allows you to explore the series’ many storylines in full, furnishing them with timelines, illustrations and historical context.
