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The streaming year is off to flier. For anyone who’s spent the dark winter months hibernating at home in their downtime, Netflix, BBC, HBO, Apple TV and all those other giants of small-screen entertainment have really delivered on the assignment. To help us hunker down with shows to dispel the winter blues or, in the case of Netflix’s bleak and brutal American Primeval, make them slightly worse – albeit in thunderously widescreen style. And there’s plenty more ahead. Apple TV has The Studio, Seth Rogen’s eagerly-awaited, cameo-packed Hollywood satire, Netflix has announced the finale of Squid Game this summer, along with the end of Stranger Things, more Black Mirror, a second run of Tim Burton’s Wednesday and about a zillion other things, while Disney+ delivers another series of Andor, arguably the standout show of 2022. Here’s everything you need to see... so far. You’re gonna need a comfier couch.RECOMMENDED: 🎥 The 50 best movies of 2025 (so far)🔥 The best TV and streaming shows to watch in 2025📺 The 100 greatest ever TV shows you need to binge

No one had high expectations for Andor when it first aired on Disney+ in 2022: yet another Star Wars show, this time focusing on a second-string character from Rogue One (albeit one of the best and most acclaimed movies in the series). But in the hands of Bourne trilogy screenwriter Tony Gilroy, this galactic runt grew into something truly colossal: an epic of armed rebellion that’s not just the most exciting Star Wars story since The Empire Strikes Back, but a forensic and timely examination of the mechanics of resistance and what it means to stand up against fascism. The show’s second and final season starts this month, tracking the exploits of Rebel spy Cassian Andor – played by Diego Luna – across four years, as he wrestles both with the rise of the Empire and his own increasingly troubled conscience. We sat down with showrunner Gilroy to discuss his time on the series, from first concepts to the stunning second season – and why you can’t say ‘fuck’ in a galaxy far, far away… Photograph: Des Willie/© 2024 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in season 2 Are you done with the Star Wars universe now? I think I’ve earned my stripes! It’s been 10 years, so I think that I've contributed enough. With this show we're really trying to pick up a different audience – one that won't watch because it's Star Wars. I want people to know that you don't have to know anything to come into the show and start watching it from the beginning. It's designed that way. My wife is totally Star Wars averse – she was very suspicious of this show all the way through, and she’s hooked. At the same time, I always knew we were asking a lot from the existing Star Wars community. But I wanted the people who were most reluctant in that community, even if they didn't like what we were doing, to at least say we weren’t half-assing it. We’re not making fun of it. It’d be a crime to take something that so many people care about and fuck with it carelessly. Who else is going to get this much money to tell a story about revolution? George Lucas never hid the fact that Star Wars had real world relevance, in the case of the first movie he was thinking about Vietnam. Was that a source of inspiration going into this? Sure. I mean, it’s baked into the tapestry of it. For me, it was a combination of two things. One was being offered this enormous canvas, this incredible opportunity. It was always just this gigantic thing, the resources were seemingly unlimited. And the second is that it's a story about revolution, and the making of a revolutionary. I’ve been an amateur idiot home historian forever. I’m fascinated by the Russian Revolution, the French Revolution, Thomas Paine, Oliver Cromwell, Mao. But I’d been fascinated with no hope of ever using it. When would I ever get to use it? And then here’s this. Who else is going to get to do this? Who else is going to get this much money and this big a canvas to tell a story about revolution? So that’s really the reason I tiptoed in. Photograph: © 2024 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.Dilan (Théo Costa Marini), Andor (Luna) and Enza Rylanz (Alaïs Lawson) Did you have any doubts that you’d be allowed to tell the story you wanted to tell? No, I’m too old and too smart for that. I really like making sure that people are talking about the same thing I’m talking about. I certainly wrote the first episode before we closed any deals. ‘I want him to go to a brothel. Then he’s gonna get rousted by two rentacops and he’s gonna have to kill them. Is that okay?’ It sounds insane, but we really had no creative notes on the show whatsoever. We were really allowed to go free range. We had economic restrictions from time to time, but other than changing one word in the show, no one ever really said, ‘Hey, wait a minute!’ Can you say what that word was?  Yeah, ‘fuck’. We had a few in the show. ‘Fuck the Empire!’ And I wrote a legal brief, basically, a memo about why I thought it was valuable and how I could justify its existence, and why, as a marketing tool and everything else, it was worthwhile. But they didn’t want to do it. I noticed a ‘shit’ sneaking through in one of the recent episodes.  Yeah, that was all right. That’s permissible. Photograph: © 2024 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) How much were you looking at events in the real world when you were writing? Because a lot of what happened in season 1 is even more timely now. I mean, I live in the world. But I was not looking at the newspaper to [make the show]. If you’re trying to write a movie about current events, it's not going to come out for five years. And then, who knows where we are? The digestive system of making and distribution is so long. I’m not psychic and it’s a fool’s game to try to pin the tail on the moment. Plus, I already had everything I needed: 6000 years of recorded history.  Andor feels like a very cine-literate show. Were there particular films that inspired you? It felt like you’d been watching Army of Shadows and A Room in Town a lot. Totally, both of those, and Battle of Algiers. I just introduced a film on TCM, I was trying to find one that would relate to Andor and I came across this movie called This Land is Mine, this Charles Laughton film that [Jean] Renoir made in Hollywood in 1943. And it’s as if they did the Reader’s Digest version of so many things we’re doing in Andor. It was fascinating.  