Frae Shaun the Sheep to The Split Up: your complete entertainment guide for the week comin

Going out: Cinema

Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom
Out noo
The beloved Wallace and Gromit spin-off character returns tae lead anither film, wi a Halloween-themed adventure involvin the destruction o a pumpkin patch and a mysterious beast on the loose. Naturally, our hero turns tae weird science tae address matters.

Bad Apples
Out noo
A splendidly deranged combination o weird-wave European arthouse sensibility and the aesthetic o a classic British debut sees Saoirse Ronan as a teacher who improabably but deliciously taks justice intae her ain hands when ane o the bairns pushes her ower far. There are also stunnin performances frae bairn-actors Eddie Waller and Nia Brown.

Queen at Sea
Out noo
An actin tour de force, Lance Hammer’s hit frae this year’s Berlinale stars the heavyweight trio o Juliette Binoche, Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall (the latter twa reunited amaist 60 years efter they played Hamlet and Ophelia thegither on stage) in a nuanced exploration o dementia and sexual consent.

Resident Evil
Out noo
Director Zach Cregger has been on a run o form wi Barbarian (2022) followed by his Oscar-winnin horror Weapons (2025). It may be unfair tae expect him tae bring quite the same level o flair tae the eighth live-action Resident Evil film, but at least it’s a standalone: nae need tae wade through endless lore afore ye gang in. Catherine Bray

Going out: Gigs

How the Light Gets In
Kenwood Hoose, London, 19 & 20 September
The London leg o the world’s largest (only?) philosophy and music festival returns wi an intriguin lineup o brainy talkers and brainy singers. The latter group includes indie pop duo Prima Queen and the recently rejuvenated Patrick Wolf, who released his seventh album, Crying the Neck, last year. Michael Cragg

Niall Horan
22 September tae 16 November; tour starts Birmingham
Niall Horan and his trusty soft-rock bops arrive in the UK and Ireland for a tour in support o June’s fourth album, Dinner Party. Expect a handfu o new tunes tae sit nicely alangside hits sic as Slow Hands and the gently epic Heaven. MC

Linda May Han Oh & Melissa Aldana
Wigmore Hall, London, 21 September
Bassist-composer Linda May Han Oh, a subtle collaborator wi jazz giants includin Pat Metheny, shares an exquisitely lyrical and intuitive duo stage partnership here wi Chilean saxophone star Melissa Aldana – on baith an original and classic repertoire includin timeless themes by Charlie Parker, Wayne Shorter, Billie Holiday and mony mair. John Fordham

Bluebeard’s Castle + Oedipus Rex
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 20 & 25 September, 2 October; tourin tae 28 November
Rebranded and determined tae thrive, Welsh National Opera launches its new season wi a double bill that pulls nae punches, pairin pouerfu ane-acters by Bartók and Stravinsky. The casts feature soprano Christine Rice, tenor Peter Hoare and bass-baritone Nathan Berg. Joe Hill-Gibbins directs, wi conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya in the pit. Flora Willson

Going out: Art

Amar Kanwar
Serpentine North, London, 23 September tae 3 January
Lyrical Indian artist Amar Kanwar is best kent as a film-makker. This show functions as a site-specific installation o video work touchin on themes o displacement, nationalism, violence and memory.

Raqib Shaw
Compton Verney, Warwickshire, 19 September tae 21 February
Shaw’s dense, super-intricate, mythologically influenced fusion o Indian motifs and classical western art references is instantly recognisable, but he hasna had a major show o new work in the UK since 2017. Until noo, that is, wi this exhibition o atmospheric nocturnal paintins and tapestry.

Jenkin Van Zyl
Somerset Hoose Studios, London, 24 September tae 29 November
Ane o the UK’s maist interestin young artists returns wi anither disturbingly surreal immersive film installation, this time filled wi holograms and inflatable cocoons, a' aboot celebrities and obsolete technologies.

Rae Yen Song
Fact, Liverpool, tae 14 February
The glowin pond at the centre o Rae Yen Song’s exhibition is filled wi microscopic life and organic matter. It’s a livin ecosystem that allows the artist tae explore woozy ideas o mythology, ancestry and spirituality. Eddy Frankel

Going out: Stage

Celya AB
Glasgow, 23 September; Newcastle upon Tyne, 24 September; Sheffield, 25 September; tourin tae 1 November
The cast may have received the bigger profile boost, but it was actually members o the SNL UK writin team who dominated this year’s Edinburgh fringe (includin main award winner Chris Cantrill). French comedian Celya AB is amang their number: a master joke-constructor whose latest show grapples wi standup’s darker side. Rachel Aroesti

Birmingham Royal Ballet: Swan Lake
Birmingham Hippodrome, 23 September tae 31 October
Sometimes ye juist want tae see a classic. Nae need for boundary-breakin, heid-scratchin new inventions, juist a tried-and-tested hit. That’s where Swan Lake comes in. Wi a perfectly matched corps de ballet and Tchaikovsky’s score, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production o Swan Lake ticks every box. Lyndsey Winship

