Who is popular today?

Judith Kerr’s classic roars to life thanks to David Oyelowo and Benedict Cumberbatch. Plus: black humour galore in Mark Gatiss’s festive ghost story. Here’s what to watch
This year’s instalment of BBC Four’s A Ghost Story for Christmas comes courtesy of MR James’s 1911 tale of an upper-class young man on trial for the murder of a poor young girl, adapted with characteristic black humour by The League of Gentlemen’s Mark Gatiss. Peter Capaldi stars as Dolben, the dour barrister for the prosecution, while Elliot Levey is the joyfully irreverent “hanging judge” George Jeffreys. Running at only a swift half an hour, this cuts through the customary Christmas Eve merrymaking. Ammar Kalia Continue reading...