But there were two TV shows that I looked at: a series called A French Village, which is about seven years [of village life] under the Nazi occupation. And Babylon Berlin (below), which influenced us heavily. The idea that you could do something that beautiful, and that intense. That really rang my bell in a big way – that show really got to me. Photograph: © X Filme Creative Pool Entertainment GmbH / Degeto Film GmbH / Beta Film GmbH / Sky Deutschland GmbH 2017‘Babylon Berlin’ was a key ‘Andor’ touchpoint Was it important to you to show the challenges inherent in resistance? That it’s not just running around blowing things up? Yeah, I was always fascinated by things like where my characters get money from. Because every revolution I ever read about, the primary concern is where the resources come from. Benjamin Franklin went to Paris to beg for money. Or you’ve got Lenin begging Stalin to rob another bank. But nobody ever deals with that. You also depict the media as a key tool of this oppressive state. Propaganda is where it’s at. I mean, the Gulf of Tonkin Incident got America into Vietnam. Burn the Reichstag, then you can round up all the Communists and the Jews you want. All these false flags. You’re not telling the full story of revolution without it.  We watched the Empire take down Aldhani in the first season. We watched them take down Ferrix. This time we wanted to show something else. How do you take down something that’s really big and substantial and important? To not have the state use the media to control the narrative would be an absence. You’d be asking, why didn’t I do that? It’d be a crime to take something so many people care about and fuck with it  It’s not a massive spoiler to say that not all the characters will survive season 2. How does it feel to kill off a character you’ve spent so long developing?  It’s hard to call the actors. I almost found myself getting a little too soft about it, because I didn’t want to do it. It’s a tough call to make to an actor and say, like in On the Waterfront, ‘It’s not your night, sorry. Don’t make plans. But at the same time, I’m gonna make it great. It’s gonna be worth it and people are gonna really miss you.’ Photograph: Des Willie/© 2024 Lucasfilm Ltd™Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) in season 2 I understand you saw Star Wars when it was first released. What was that like?  It was a really hot day in 1977 and I was in Boston. I saw it at a matinee. I went with my roommate and a woman he was dating who was an emergency room nurse. The three of us went and I remember the day vividly. It was an event, you know? It’s so cool when movies are an event. I miss that feeling. Given that TV can tell stories like this now, with basically the same VFX as movies and on a much larger scale, what future do you see for cinema? I wrote a movie last year that I’ve been trying to get off the ground but it’s really scary out there, man. It's really scary. I’m having trouble raising money. A number that two years ago would have been an easy number, all of a sudden seems terrifying. I don’t know what will happen.  But as dire as it seems, as horrible and shitty as it all is, there are some bright spots. There’s an audience there, but it's fragmented. It’s all over the place. I mean, go to a restaurant. Eavesdrop. All people talk about is what they’re watching. That’s all they talk about. So how can things be bad? Do you think current events will have a chilling effect on Hollywood? Is it simply harder to create when the world is so crazy? I don’t know. I’m in it. We’re all in it. It's hard to figure out where you are when everything’s spinning around. Find out where Andor lands on our list of the greatest TV shows ever made. The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far).

In a genre dominated by the classics like ER and long-running titles like Grey’s Anatomy (currently in its twenty-first season), Max medical drama The Pitt has become somewhat of a dark horse.  Showered with stellar reviews and already renewed for a second season, The Pitt recreates the tension of a single day in a Pittsburgh hospital. The 15-hour work shift plays out in 15 pulse-pounding episodes, the workplace chaos mirroring the intensity of The Bear’s kitchen nightmares and The Studio’s one-take moviemaking madness.  So, expect waiting rooms filled to the brim with patients, med students passing out at gnarly sights, and an understaffed medic team racing against time. For a show almost entirely playing out in a hospital, The Pitt’s newly converted fans would wonder about the locations that double for the series’s many emergency rooms and care facilities. More importantly, the question of the hour: Is the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital ER (aka ‘The Pitt’) real? Photograph: Warrick Page/MAXAyesha Harris, Noah Wyle and Ken Kirby in ‘The Pitt’ What is The Pitt about?  Premiering this January, The Pitt stars ER alumnus Noah Wyle as senior emergency physician Dr Michael ‘Robby’ Robinavitch as he grapples with a single 15-hour work shift.  Each of the 15 episodes covers one hour of this arduous shift, with Robby and his overworked staff combating staff shortages, underfunding and post-pandemic blues.  With its real-time approach and Wyle’s committed lead performance, The Pitt has become a streaming sensation, defying the usual sappy hospital drama tropes. Yes, Robby is a doc with a lot of emotional baggage of his own, but he also has an arduous day ahead of him that unfurls in binge-worthy chaos.  Where was The Pitt filmed?  The medical drama was mainly filmed on an LA soundstage, along with some real-life hospitals making brief appearances. And yes, for a series called The Pitt, Pittsburgh also features. Despite each episode’s reported $5 million budget, the series kept location costs under control thanks to its single-setting storyline.   