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
@sohoplace, London, 21 September tae 19 December
The prospect o Gillian Anderson blastin her way through Edward Albee’s boxin match o a play – wi husband and wife sparrin brutally throughout – is quite somethin. She plays Martha opposite Billy Crudup’s George in an intimate/intense production that’s staged in the round. Miriam Gillinson

Death of a Salesman
Liverpool Everyman, 19 September tae 10 October
Arthur Miller’s hertbreakin tragedy is reimagined by director Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu (For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide ...). Cyril Nri stars as Willy Loman: a family man at breakin point, exhausted by his lifetime’s pursuit o the American dream. MG

Staying in: Streaming

Brothers
Apple TV, 23 September
In 2023, Matthew McConaughey revealed there was a chance he and his close friend Woody Harrelson cud be siblings efter his mither hinted at a dalliance wi the latter’s faither. Cue this Curb-style comedy in which the actors play versions o themselves who begin tae wonder if they’re mair than merely buddies.

Youth
HBO Max, 21 September
Couplin covered footloose singledom, Catastrophe explored marriage and mitherhood, and noo Sharon Horgan returns tae wring bitter laughs frae midlife in this eight-part autofictional dramedy aboot parentin confused teenagers, carin for elderly parents and post-divorce datin.

The Split Up
BBC iPlayer & BBC One, 20 September, 9pm
The Split, Abi Morgan’s supremely soapy drama aboot a family o divorce lawyers, gets a glitzy Manchester-set spin-off starin Sanjeev Bhaskar as the heid o a (different) family o divorce lawyers. Ritu Arya, Jane Horrocks, Lenny Henry and Mawaan Rizwan also appear.

American Hostage
MGM+, 20 September
Certain true-crime stories can suddenly find themselves in vogue. Earlier this year Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire dramatised the 1977 kidnap o a mortgage broker by Tony Kiritsis; noo this series does the same wi a cast that includes Jon Hamm, Giovanni Ribisi and William Jackson Harper. RA

Staying in: Games

Silent Hill: Townfall
PS5, PC; oot 24 September
Atmospheric and creatively chillin, this is the latest in a peerlessly mind-bendin series o horror games. Arrivin on a mist-wreathed island toon aff the Scottish coast, ye maun reckon wi what has happened tae its inhabitants – and revisit your past mistakes.

Rivage
PS5, Xbox, PC; oot 22 September
Ye are stuck in a time loop on a space station in this sci-fi puzzler. The station resets each time ye retire tae your bunk, but your memories do nae. Put thegither the clues tae figure oot what has happened tae ye and the crew. Keza MacDonald

Staying in: Albums

Carly Rae Jepsen – Day and Night
Out noo
Havin released companion albums tae gang wi her last five records, the Canadian pop star cuts tae the chase this time aroond, releasin a 24-track double. As the title suggests, the album is split intae twa moods, wi the bubbly, synth-driven Motivation a late-nicht anthem.

Beck – Ride Lonesome
Out noo
The musical polymath returns tae the mair sombre settin o 2002’s Sea Change and 2014’s three Grammy-winnin Morning Phase for his 15th album. Fu o the rustic joys o autumn, its 12 sangs are built aroond delicate acoustic figures and, on the lovely title track, elegant touches o slide guitar.

Miley Cyrus – Bass Persuades
Out noo
Followin the commercially disappointin Something Beautiful, the Pablow the Blowfish hitmakker returns wi a bigger soond, as showcased on the Lady Gaga-esque title track. Co-produced by Kid Harpoon (Harry Styles), and featurin US art-rockers Model/Actriz, it shud see her return tae pop’s upper echelons.

Beabadoobee – Pylon
Out noo
The Filipino-British singer-songwriter follows up 2024’s chart-toppin This Is How Tomorrow Moves wi her fourth album o alt-rock heaters. On the pogoin Sun Has Set she’s a coiled spring o emotion ower laceratin guitars, while the safter Memories rides a gorgeous indie pop melody. MC

Staying in: Brain food

Vittles
Podcast
Food publication Vittles’ audio series delves deeper intae its lang-form features, providin insights intae the changin world o British hospitality. Recent highlights include writer Stephen Buranyi on the economics o food influencers.

Big Think Clips
YouTube
Typically runnin between 20 and 30 minutes, this curated selection o video essays presents excerpts o langer lectures discussin everythin frae the phenomenon o “self-loneliness” tae the ways our phones can stifle creativity.

Caught in the Crackdown
PBS America, 25 September, 9.40pm
PBS’s Frontline series investigates the ongoin violence perpetrated by the US’s Immigration Customs and Enforcement agency (ICE). We see how community legal action and grassroots activism are fightin the force that embodies Donald Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric. Ammar Kalia