Photograph: Warrick Page/MAXThe trauma centre set used for ‘The Pitt’ is on the Warner Bros. lot in LA Los Angeles The heart of the action lies in a Warner Bros. sound stage in Los Angeles, one of many that the studio keeps ready for network television. The stage works as the hospital’s Emergency Department for the show’s intense, Steadicam-style sequences. With a budget of over $5 million per episode, HBO chairman and CEO Casey Bloys told Vulture that there wasn’t much of a debate on filming elsewhere or shooting in more affordable locations like Canada (where Max’s streaming hit The Last of Us was filmed).  Photograph: MAXNoah Wyle and Shawn Hatosy on the roof of Allegheny General Hospital Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh Three days of filming were also devoted to Pittsburgh’s actual Allegheny General Hospital. The institution dates back to 1882 and stands in for the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. Allegheny’s entrance is used with new signage along with its helipad.  The standout rooftop scene from the pilot episode was also shot here with Dr.  Robby and Dr. Abbott (Shawn Hatosy). With Pittsburgh’s East Coast skyline in the backdrop, Abbott contemplates taking his life as he stands dangerously close to the edge of the roof. This is the result of yet another gruelling shift in the Pitt. Spoiler alert: Abbott survives as Robby sarcastically remarks, ‘If you jump on my shift, that’s just rude, man.’ Photograph: Warrick Page/MAXRobby (Wyle) walks into PTMC Pittsburgh Many other real-world environments in Pittsburgh feature throughout the series, particularly in the opening episode, as we see Robby head to work. Before he starts his hellish day shift at the hospital, Robby is greeted with establishing shots of the Steel City waking up to work.  Some aerial views also give a wide-scale look at the Pittsburgh skyline with glimpses of plenty of skyscrapers, such as the 64-story US Steel Tower, and Carnegie Mellon University’s Mellon Institute (which stood in for Gotham City Hall in The Dark Knight Rises).  Photograph: Warrick Page/MAXRobby Robinavitch (Wyle) and Dr Heather Collins (Tracy Ifeachor) Who stars in the show? Noah Wyle (ER) returns to the medical drama genre as Robby, a senior physician grieving the death of his mentor, who died during the pandemic. In a move that would impress Hugh Laurie’s Dr House, Robby’s idealism in the workspace also comes with brutal honesty and sarcastic bluntness. Battling his own demons and leading an understaffed team, Wyle’s Robby is an unlikely hero in a very real setting. Wyle previously broke out as the medical student-turned-resident doctor John Carter in ER, earning three Golden Globe and five Emmy nominations. The rest of the cast includes Tracy Ifeachor (The Originals) as Dr Heather Collins, a senior resident who’s usually displeased with Robby’s impulsive nature, and Katherine LaNasa (Truth Be Told) as Dana Evans, a nurse in charge of the ED. The series’ medical ensemble also includes newcomers like Patrick Ball as Robby’s right-hand, Dr Frank Langdon, and Supriya Ganesh as Dr Samira Mohan, a third-year resident.  Will there be a second season of The Pitt Yes, season 2 has already been commissioned on the back of its massive US ratings. Where can I watch The Pitt? All 15 episodes of The Pitt season 1 are streaming on Max in the US and Binge in Australia now. There’s no firm date for a UK release yet.  Best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far). Where was Adolescence filmed? Behind the scenes on the Netflix smash hit drama.

Since 2011, Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror has been entertaining us with unforgettable, often unnerving sci-fi dystopias. Now back for its seventh run, the Netflix anthology series is treading scarily close to reality, delving into topical concepts like AI-generated filmmaking and subscription-based, ad-revenue-driven healthcare.  Starring Issa Rae, Paul Giamatti, Cristin Milioti and many others, the new season delivers all the usual sleek sci-fi storytelling and retro-futuristic aesthetics. Brace yourself for another surreal, mind-bending journey into the Brooker’s The Twilight Zone.   Image: NetflixUSS Callister: Into Infinity What is Black Mirror season 7 about?  The new season pays several nods to previous episodes, building some sort of shared universe. For instance, episode 4 (titled Plaything) follows Peter Capaldi’s ageing gamer who has past connections with Bandersnatch – the 2018 standalone interactive film that allowed audiences to choose multiple endings. Similarly, the season finale USS Callister: Into Infinity acts as a direct sequel to the season 4’s USS Callister.   This season is also heavy on the human side of technology with the moving opener Common People. The episode follows a married couple struggling with finances as they face a healthcare tech plan that keeps on rolling out more and more premium features, each update followed by a higher subscription fee. Then there’s the Severance-style workplace dramedy Bête Noire which has a chocolate company executive’s life turning upside down as the reality around her starts distorting. Episode 5, Eulogy, is more hard-hitting with a man revisiting his past by literally stepping into photographs.  There are echoes of fan-favourite episode San Junipero in the third episode – Hotel Reverie – as an A-lister actress gets the opportunity to act in a black-and-white Hollywood classic. The catch? She’s thrown inside the film through AI-assisted methods, communicating with the Golden Age characters in real-time. Think of it as a reverse Truman Show.   Where was Black Mirror season 7 filmed? As with most of Black Mirror, the majority of season 7 was filmed in England – mainly London, Kent and Buckinghamshire. The season opener Common People, filmed in Canada, is the exception… Photograph: Netflix Vancouver, British Columbia In Common People, Vancouver was used as the workplace for both episode leads Mike (Chris O’Dowd) and Amanda (Rashida Jones). Mike can be seen working a construction job at North Vancouver’s Allied Shipyards, while Amanda is a school teacher at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Elementary. Coquitlam, Canada Despite their professional and financial tussles, Mike and Amanda make time for an anniversary visit to their favourite haunt, Juniper Inn. Coquitlam’s Swiss Canadian Mountain Range Association doubles as the inn in the episode. Photograph: Netflix Bath Road, Slough Bête Noire was mostly filmed in Slough. The office of Savorita, an international chocolate company where the lead character Maria (Siena Kelly) works as a top executive, was shot here.  Finchampstead, Wokingham While Maria’s flat is decent enough, her former classmate-turned-co-worker Verity (Rosy McEwen) lives in a palatial gated mansion known as Woolcombe Manor. The fictional manor is an actual property at Finchampstead, a parish in the Borough of Wokingham.   Photograph: NetflixHotel Reverie was filmed partly in Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, London  The third episode Hotel Reverie is the most stylish chapter in the season. While the episode’s hotel is based in Cairo in a Casablanca-style vintage film, Kingston upon Thames provided the locales for the hotel rooms and reception. The interiors are furnished lavishly to match the setting of a black-and-white period piece as Brandy Friday (Issa Rae) tries to woo yesteryear actress Dorothy (Emma Corrin). Photograph: NetflixBrandy Friday (Issa Rae) and Dorothy (Emma Corrin) in Hotel Reverie Chenies Manor, Hertfordshire Another fancy location in Hotel Reverie is Chenies Manor, which features in an exterior shot. A Tudor country house dating back to the 15th century, Chenies has appeared in numerous films and TV shows, including Enola Holmes, Killing Eve and The Crown.  Photograph: NetflixPeter Capaldi in Plaything Thamesmead, London South east London’s Thamesmead is the Brutalist backdrop to Peter Capaldi episode Plaything. One scene finds him walking past a Bazalgette Way underpass. Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum, London The life of Capaldi’s ageing game takes a turn when he gets addicted to a life-simulation video game and psychedelics. A drug-fuelled tube ride was filmed in one of the 1967 Victoria Line carriages at the Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum. The retro carriage is available for hire, and also hosts dinners.  Epping Forest, Snaresbrook Road, London When Capaldi’s character hides some evidence in the woods, he’s actually in Epping Forest, 2,400 hectares of woodland on the outskirts of London and Essex. Photograph: NetflixWill Poulter in Plaything Heinz Headquarters, Hayes Park, London  You’ll find the Tuckersoft building in the old Heinz building in west London. Inaugurated in 1962 and designed by American architect Gordon Bunshaft, its haunting aura is perfect for establishing exterior shots of the Tuckersoft office. Tuckersoft will need a new HQ, however: the site is currently being converted into a residential complex. Photograph: NetflixPaul Giamatti prepping for a scene in Eulogy Beacon House, Whitstable In Eulogy, it’s implied that ageing loner Phillip (Paul Giamatti) lives in the US. In reality, you’ll find his home in the pretty Kentish town of Whitstable. The wooden clapboard abode, Beacon House, is on Tankerton Beach and you can rent it for a weekend by the sea with a sci-fi twist.  Photograph: Herne Bay Pier TrustHerne Bay Pier Herne Bay Pier, Kent  As Phillip steps into the photographs from his past, on them takes him to a pier in Massachusetts’s Cape Cod. That memory is replicated at Herne Bay Pier, a tourist attraction in Kent.  Shacklewell Arms, London One of London’s most beloved live music venues, east London’s Shacklewell Arms cameos in Eulogy. Looking back at a photo from 1991, Phillip recollects the time when his band played an underground gig (shortly before splitting up, like all great bands do). Photograph: The VictoriaThe Victoria The Victoria, London  The Queensridge Road pub appears in one of the several photographed scenarios in Eulogy. Renamed The Undervault, the pub is the setting of an eventful Halloween party where tensions between Phillip and Carol start to show. 1 Lombard Street Brasserie & Restaurant, London Phillip and Carol’s strained relationship finally breaks down at a tense dinner. This culinary tragedy plays out at 1 Lombard Street, an elegant brasserie in the City of London. Sheraton Hotel, Heathrow The episode pivots on the revelation of a long-ago romantic rendezvous. The sequence takes place at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel near Heathrow Airport. Photograph: NetflixPaul Giamatti in Euology West London Crematorium, Kensal Green Cemetery True to its name, Eulogy ends on a funeral. A teary Phillip attends the service at this London crematorium. Primrose Street, London Season finale USS Callister: Into Infinity is a direct sequel to season 4’s USS Callister. Primrose Street was used for the exteriors of video game giant Callister Inc.’s offices. Photograph: NetflixUSS Callister: Into Infinity was partly filmed in Black Park Black Park, Buckinghamshire  While USS Callister shifted between the human offices and the eponymous spacecraft, the sequel takes the action to different planets inside the game. One of them is the densely forested Pixie Planet – actually Buckinghamshire’s Black Park. Photograph: NetflixUSS Callister: Into Infinity’s dusty planet was actually Mynnd Parys in Wales Mynnd Parys, Wales Like their Star Trek inspirations, the crew of the USS Callister journeys to distant planets. One of them was filmed at this suitably alien-looking copper mine in Wales. The mine’s rugged exterior was perfect for the episode’s other-worldly nature. In fact, Mynnd Parys dates back to the Early Bronze Age – making it more than 4000 years old. Who stars in Black Mirror’s new season? Black Mirror doesn’t hold back on A-list ensembles and season 7 is no exception. Chris O’Dowd and Rashida Jones star as married lovebirds in the first episode, reuniting after their 2014 romcom Cuban Fury. Elsewhere, Hotel Reverie is led by Issa Rae (Insecure) and Emma Corrin (The Crown) as actresses from different eras. Eulogy is mostly a two-person affair, fronted by emotional performances by Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti and Spanish-British actress Patsy Ferran (Mickey 17). Peter Capaldi leads Plaything as a gaming genius gone rogue with cameos from Bandersnatch’s Will Poulter and Asim Chaudhry.USS Callister: Into Infinity also brings back faces from its prequel, from Cristin Milioti (The Penguin) to Jesse Plemons (Kinds of Kindness). Where can I watch Black Mirror season 7? All six episodes are streaming on Netflix now. Watch the trailer below. The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far).  The 101 greatest TV shows ever made.

How do you recreate a long-gone corner of street-level New York? For Daredevil: Born Again, a Marvel renaissance full of broken glass and broken bones, the answer lay across the city. Hell’s Kitchen, the spiritual home of blind lawyer/vigilante Matt Murdock, is a bit too gentrified these days to do justice to the grimy, scary corner of Manhattan prowled by Daredevil, the Punisher, Kingpin and the other OGs from Stan Lee’s comic book.  Instead, the Marvel production followed the example of Netflix’s 2015-2018 Daredevil run and redressed other corners of the city to create its grungy, ’70s-tinged Hell’s Kitchen. Here’s how they did it – and everything else you need to know about the much-anticipated Disney+ series.   Photograph: Marvel TelevisionMatt Murdock and Wilson Fisk face off What is Daredevil: Born Again about? The series follows the yin-and-yang extremes of blind lawyer Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox, reprising the role he took on for three Netflix series). His courtroom struggles for justice are augmented by some very literal, and very bruising, crime fighting in Hell’s Kitchen as superhero Daredevil. For Murdock, balance is never easy to strike and a sense of Catholic guilt eats away at him as he dispatches goons by the truckload.  The new series reunites him with an old nemesis: Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio), a man who carries a similar dark passenger in his psychotic, ambitious alter ego Kingpin. This time, Fisk holds political office and is looking to sweep vigilantism off the streets – especially with a serial killer called Muse, a street artist with a nasty habit of using his victim’s blood for murals, on the loose. It’s about what happens when the system starts to break down ‘These people are inextricably linked,’ says D’Onofrio of Fisk and Murdock’s temporary truce in Empire magazine. ‘That link is violent and toxic and scary and bleeds over into their lives. They define each other. We did a version off that I haven’t seen before.’ ‘It’s a story about two larger-than-life figures,’ adds executive producer Sana Amanat. ‘It’s also the story of New York City and what happens when the system starts to break down and good people are taken in by bad ideas.’ Cox calls this new Daredevil ‘more visceral’ – an understatement judging by the trailer – while ‘a romcom with punching’ is showrunner Dario Scardapane’s more tongue-in-cheek description.  Photograph: Giovanni Rufino/MarvelMatt Murdock (Charlie Cox) in action as Daredevil Where was Daredevil: Born Again filmed?  Like the Netflix run, and unlike the Ben Affleck Daredevil of 2003, which found its Hell’s Kitchen in LA, Daredevil: Born Again has built its version of Murdock’s gritty Manhattan enclave from a patchwork of New York locations. ‘Out the Kitchen’ was the show’s apt production name.And ‘grounded’ is the word most often used to describe a show that prides itself on taking you on a street-level tour of a tumultuous, urban corner of the Marvelverse. ‘It was important for us to shoot practical shots on the streets of New York,’ stresses director Jeffrey Nachmanoff. Here’s where they did it. Photograph: Giovanni Rufino/MarvelWilson Fisk‘s Gracie Mansion office was filmed at Silvercup Studios Silvercup Studios, Queens A studio that was once home to The Sopranos, this Queens hub played an integral role in Born Again, hosting the sets for Muse’s lair, as well as Wilson Fisk’s home and mayoral office. Those builds were based on the real mayor’s residence: the federal-style Gracie Mansion in Manhattan’s Yorkville neighbourhood – right down to the wallpaper prints. ‘The real Gracie Mansion feels like it’s like somebody’s grandmother’s house,’ says production designer Michael Shaw. it’s hilarious to see this powerful figure (Wilson Fisk) in such a delicate world.’ Photograph: ShutterstockYonkers City Hall Yonkers City Hall The picturesque Westchester County landmark is another municipal buildings used in Born Again. Filming took place outside the building in March 2023, with the location used as a surrogate for several government building. ‘We realised that what happens in the political and social systems in a place like New York City is as interesting as anything that happens in the other-worldly scale of an Avengers movie,’ explains executive producer Brad Winderbaum of those municipal settings. View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Curious Uptowner (@thecuriousuptowner) Harlem Filming in March 2023, the Daredevil crew took to the streets of Harlem, a key location in everything from Spike Lee joints to Die Hard With a Vengeance, ‘The great thing about shooting in New York City is that it can be as big or as small as you want it to be,’ says exec producer Sana Amanatand. ‘We wanted to make the city its own character.’   Photograph: Giovanni Rufino/MarvelMatt Murdock in Brooklyn Williamsburg, Brooklyn The so-hip-it-hurts Brooklyn suburb hosted the so-violent-it-hurts show in March 2023. The Netflix Daredevil made heavy use of the area too: local dive bar The Turkey’s Nest was turned into Josie’s Bar, a key Matt, Foggy and Karen hangout, in the three-season run. ‘You capture the energy of New York and that bleeds into the fabric of the series and tone of the story,’ says Shaw of the location work. ‘Shooting in the city gives you the size and scope where you could really believe that a person like Wilson Fisk could become mayor.’ Photograph: ShutterstockManhattan Municipal Building Manhattan Municipal Building  This iconic 40-story edifice, aka the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building, appears in the show. It has Daredevil comic-book history, too: a vast Muse graffiti is daubed on the building in Daredevil #597 (2018). Should we expect that scene to play out again here?  Photograph: Giovanni Rufino/MarvelDeborah Ann Woll is back as Karen Page Who stars in the show? Alongside Cox and D’Onofrio, two other veterans from the Netflix Daredevil run are returning in Elden Henson and Deborah Ann Woll. The pair play Murdock’s allies and friends Foggy Nelson and Karen Page. ‘You can’t do this show without Karen and Foggy,’ Scardapane tells Empire. ‘They’re Matt’s family.’ Newcomers this time out include Severance’s Nikki James, who plays Kirsten Mcduffie, a former New York City DA, and Margarita Levieva. The Acolyte star plays therapist Heather Glenn, Matt Murdock’s love interest in Born Again. Photograph: Marvel TelevisionLegal eagles Foggy Nelson (Elden Henson) and Kirsten Mcduffie (Nikki James) Ayelet Zurer (Man of Steel) plays Fisk’s guileful wife Vanessa, who wrestles with her long-missing husband’s sudden return. Jon Bernthal is also back as Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, and the man most likely to punch literally any other character through the nearest wall. Also appearing, posthumously, is Kamar de los Reyes who plays martial art guru Hector Ayala, aka White Tiger. Tragically, the Puerto Rican actor passed away in December 2023. The second episode is dedicated to his memory. Where can I watch Daredevil: Born Again? The first two episodes of the nine-episode run land on Disney+ at 6pm PT/ 9pm March 4 in the US, and at 12am on March 5 in the UK. Additional episodes land weekly at the same time, except on March 25/26 when two episodes will drop. Episode 9 will drop on April 15/16. Will there be a second season of Daredevil? Yes, and filming is already underway. According to an interview with Collider, it will have eight episodes.  How Best Picture winner Anora put this unusual New York neighbourhood on the map.The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far).

Sometimes a Netflix binge comes along that stops you in your tracks, that demands you stop scrolling and really lock in.  Adolescence is one of those – a gritty, gripping and deeply empathetic crime drama that will speak to a nation shocked by rising knife crime rates among Britain’s young people. To add to its hefty bona fides, it comes from the team behind 2021 restaurant thriller Boiling Point – and its BBC spinoff series: co-writers Jack Thorne (Help) and Stephen Graham, who also stars, and director Philip Barantini. They bring their hyper-kinetic, all-in-one-take approach to an even more heavyweight story of a teenage boy accused of murdering a classmate. Photograph: NetflixOwen Cooper as Jamie Miller and Stephen Graham as dad Eddie What is Adolescence about?  Adolescence follows the intense fallout when a 13-year-old called Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) is arrested for the murder of a teenage girl from his school. Told over four episodes in real time and via four continuous shots, it follows the key players in the drama: not just Jamie, but his dad Eddie (Graham), as well as the investigating detective (Ashley Walters) and the clinical psychologist assigned to Jamie’s case (The Crown’s Erin Doherty). ‘We could have made a drama about gangs and knife crime, or about a kid whose mother is an alcoholic or whose father is a violent abuser,’ says Graham. ‘Instead, we wanted you to look at this family and think, “My God. This could be happening to us!” And what’s happening here is an ordinary family’s worst nightmare.’ Photograph: NetflixStephen Graham in ‘Adolescence’ Where was Adolescence filmed? While most TV series can jump around from location to location without worrying too much about the distance between them (see: Toward Zero, Out There and Playing Nice), Adolescence’s unique one-take approach meant that all of its locations had to sit cheek-by-jowl with one another so the actors – and camera – could travel between them in real time. ‘Basically that means we press record on the camera, and we don’t press stop until the very end of the hour,’ explains director Philip Barantini. ‘But it’s much more complicated than it sounds. It takes months of preparation and weeks of rehearsals and an incredible team of people to pull it off at every stage, from the script to the locations to the production design to where exactly the camera is going to be able to shoot and from what angle.’  Photograph: NetflixAshley Walters as DI Luke Bascombe Pontefract, West Yorkshire Much of Adolescence was filmed in Pontefract in the West Yorkshire city of Wakefield. The decision was partly influenced by the casting of its young lead, Owen Cooper, who hails from Warrington, 60-odd miles away. ‘We knew it was going to be set somewhere in the north of England,’ says Barantini, ‘and we also knew it would be from somewhere around wherever our Jamie was from, because it would have been unfair to make him do an accent.’ Photograph: Adam Tomlinson/Production ParkA studio set build at Production Park Production Park, South Kirby, Yorkshire Executive producer and Warp Films head honcho Mark Herbert suggested this 100,000-square-foot production hub near Pontefract. It’s a regular rehearsal space for artists like Sam Smith, Coldplay and Elton John, as well as a state-of-the-art film studios. ‘It was a massive, brilliant space, and we were able to build our police station there, and also our [police] interview room,’ says Barantini. ‘It became the nerve center of the entire production.’  Photograph: NetflixThe drone shot that ends episode 2 Is it based on a true story? Loosely inspired by real events, rather than based on a specific incident, Adolescence seeks to capture emotional and social truths rather than recreate a single event.  ‘There was an incident where a young boy [allegedly] stabbed a girl,’ Graham tells Netflix’s site, Tudum. ‘It shocked me. I was thinking: “What’s going on? What’s happening in society where a boy stabs a girl to death? What’s the inciting incident here?” And then it happened again, and it happened again, and it happened again. I really just wanted to shine a light on it, and ask, “Why is this happening today? What’s going on? How have we come to this?”’ When can I watch Adolescence? All four hour-long episodes are streaming on Netflix now. How realistic is Adolescence? A police officer explains.The best shows to watch on Netflix.

Toxic Town is a new four-part Netflix drama that explores the huge impact of an environmental catastrophe on local families. In 1995, dozens of babies in the Midlands town of Corby were born with disabilities as a result of toxic waste polluting the air. Jodie Whittaker headlines the cast bringing this harrowing drama to the screen for the first time. Here’s what you need to know about the true story behind Toxic Town. Credit: Ben Blackall/NetflixJodie Whittaker stars in Toxic Town What is the true story of Tracey Taylor and the residents of Corby in Northamptonshire? An unexplained cluster of birth defects occurred in the small town of Corby, Northamptonshire in the mid-’90s. The town had been a hotbed of industry but its steelworks closed in 1981. The local council was then put in charge of its reclamation, which meant removing toxic waste that was a byproduct of the former steel works, in a bid to rebuild on the site and grow the local community. including transporting toxic waste in a bid to revive the town. But those in charge opted for speed over safety and cut corners when it came to transporting the toxic waste. Uncovered vehicles raced through the residential streets, with toxic matter spilling over the side of the trucks, turning into dust once dry. After years of anguish, local families, determined lawyers and whistleblowers in the local council worked together and realised that the toxic matter had been inhaled by pregnant mothers, which caused the limb differences in the babies. What followed was a decade-long fight for justice, as the families embarked on an exhausting court case battle to hold those responsible to account.   Credit: NetflixJodie Whittaker with the real Susan McIntyre What was the result of the toxic waste scandal? Spoiler warning for episode four of Toxic Town. In April 2010 a settlement was agreed between Corby Borough Council and the families. The full cost to the council was £14.6 million. No criminal charges were ever brought against those responsible. In total, 19 settlements were reached and legal history was made. The landmark decision was the first in the world to establish a link between atmospheric toxic waste and the impact on babies carried by women breathing it in.  The series ends with some harrowing facts that show the same danger could still be present across the UK. A 2021 study of Environment Agency data shows there are at least 21,000 former landfill sites across England and Wales. Up to 1,287 contain hazardous waste, with 167 of these sites located under housing, shops and restaurants, and at least four of them are under schools.    Credit: NetflixJodie Whittaker in Toxic Town Are all of the characters in Toxic Town based on real people? Many of Toxic Town’s characters are direct representations of the real people caught up in the scandal, with names staying the same. Jodie Whittaker takes the lead role as Susan McIntyre, one of the mums impacted by the scandal when her son is born with a birth defect.  Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood and Bridgerton’s Claudia Jessie portray Tracey and Maggie, two other mothers who were part of the legal battle. It was really nerve-racking when the mums came on set ‘The mums did come on set one day,’ says Whittaker. ‘It was really emotional and nerve-racking, because I knew how fiery Susan was. If she didn’t like the way I was doing it, she’d say so.’ Former council worker Sam Hagan (Robert Carlyle) was a real person and the series is dedicated to his memory. Lawyer Des Collins (Rory Kinnear) is also lifted from the true story. Some of the characters were created for purposes of the drama, with council staff Pat Miller and Bill Martin both being entirely fictional, while Deputy Council Leader Roy Thomas is based on a number of men, none of whom lived to see their plans for Corby fully realised. Credit: NetflixThe cast of Toxic Town with their real-life counterparts How many families were impacted by the Corby case? Although Toxic Town focuses on three of the families impacted by the Corby scandal, a total of 19 were involved. ‘We met with the mums of all 19 families,’ writer Jack Thorne told Radio Times. ‘Because it had taken them so long to win the case and the council had put out a lot of propaganda against these women in terms of cost to taxpayers, quite a few families didn’t want that scrutiny again.  Quite a few of the families didn’t want the scrutiny again ‘We focused on those who we thought would show the tapestry of the town, because the fact that toxic waste was airborne meant it was democratic and affected everyone. Susan was the natural leader.  loved everything I read about her, then I met her and loved her even more - she’s a complicated, wonderful person, joyous to write. When is Toxic Town available to watch on Netflix? All four episodes of Toxic Town are available to stream on Netflix now. Check out the trailer below for a glimpse of the drama. 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Zero Day is a fast-paced political thriller in the mold of The Parallax View and The Manchurian Candidate. The new Netflix six-part series dares to wonder how the American people, and even more pertinently its politicians, would handle a huge cyber attack across the country.  It launches in mid-February and promises to trigger anyone who still remembers their panicky Y2K projects or generally worries about not owning a transistor radio. Here’s what you need to know about it – and its real-world setting.  Photograph: Courtesy of NetflixScenes featuring the Zero Day commission were filmed on a Brooklyn soundstage What is Zero Day about?  After every piece of technology in America is turned off for a minute, thousands of people die, as planes fall out of the sky, trains collide, and cars crash. Former President George Mullen (Robert De Niro) is pulled out of retirement by current POTUS Evelyn Mitchell (Angela Bassett) to oversee the so-called Zero Day commission. With unprecedented access to technology and given free rein to break civil liberties, Mullen tries to find the people or even country responsible.  But as he dives deeper into the search, Mullen finds a vast web of lies and conspiracies, while he also struggles mentally with the pressure, especially as another cyber attack could result in the deaths of thousands more.   While Zero Day unfolds in a thought-provoking fashion – covering topics such as government oversight, the rise of conspiracy theorists, and how much we can truly trust our politicians – there are also some delightfully melodramatic aspects to its plot and characters that will keep viewers binging through each episode.   Photograph: NetflixRobert De Niro as George Mullen and Angela Bassett as President Mitchell on the set of ‘Zero Day’ Where is Zero Day filmed? Set primary in New York and Washington DC, Netflix spared no expense making sure that Zero Day feels as genuine as possible. How – and where – exactly did Zero Day achieve this? Take a look below to find out.   Photograph: NetflixFormer President George Mullen (Robert De Niro) addresses the crowds on Wall Street Manhattan locations Robert De Niro has previously joked that he looks for projects that will film in New York, ‘so [I] can stay at home’. And Zero Day granted the great man’s wish, because most of the heart-stoppingly tense thriller show indeed shot across the Big Apple. In Manhattan, the Lincoln Center’s Leon Lowenstein Center on the Upper West was turned into the CIA headquarters. The legendary Eleven Madison Park restaurant, meanwhile, was used for a meeting between George’s trusted right-hand man Roger Carlson (Jesse Plemons) and the shady Robert Lyndon (Clark Gregg).    Photograph: JOJO WHILDEN/Netflix © 2024Connie Britton as Valerie Whitesell and Robert De Niro as George Mullen in episode 5 Production also took place on Wall Street. It’s here that George shoots back into public consciousness after calming down a scared crowd in the wake of the cyber attack. Other locations include The New York Public Library – hello Ghostbusters! – on Fifth Avenue; Fordham University campus; North Cove Marina; The New York County Courthouse in Foley Square; and the Wall Street Helipad, all of which bring a level of authenticity to the six episodes.  Brooklyn locations The neighbouring borough of Brooklyn was another key filming spot for Zero Day. The Red Hook Marine terminal is a key location towards the end of the second episode, when one of the suspects finds himself trying to escape the commission’s agents and an assassin aiming to keep him silent. And the soundstage space at Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Steiner Studios provided many of the show’s interiors too. Located within the Brooklyn Navy Yard neighborhood of the borough, Steiner Studios is the largest production studio complex in America, located outside of Hollywood. This is most likely where the crew were able to set up the interior of the Zero Day commission headquarters, and all of its state of the art surveillance technology that Mullen and his team use to try and find the hackers.  Photograph: Jojo Whilden/NetflixRobert De Niro as George Mullen in Zero Day Upstate New York locations When Zero Day begins Mullen has long retired and is contemplating turning his excessive notes into a memoir. He also lives in Hudson, New York, away from the bustle of Manhattan, but with quick access to the city when required. When it came time to film George and his wife Sheila’s (Joan Allen) huge home, production took place on a private estate in Sleepy Hollow, New York.  Photograph: Courtesy of NetflixJoan Allen as Sheila Mullen Filming also took place at the Hilltop Hanover Farm in Yorktown, where officers search for some of the hackers. Nyack Fresh Market also appears on screen, as well as Nyack’s YMCA and a laundromat in the town. Photograph:JOJO WHILDEN/NETFLIXMatthew Modine plays Richard Dreyer, the Speaker of the House Washington DC locations Any political thriller worth its mustard needs to shoot some scenes in the US capital. Zero Day has establishing sequences outside the White House, the United States Capitol building, and of George and Roger being driven over Arlington Memorial Bridge. These led to various road closures across the city for a few days in the middle of June 2024. When does Zero Day launch on Netflix? All six episodes of the show launch globally on February 20.  What are the reviews like for the show? ‘Preposterously entertaining’ is The Guardian’s verdict. ‘It’s as fine a piece of hokum as you could wish to see – not least as it stars an on-form Robert De Niro in his first big small-screen outing.’‘It’s a fun techno-thriller, and while it won’t feature prominently in De Niro’s list of accomplishments, the mystery of who is orchestrating the Zero Day sabotage of the world’s IT infrastructure is spun out with pulpy good cheer,’ writes The Irish Times.  Empire points to some saggy pacing in the middle episodes, but writes that ‘once the truth starts unravelling, the show kicks back up a notch, and the last two instalments are truly nail-biting’. The Wrap is not as impressed. ‘[It’s] an entire season of repetitive dead-end plotting and muted performances that don’t do much to elevate the script beyond clichés,’ grumbles its critic. ‘The look of Zero Day is about as dim and sludgy as the story,’ agrees Variety. The Slant damns the show for not taking a line on the themes it explores. ‘The series is so stacked with asterisks and caveats meant to neutralise any point of view,’ it writes, ]that it stands for nothing’. The best TV and streaming shows of 2025 (so far).  How Hulu’s A Thousand Blows made the 19th century cool as hell.

Have we finally reached peak streaming? With 282 million Netflix subscribers worldwide and Apple TV+ finally beginning to complement its high-calibre shows with some actual viewers, well, maybe not. And the year ahead is another feast of new and returning pop-culture powerhouses, some of which, including the finale of Stranger Things, have finally emerged after the tangle of Hollywood strikes. As ever, there’ll be some bolts from the blue – who saw Baby Reindeer coming 12 months ago? – but from this vista, there’s still plenty of good reasons to plump up those sofa cushions. Here’s 23 to kick off with.RECOMMENDED: 🔥 Best TV and streaming shows in 2025 (so far)📺 The 40 best TV shows of 2024 you need to stream📽️ These are the must-see films for 2025 you can’t miss